Sneaky Sewing with My Friend

I have helped my dear friend Alissa with a huge sneaky sewing project for the last few months.  I am so glad that we started early, because my husband and I decided to move halfway through the project.

Alissa and I did almost everything together, starting back in August after the kids were in school.  We bought the fabric together, cut the quilts out at my house, and used my design wall to determine the layout.  Then she stacked the individual quilts up, put them in boxes, and pieced them in her craft room at home with a locked door.  Then we quilted about one quilt per week.  Three were quilted on my mom's Fusion long arm machine, and I quilted one on my Tiara.  Then we did all four bindings by machine at my house. All four quilts were finished the first week in December before my big move.

While her family knew I was helping her with a "project" they all assumed they knew what it was because I am a quilter.  However, they were surprised that there was one for each of them.  The quilts were a big hit with her family because she made them and because they are all backed in minky.  And yes, they were all Monkey tested and approved.

This first quilt is for her husband who loves watching sports and is a big BYU fan.

I quilted it on the Fusion in a large stipple.  She wanted to keep the quilting simple because the prints were so busy.  Alissa did help quilt the last block.

The second quilt is for her son who is currently attending the University of Utah.

It is also quilted with a large meander on the Fusion.   Alissa quilted the last block on this one too.

Both of the boy quilts used kits she purchased.  The pattern used less blocks and had a border.  We bought more fabrics, made more blocks, and eliminated the border.

For the girl quilts, she decided to keep the piecing simple and made plus quilts with eight inch cut squares.

This one is for her older daughter who loves the color gray but also likes yellow and light blue.

We quilted most of it with a digital pantograph on the Fusion.

Then we had a problem and my mom's machine went out of timing.  We took the quilt off the frames,  traced the design onto gold paper, and I was able to finish the quilting on my Tiara.

It turned out great, and you would never know that some was quilted by a computer and some was quilted by me.

Because we were running out of time before I had to move, we decided to have me quilt the fourth quilt on my Tiara instead of waiting for the Fusion to be serviced.  This one is for her younger daughter who loves everything bright and colorful.

The loops and daisies turned out so cute for the quilting.

Alissa had previously made quilted table runners and rag quilts, but these were her first quilts which have been quilted.  She loved working on her project and looks forward to future projects.  She might even want to learn free-motion quilting.  I look forward to more projects with her, even though we no longer live on the same street.

XX,
Jasmine

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

Sneaky Sewing Success Story

Thanks to many suggestions for sneaky wrapping on my Super Sneaky Sewing Tips post, my wrapping was a sneaky success!  Hubby's quilt is hiding in the big red flat box, Monkey's quilt is hiding in the big golden box, Panda's quilt is hiding in the giant Tootsie Roll, and Cheetah's small gold box contains a note and marbles.  :) 

On Christmas morning, the very first present opened was Panda's giant Tootsie Roll present.  He was very surprised that it was a quilt.  He liked that it was just like Bear's (which I had read to him as a bed time story the night before).  He loved it and his fuzzy pillow that Mommy made just for him. 

Then Monkey opened his present from Mommy.  He took one look at the trucks and said, "It's mine!"  It was said with excitement and awe, not possession.  What a way to warm Mommy's heart. He was way too excited to look at the camera.

Next, Cheetah opened his little box from Mommy.  He was sure there was a gift card hiding with the marbles.  (I have been reminding him for the last few months that he already has a fuzzy quilt which he made himself.)  Instead of a gift card, he found a note telling him where his real present could be found.  He was very happy to receive his own big quilt that Mommy made just for him.  He has an obsession with minky... with some Gollum-like tendencies. 

The next present opened was Hubby's quilt from me.  He took one look at it and said, "There's bear tracks" with a big smile.  I was happy to tell him that the quilt was named, "Bear Tracks."

As wonderful as it was seeing them open their presents on Christmas morning, the best thing was tucking my sons in that night.  They were all sleeping with their new pillows and quilts.  Which really goes to show how much Monkey loves his quilt.  He had been sleeping with the same blanket for the last two years, but no longer needs it to sleep. 

Thanks for all of your wishes for a Merry Christmas.  As you can see, it was pretty wonderful.  I hope you also had an exciting holiday. 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  Can you tell that I like alliteration?

P.P.S.  Oh, and I haven't received any complaints from Cheetah about the name of his quilt.  Apparently he approves of "Wild About You," because he told me that that was what it was called when I tried to tell him it was a barn raising pattern.  :D

Some Super Sneaky Sewing Tips

As many of you know, I have been doing some super sneaky sewing to prepare for Christmas.  I thought it might be fun to share with you some tips or things I have learned through this experience.  ;)

If you are doing some super sneaky sewing then...

• Start early.  You never know how much time you will be able to find when they are otherwise occupied.  (I purchased the fabric at the end of August and finished the first week in November.)
• Have more than one memory card for your digital camera. My boys like to look at all the pictures in the memory and do so any time they see the camera lying around. I had to keep putting in the "family" card every time I took pictures of "sneaky projects."

• You need to design the quilts after all the boys are asleep in bed.  They always want to see what you are drawing. 

• You need a babysitter when you purchase the fabric.  Then you must hide it under a blanket in the back of the car when you pick them up.  Carry it into the house after they are all asleep. 

• A room with a locking door is extremely helpful.  But you still need to find out of the way places to keep the special fabric.  (bottom of cutting table covered by a bolt of white fabric or under batting in the closet)

• Cut out the fabric when they leave the house with daddy.  (Father/son bike rides are awesome.)

• Be careful where you put the garbage.  (My boys have been known to look at fabric trimmings in there--especially minky.)

• Be careful where you store the scraps.  I wrapped a plain fabric around all of the animal prints before putting them with the rest of my scraps. (It's that big tan section in the container on the bottom right.)

• If you are cutting minky, have a lint roller handy.  It is needed for both the fabric and you.  (And remember to be careful with the garbage).  My boys can tell when I have been cutting minky. 

• Work on projects as often as you can when they are all out of the house.  (Pillows were sewn when they went to Cabellas with daddy.)

• Be prepared to put things up and quickly take them down from the design wall.  Labeled columns and chain sewing are your friend and extremely helpful. 

• Work on other projects at the same time, even if you only like doing one WIP at a time.  It keeps them from wondering too much what is going on.  Choose small projects like bags and mini quilts. 

• Baste quilts late at night when you are sure they are all in bed.  (Cheetah, at 12 years, is the worst at coming out for one more thing.) You may need to do this in your locked craft room, even if it is tight. 

• It is okay to hide a project under another quilt.  (Especially if the child is home sick and watching a movie when you planned on quilting.)

• Take advantage of times you can work on the projects away from home.  (I went to my first Free Sew at my LQS.)

• If you decide to blog about projects along the way: ban your family from your blog, blog late at night, and be careful when they need to use the Internet on your ipad for homework. Because they might see a picture like this (which is why all the posts start with a picture of the backing):

• Be prepared to make sacrifices.  My cutting table broke when I was lowering one of the side flaps after moving it.  At least it still fits my 24 x 36 inch mat.  (I have had the table for more than 12 years and it had already been put through a lot.  It was just the straw that broke the camel's back.)

• Have a special place to store the finished quilts where they won't look (in a trunk I normally store scrapbook supplies). 

• Find different ways to wrap them so it isn't obvious they are all the same type of gift.  (I'm still figuring out how to do this... any suggestions?)

All in all this has been quite the experience for me.  I loved every minute of it, but probably won't do so many large sneaky projects all before Christmas again.  I hope you also learned something from my experiences if you ever have to do some sneaky sewing (or at least had a laugh). 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I am linking up with Let's Bee Social hosted by the amazing Lorna. 

Christmas Quilts Progress

My giant star quilt has been put on hold while I work on some sneaky sewing.  While the boys have been at school, I have gone from this...

... to this.  All four quilts are cut out, but this stack only has the squares for my sons. 

It is not normal for me to work on so many projects at once, but I have been able to cut them out while the big boys were at school.  I have to sneak in the sewing when they are not around.  My youngest doesn't pay much attention to what I am working on. 

I am able to work on my husband's quilt more openly, because he knows he is receiving a quilt.  He just doesn't know what it looks like.  So he is banned from reading my blog and entering the craft room.  The boys know about Daddy's quilt, but not theirs. 

My husband's cuddly Christmas quilt is my own design.  I knew he wanted a more outdoorsy quilt, but my LQS didn't have a good selection of fabric with elk, moose, ducks, or fish.  They were having a good sale, and so I decided to design my own to make it look outdoorsy without animal fabric.  This is what my design looked like:

I used high quality pencils and crayons on printer paper to make my pattern.  ;)  The next step for my husband's quilt was purchasing the fabric. 

The minky bear paw fabric is what inspired my design.  Here it is all cut out and on my design wall.  I totally love it!

I wanted the quilt to have an ombre look to it, and I think I achieved it.  I just have to say that trimming 2.5 inch half square triangles is not my favorite thing to do. 

I am so excited that I have been able to get this much done.  I hope I can still make time for more sneaky sewing. 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I am linking up with Let's Bee Social and Needle and Thread Thursday.