Cheetah's Second Quilt

This is Cheetah's second quilt which he made with my mom and me.  My mom has been teaching the granddaughters to quilt with the basic Turning Twenty pattern.  It turned out that if the grandsons wanted to make a quilt that they just needed to ask.  (Or have a mom willing to speak up.)  We simplified the quilt a little so that there are only 10 different fabrics repeated more often.  We also used the original pieced border from the pattern.  It made the quilts a little smaller, but also made it easy to put minky on the back.  (A must for my boys.)

Cheetah finished piecing the quilt top with my mom just after Christmas.  He decided to wait until the new long arm was set up before deciding if he wanted to quilt it or have me do it for him.

I had him start by doodling on my white board.

Then I loaded a practice sandwich onto the frames for him to try out.  He wanted to have the handles up higher.

It looked pretty good!

My husband came in and saw what Cheetah was doing.  He asked, "Is that fun."

Cheetah's response.  "Not really."

My hubby had to try it out because he thought it looked a little fun.

While he enjoyed trying it out, it will probably be the only time my husband actually uses the frames.

Cheetah ended up deciding to have me just do the quilting for him.

So this is the third quilt which I quilted on the Bernina Q24.

I finished it while he was at school and quickly put on the binding.

I took it outside for some pictures in the rare winter sunshine.

Then I made his bed with it.  You can see his first quilt at the foot of the bed and a pillow he made.

He came home and was happy to see it finished and already on his bed.  He loves his new quilt that he made, and I am such a proud mama.

His quilt ended up about 70 by 86 inches.  One of my nephews has already started on his own quilt with grandma.  His will also have minky on the back.

XX,
Jasmine

Binding Fairy

Last year I quilted my niece C's first quilt.  My mother helped her with the binding and taught her to do the handwork.  I told her that if she ever needed me that I would be happy to be her Binding Fairy.  She got most of it done, but then got really busy.  So she decided to take me up on my offer.

I finished the binding for her and then added some stitches where hers were a little too far apart.

It is now waiting for her to come pick it up.  I think she's excited to be able to use her quilt now.

I recently got a picture of my niece R's finished quilt.  I also quilted it for her last year.  She had a Binding Fairy too.  However, her binding fairy was her mother, my sister.  I love that she decorated her room to match her quilt.

I have one more niece who needs to finish the binding on her quilt.  Three other nieces are still working on their quilts with my mother.  Cheetah has picked out fabrics for his second quilt to be made in the same pattern with Grandma.  He chose cheetah prints.  Surprised?  I thought not.

Have you ever had a Binding Fairy help you?

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  Hi, R.  I love your quilt in your room!  (R is really the only one in my family who reads my blog regularly that I know of.)

Finishing my Niece's Third Quilt

My mother-in-law and I just helped my niece, S, finish her third quilt.  It was such a fun group project.  It was the second quilt I helped her make.   (I've never seen her first quilt.)  We worked on the other one together last November.

When she came to visit from out of state, she knew she wanted to make another quilt.  She really liked the quilt I made for my father-in-law a couple years ago, and wanted to use the same pattern.  (It is similar to the Turning Twenty quilt, but the blocks finish at 12 inches.)

I told her what fabric she would need, and she went shopping for it with Nana.  Didn't she do a great job picking fabrics to go together?  I love what she chose.  Then she came to my house to cut it out.  She went back to Nana's to piece the blocks and sew them into rows.  (Nana does the pinning and pressing while she does the sewing).  I had her come back to my house to add borders so I could teach her the right way to do it.  We went to my mom's house all together to get it quilted.

She picked a loopy star design for the computerized quilting, and helped me when it was time to roll it.  She really did such a great job piecing it.  It laid totally flat on the frames and was a dream to quilt.

She thought it was great that she could "quilt" and read at the same time.  ;)  While I personally prefer free motion quilting with its wobbles, computerized quilting serves a great purpose.  She was able to get it quilted beautifully and quickly (with a lot of help from her doting aunt).  My mother-in-law loves my mom's machine, even though she is not a quilter.

After it was quilted we went back to my house for the binding.  She wanted me to bind this quilt, but also wanted to watch this time.  The chevrons look so neat for the stop border and the binding.

This process took about a week from start to finish.  Of course, her quilt needed its own photo shoot in my back yard.  (I think she thought I went a little crazy with the camera, but her mom loves all the photos I took.)

I quilted it with a gray thread which blends beautifully with the front and back.

I even got her to add a corner label this time.  You can barely see it in the upper left corner of this photo.

I really am so proud of my niece.  Her quilts keep getting better and better.  But the best part is the bonding time we share when we work together.  She has lived in another state my whole marriage, so I treasure our time together.

It should be a fun summer this year.  Another niece came to watch the quilting and wants to finish her quilt I helped her with a year and a half ago.  (It is cut out, and she started piecing it).  Plus, Cheetah wants to make another quilt to try out grandma's long arm.  She is so sweet to share it with not only her family, but my husband's side as well (as long as I am there to operate it).

This is the third quilt we have quilted on my mom's Handi Quilter Fusion, and we are really enjoying it.  It isn't nearly as intimidating as it once was.  But for anyone wondering, I still love my Tiara best!
XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the fun linky parties on my sidebar.  Check them out to see what other quilters are up to.

P.P.S.  Speaking of summer... don't be surprised if I don't post as often.  I'm really looking forward to more family fun time this summer.  :)

A Proud Mama Moment

Cheetah just made this pillow in one of his classes at school.  The only thing I did to help was purchase the fabric for him.  He was excited the quilt shop still had some of the fabric I used in his Christmas quilt.

It is a travel sized pillow, so he even made the pillow itself which is inside.  He wanted it to be black so it would match.

It looks great with his first quilt...

And the rest of his cheetah collection.

Is it any wonder why I call him Cheetah?

He really enjoyed sewing this at school, but told me that he likes rotary cutters a lot better for cutting out fabric than scissors.

Thanks for indulging my proud mama moment.  ;)

XX,
Jasmine

Helping My Niece

First off, "Happy Thanksgiving" to everyone celebrating in the United States.  And I hope everyone else still has a very happy day! 

  

As I mentioned in my last post, my niece is visiting for Thanksgiving.  While here she wanted to make her second quilt.  She picked out all the fabrics, and we cut them into five inch squares together. (I added a few fat quarters from my stash so she would have enough fabric.)  Then she laid them out and sewed them together with my mother-in-law (Nana) helping with the ironing. 

Then they came over to my house and we tied it together in my basement.  She did a fantastic job putting the quilt together. 

After it was tied...

I added the binding for her to complete the quilt. 

We had so much fun together.  I love helping and teaching others to quilt.  And while this was her second quilt, it was much bigger than her first.  It finishes at about 68 x 86 inches.  So now she has two quilts to take home in her luggage.  What a sweety. 

XX,
Jasmine

Cheetah's First Quilt

I recently blogged about my niece R's first quilt.  I just found out that my niece C, wants me to quilt her first quilt as well.  So, while first quilts are on my mind, I thought I would share my experience helping my own son to make his first quilt... 

Last summer I helped three of my husband's nieces make tote bags.  I told Cheetah that I would be happy to teach him to sew as well.  He was excited about it and wanted to start with a quilt.  It should not be surprising that my Cheetah, wanted to make a "Fuzzy Cheetah" quilt.  It just so happened that I had the perfect fabric in my stash.  :o)  

I have given a lot of thought to what is the ideal quilt for teens and pre-teens to start with.  My mother likes the Turning Twenty pattern that she used with the granddaughters, because the blocks are large and don't have many points to match.  The challenge with that twin size quilt is that it is hard for a beginner to quilt.  (My mom had originally planned on tying the quilts with the girls, but my dad thought the quilts were too nice to tie.)  That is why I am now quilting them.   

So I thought about what would be easy and help youth feel successful with quilting.  I thought that something not too large they could quilt with the walking foot would be a good idea.  That is why I suggested to Cheetah that we make a stripe quilt. 

I let him be involved in the design process, and asked him if he wanted all the strips to be the same size.  He did.  Then I asked him if he wanted them to be in a specific order or be random.  He wanted the fabrics to follow a pattern.  This is when I learned that he likes things to be symmetrical, just like me. 

I cut all fifteen of his strips out at 4.5 inches, so they finish at 4 inches.  (His quilt finished at about 42 x 60 inches.)  We put everything up on my design wall, and he started sewing.   

Here he is with the completed top. 

We went the next morning to select a backing.  He really wanted minky fabric, even though I told him that it would be more difficult to quilt.  He was fine with the challenge, because he REALLY wanted a fuzzy quilt.  This minky is so thick and soft.  It feels like a fur coat. 

We went home and basted it with basting spray and a few pins.  We used the Warm and White batting. 

I set up my craft room so that he could get it quilted.  He got right to work and was counting down the seams.  Only fourteen to finish. 

I actually had to stand behind him and help him guide the fabric through to help it be more even.  ;)  It was a little hard on my back hunching over him, but was well worth it.  Just look at his excitement. (I am sure he is thinking, "Hurry up and take the picture so I can finish quilting.") 

As you can tell, he really enjoyed the process!  I asked him if he wanted me to do the binding for him, and he said that he did.  (I figured that if Natalia Bonner of Piece-N-Quilt could still have her mother bind her quilts, that it would be just fine for me to bind my son's first quilt.) 

I cut the binding out at three inches because of the thick minky fabric, and bound it completely by machine. 

So we finished his quilt in two days. 

That evening Cheetah was cuddled up in his first quilt...  But I took this picture today.  ;)

He loves his quilt so much that he could hardly stay off of it while I took pictures. 

He was acting silly... really silly. 

I had to take this picture between his head and his arm. 

I loved sewing with my son, and would definitely use a stripe quilt for a beginner again.  Cheetah plans on making a cheetah/leopard tote bag next summer.  :)

I thought that you would like to see how he sometimes makes his bed.  (Other times, he makes his bed with this quilt hidden between his sheets.)  It brings a smile to my face every time I see it.  He has dogs, wolves, and cheetahs on his bed.  When he was younger he wanted us to call him "Puppy Pup."  Gotta love it when children pick their own nick names. 

What do you think is the ideal quilt for a young beginner? 

XX,
Jasmine

My Quilting History

I would not be who I am today without my family.  I feel like my quilting history really began before I was born...

My grandmother Mildred (on my father's side) completely hand pieced (EPP) and quilted two quilts in the 1930's.

She made a grandmother's flower garden.

She also made a double wedding ring.

My great-grandmother Ethel (on my mom's side) brought in money by doing sewing for others when she was a widow. She had a sewing machine and even sewed some quilts. This is a quilt I finished using blocks she sewed.

These are some pillow cases she sewed and hand embroidered.

My other grandma Mildred (on my mom's side) made a lot of blankets and quilts.  This is a close-up of the wedding quilt she made for my mom and dad.  The rest of the quilt is in shreds. 

This is a whole cloth quilt she made with satin fabric.  (Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of a satin quilt?)

This is a baby blanket she painted and hand quilted for me.  She did a lot of textile painting.  It is something she will always be remembered for. 

Although my mother helped her mom with projects and did mending and sewing, she never made a quilt until my oldest brother got married. It was a peach and blue trip around the world. She made it using Plexiglas templates and scissors.  She machine pieced and hand quilted it.  The quilting took her three years. Once she finished it she had caught the quilting bug.   She started this one for herself about the same time in dusty pinks and blues.  I machine quilted it for her later. 

After she finished her first quilt, she decided to teach me how to quilt.  Luckily, she had learned about rotary cutters by then!  This is my first block.  The note you see is written in my young handwriting.  It says, "My first quilt block I ever did.  Roman Squares."  (There will be more on this project in my next post.)  I have now been quilting for over 20 years.  That sounds a lot longer than it feels!

My mom and I are the ones who quilt the most in the family.  Two of my sisters have made a couple of quilts each.  Now my mom and I are teaching the next generation.  We have been teaching my nieces together.  I have also helped Cheetah make his first quilt.  He calls it Fuzzy Cheetah.  Can you see all those spots?   He wants to make a cheetah bag next. 

Do others in your family quilt, or are you the only one? 

XX,
Jasmine