Blogger's Quilt Festival: A Lovely Twist

I am entering my quilt "A Lovely Twist" into the Blogger's Quilt Festival, because it is my favorite quilt I have made this year.   It is twin size, and I am entering it in the Large Quilts category.  If you are visiting from the festival, welcome and thanks for stopping by.  If not, you can click on the button to see what other quilter bloggers have entered in the show. 

My husband and I watched the Missouri Star Quilt Company's tutorial for the Twister quilt.  He thought it was really neat and encouraged me to make one.  I knew that sewing a quilt top only to cut it up and sew it back together would drive me batty.  So I tried to come up with a different way to make the same quilt. 

I realized that I could cut everything out before sewing it.  I did this by making a paper template and taping it to the bottom of a ruler. 

I cut through four layers of the same fabric (all facing up) at a time.  I rotated my mat and made a second cut.  It looked like this. 

Then I put everything up on my design wall which is a flannel sheet hung on the wall. 

I sewed each block together like a crazy 4-patch.  Then squared them up with minimal waste. 

After completing the quilt top and basting it, I quilted it on my new Baby Lock Tiara. 

All of the fabrics for the quilt came from my stash.  I love taking something I have had sitting on a shelf for a long time and turning it into something beautiful and useful.  I love seasonal quilts, and this is now my favorite Valentine quilt. 

Now on to some pictures of the finished quilt!



I quilted it in a pointy spiral design with a light pink Aurifil thread. 

I pieced the backing out of more stash fabrics.  You can also see my favorite kind of quilt label in the lower right corner of the back.  It is a five inch square ironed in half and secured with the binding. 

I bound the quilt in the same fabric as the borders.  I sewed the binding to the top with my machine and stitched it down to the back by hand. 

And here is one more shot of the entire quilt. 

Quilt Stats:
Name:  A Lovely Twist
Pattern:  Twister
Quilting Design:  Pointy Spirals
Fabrics:  Pinks from my stash
Size:  About 70 x 88 inches
Date Finished:  March 2014

Here are my previous posts about the twister quilt, in case you wanted to learn more. 
Twister in Progress ~ How I cut out the quilt
Twister in Progress II ~ How I pieced the quilt
A Lovely Twist ~ The finished quilt

Thank you for stopping by! 

XX,
Jasmine

Finished Quilt for Hands2Help

I just finished this quilt as part of the Hands2Help challenge at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  It will be going to Happy Chemo. 

I have not labeled it yet, because I have no idea what to call it.  Any suggestions? 

The fabric was part of the same kit I used to make Sunrise, Sunset.  I used 19.5 strips to make this lap size quilt. 

Here are the two quilts together.  It is amazing to me how different they look. 

I based this quilt off of the Jelly Roll Race tutorial at Missouri Star Quilt Company, but I kept the strips 5 inches wide. 

I learned a lot making this quilt and tried out some new things.  It was my first time using polyester thread for FMQ.  It is the Omni thread from Superior Thread and worked pretty well.  I also used a new Handi Quilter long arm ruler with grips on the bottom.  I bought both the thread and ruler last week at the HMQS. 

The grips on the ruler helped so much.  Completely worth the purchase.  I had tried just using masking tape on the bottom of the ruler on my last quilt.  The grips made a huge difference.  (That black knob on the right is part of the stitch regulator on my Tiara, a sit down quilting machine.)   

I think my favorite part of the quilt is the wavy line in the feathers from the ruler.  It was really nice practicing with the ruler on a project that wouldn't show the ruler work imperfections as much.  This is how the vine pictured above turned out.  I love the double vine, and the ruler helped a lot. 

Just remember that my strips finish at 4.5 inches.  So that feather is nine inches wide.  I really wish I had started quilting the feathers smaller, but once I started I had to keep them big.  My practice feathers turned out so much better, because they were smaller.  (This practice piece was lots of fun.)

I tried a couple different approaches in the feathers.  First I quilted the large horizontal feathers.  Then I tried to do some random feathers. 

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but turned out nice.  Once again, I think it would have been easier with smaller feathers. 

After quilting random feathers, I wanted to practice some more straight feathers.  So I quilted straight away from the horizontal feathers.  The grid marks on the ruler helped keep the vines perpendicular to the rows of fabric and parallel to each other. 

My eleven year old son, Cheetah, really liked the feathers that "grew" out of the other one.  After quilting the feathers last night, I was a little discouraged.  However, after a good night's rest and looking at the quilt from a distance, I like it a lot better. 

I backed the quilt in a tan fabric from my stash that came 60 inches wide.  But what time I saved not piecing my backing was spent piecing my batting.  I used to think that lap quilts weren't a good use of batting, because you had a lot left over.  When you take those pieces and zig zag them together it seems like free batting. 

The binding was some of the floral yardage that came with the kit.  I didn't have enough of the red background, so I added some with the green background.  You have to look very close to see the difference. 

I did the binding completely by machine.  I seem to be doing that a lot more recently. 

All in all, it was a fun quilt to make which I hope will help someone going through a rough time. 

I just love the texture from quilting. 

Quilt Stats #104
Name:  Any suggestions?
Pattern:  Altered from the Jelly Roll Race
Quilting design:  Large feathers using a ruler for the vine
Fabric:  from my stash
Amount used:  6.5 yards
Batting:  Frankensteined Warm and White
Size:  About 52 x 72 inches
Date finished:  May 2014
What I learned: 

• The ruler grips were extremely helpful. 
• The polyester thread worked well and was less linty. 
• I think smaller feathers would have been easier, but would have taken longer. 
• 5 inch strips for the Jelly Roll Race worked well for bigger prints.

Here is one more picture of my helper who wanted to jump on the quilts.  Monkey just got new glasses and is doing surprising well at keeping them on. 

Also, I just added an "About Me" page which has a couple cute pictures of my boys. 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop (links on side bar), and Finish it up Friday.  I will also be linking up with Amy's Free Motion Quilting Adventures for the first time.  She is doing a series on using rulers while quilting. 

A Quilt Display and Show

I was volunteered by one of my church leaders to have a display at our Stake Arts Festival last Saturday night.  It was a professional talent night with live performances and displays.  I was humbled that people thought of me as a professional quilter, because I don't feel like I am one.  Other displays included professional photographers, painters, a saddle maker, and another quilter. 

Even though it was stressful, I enjoyed the experience talking about quilting to lots of people.  As part of my display I showed what the three layers of a quilt looked like.

 I made the doll quilt out of scraps on Friday afternoon.  I look forward to quilting it using one of my long arm rulers.  I really enjoy trying out new quilting designs on small projects. 

I also had a basket of fun, smaller projects.  There were wall hangings, table runners, and doll quilts in my basket (Some were hiding in the back). 

It was nice to have a few examples of quilting with the walking foot.  I showed them to someone thinking about making a quilt without free motion quilting.  She said, "But I don't think I could quilt that straight." 

It was fun to pull out this table runner telling her that she doesn't have to quilt straight.  I loved hearing her say, "Okay.  I could do that." 

Knowing that one of my friends (who has only made two quilts before) wants help making a larger quilt made all the effort worth it! 

This fun evening came after an amazing day spent in the Salt Lake City area with my family.  After visiting an aquarium together, my sweet husband dropped me off at the Home Machine Quilting Show.  He then took the boys to the Lego Store. 

I didn't have much time to spend there, but I was able to do what I really wanted.  I visited booths for some of my favorite quilt shops, purchased items for Princess from Handi Quilter, and bought thread from Superior Threads. 

I only had twenty-five minutes to rush through the quilt display.  I am totally in awe of the talent other quilts have and received much inspiration from their quilts.  I especially loved Judi Madsen's trunk show.  Here are some pictures of my favorite quilt she displayed. 

Knowing I love simple quilts, is it any wonder that one of my favorite quilts was this chevron? 

Next year I hope that my mother will be able to go with me to the HMQS.  I sure could have spent more than one and a half hours there.  But, it was still worth going even for such a short amount of time.  :) 

As a side note, I just joined Bloglovin and added the button to my side bar.  Now I have to claim my blog, so here goes...

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up at Let's Bee Social this week. 

Serenity: A Finished Quilt

It is one week into May, and I have my first finish!  I am so excited because this quilt is my May goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes (Link #58), and a Mother's Day gift for my mother-in-law.  I am so happy that I have both goals (one project) done early. 

I have decided to name this quilt "Serenity," because all of the fabrics are so sweet and peaceful.  I hope my mother-in-law likes it and will use it in her blue bedroom.  I finished it this afternoon and was able to take some pictures outside between the rain showers when the sun peeked out just a little. 

I always think that I add a little bit of myself to every quilt I make, but this time I know I did.  Check out this selvage. 

It was so much fun to see my name!!!  Just ignore the date of 1999, please.  ;)

I cut the squares out at 8 inches, which is such an awesome size.  You can get ten squares out of a half yard, and four out of a fat quarter.  It was a great use for the sweet blue and yellow florals in my stash.  I cut out the sashings at 2.5 inches and the border at 6.5 inches. 

I quilted a flower on each floral block by dividing the square into quarters with my Hera marker.  I quilted a quarter inch in on the sashings, and learned that the longarm rulers help a lot! 

I decided to work on my feathers again and quilted them in the border. 

There is a lot of room for improvement in my feathers.  I made my vine curvier, and did a more modern feather which took up the space.  I am not sure I like such a big difference in feather length, but I really like the overall look. 

I used a soft cream print for the backing. 

It looks really cool with the light shining through.  And I can't wait to see how the backing looks after the quilt is washed.  

I bound the quilt by machine in a solid blue.  It is a little darker and gives it a nice frame while still blending with the border. 

Quilt Stats #103
Name: Serenity
Pattern:  Floral blocks with sashing and borders
Quilting design: flowers and feathers
Fabric: from my stash
Amount Used: 7.5 yards
Batting: Warm and White
Size: About 58 x 75 inches
Date finished: May 2014
What I learned:

• Rulers help a lot when quilting with my midarm, Princess. 
• Quilting with the border on the left helped when using my stitch regulator. 
• I need to keep working on feathers.  Practice, practice, practice! 

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day! 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up at some of my favorite places this week including Let's Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday,and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop.  You can see what others are doing by clicking on the buttons on my sidebar.  Plus, I will also link up with Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

P.P.S.  I am linking up with Amy's Free Motion Mondays for feathered quilting.  I want to improve my feathers.  :)

The Month of April & May Goals

April was a busy family month for me, so I only finished one quilt.  It is my "Sunrise, Sunset" quilt which I made for my sister.  I am grateful I participated in A Lovely Year of Finishes, because my goal to finish it in April is what gave me the ability to tell some people I wouldn't be able to work on their project yet. I had to finish this one. :o)  Yet I still did some quilting for other people. 

I quilted and bound this fun hand quilt for my friends T and A. 

I also quilted my niece C's first quilt.  It is this gorgeous Turning Twenty quilt made from the Ooh La La fabric line. 

Plus I made a fun Thomas the Train bag for my little Monkey. 

In addition to this I made another baby blanket using 3 yards of flannel and a pillow case using one yard of teal stash fabric.  I also purchased a half yard each of a red and green. 

So here is my stash report for the month of April.  Not as impressive as March's report, but I still used more than I purchased.  :)

 AprilStash ReportQuilting Cottons
Fabric purchased this month: 1 yard
Fabric used this month:  9.75 yards
Net stash this month: 8.75 yards less
Fabric purchased year to date:  7 yards
Fabric used year to date: 148.25 yards
Net stash year to date:  141.25 yards less

I know that May is going to be busy as well, so I am selecting an easy goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes.  I want to finish a blue and yellow lap quilt to give as a gift.  It will be simple floral squares with blue sashing and borders. 

With that said, I really hope to do more quilting this month.  I wish you all a wonderful month! 

XX,
Jasmine