Blogiversary

This has been a crazy month, but I did finish three bags for my boys. 

I love how these show their personalities:  diggers for Monkey, Angry Birds for Panda, and a purple animal print for Cheetah.  What are they keeping in their bags?

Their own soccer balls.  (I love Monkey's tiny soccer ball!) 

This time I started with rectangles 18 x 21 inches and sewed the bag together completely.  Then I added the black casing for the ties.  This makes it so there is no raw edge rubbing against the ties. 

However, it adds extra bulk and the bag doesn't close as tightly. 

The idea for this casing came from the drawstring bag tutorial at A Quilting Life.  While I love having no raw edges, I'm not sure if I will do it again.  I do see lots more bags in my future.  They are great for organizing things.  I may make some for the boys winter mittens and hats. 

Plus I have started the quilt for my sister-in-law for Christmas. 

It's another twister quilt made my way.  I hope to finish this before Thanksgiving.  Then I will only have a table runner, two pillow cases, and a tree skirt left to make for Christmas.  It will be nice to do more sewing without deadlines. 

I have been so focused on getting ready for Christmas that I almost forgot that I started blogging in November 2013.  This has been a wonderful year for me, and I treasure the friendships I have made with other bloggers. 

So to say, "Thanks for making blogging worthwhile," I am going to have a giveaway.  :)  I actually bought two panels of Jeepers Creepers for a Halloween quilt and ended up using only one. 

So if you are interested in my other panel plus a yard of candy corn fabric, just leave me a comment telling me what your favorite holiday is.  This giveaway is open to anyone. I will keep it open through Friday and notify the winner through email. (So make sure I can reach you.)  I will then update this post. 

Update:  This giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations, Vicki!

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I am linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social.  (Link on sidebar). 

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. 

Wild About You: A Speedy Sneaky Finish

I can hardly believe that I have already finished my last sneaky sewing quilt. I was just hoping to have it finished by Thanksgiving, and I am totally shocked it is already done.  It feels incredible!  Now my only challenge is waiting until Christmas morning to gift them.  ;)

This last one is for Cheetah, who is getting a little suspicious.  I will admit that in my desire and hurry to get it done I did some sewing while the boys were hanging out with Dad at home.  Cheetah knew he was banned from the craft room.  I tried to throw him off track by telling him that I promised him something fuzzy and not necessarily a quilt.  So now he is thinking about fuzzy pillows. 

It was inspired by his love of... cheetahs. In case you don't remember, his first quilt, "Fuzzy Cheetah," looks like this. It is 42 x 60 inches with minky on the back, and he has been wanting a bigger one for a long time.

I started out with a plan for a simple patchwork quilt like this. 

It would have been cute, but the day before I went to go buy fabric I saw a HST quilt with animal prints made by Cynthia of Quilting is More Fun than Housework.  I immediately changed my mind, and decided to do HST instead.  Thanks, Cynthia! 

Here is my original fabric pull. 

I see a giraffe, leopard, zebra, crocodile, and something tigerish (I think it said Coffee Cat).  Plus a brown minky and Kona Black.  I decided to add the left overs of Leonard's quilt so I could use something more cheetah-like. 

At first I was going to center the diamond, but because I wasn't going to add borders, I wanted to place the diamond off center.  I know Cheetah likes things symmetrical, so back in October I drew a quilt that was off center (when we were coloring together as a family).  I showed him my quilt and asked what he thought.  He really liked it even though it was not perfectly symmetrical.  Sneaky, huh?  That meant I could do it my way.  Although my symmetrical-loving husband is still getting used to it.  :D

Because Cheetah is worse than his younger brothers at leaving his room 3-4 times after he has gone to bed, I basted the quilt in my craft room.  It was a tight fit, but I was able to do it after moving my cutting table. 

I really love the way it turned out.  I quilted it simply by stitching in the ditch on the black. 

I also quilted a plus in the center diamond, because the quilting seemed too far apart.

You can see the quilting better on the back.

I bound it by machine with the Kona Black.  There is a tan label that I didn't take a picture of.  I decided to call it "Wild About You" because it was made with love for him.  I'm sure that once he sees it he will let me know what I should have called it.  Such a critic.  ;)

I really hope this is grown-up enough that it will last him through his teenage years.  (He will officially be a teenager next year--eek!)  What do you think?

Quilt Stats #118
Name: Wild About You
Pattern: HST finishing at 6 inches
Fabric: From my LQS and Kona Black
Amount Used: 7 yards
Batting: Warm and White
Size: About 60 x 72 inches
Date Finished: November 2014
What I Learned:

• Not all minky is as generous with the 60 inches wide.  I had to use the selvage and barely had enough, even though it was sewn with a generous quarter inch seam.  (This is the only one I've done out of eight like that.)
• Frixon pens are awesome for marking the line on HST. 

I feels so free now that these are all done.  And my next project?  Drawstring bags for my boys.  Monkey keeps asking for his dumper quilt, even though I tell him it is for a bag.  He helped me pick out the fabric.  :)  Then I have some non-sneaky Christmas sewing to do. 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I am linking up with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop (I am totally doing the happy dance) and Finish it up Friday. 

P.P.S.  I am also linking up with Jennie of Porch Swing Quilts for her Santa's Sweatshop linky party.

Things That Go: A Super Sneaky and Fast Finish

I am thrilled to say that I have already finished my November goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes (Link #29).  It is my second to last super sneaky sewing project for Christmas this year. Once I got the HST trimmed and laid out, it went really fast--less than two days!  I will admit that the top was done when I posted yesterday, but it wasn't finished until today.  ;)  It was hard to stop sewing to blog about my goal.   

Monkey's love of trucks and orange was the inspiration for this quilt.  And my husband helped me come up with the name which was inspired by the minky backing and a favorite book. 

We can see Cars, Trucks, and Things that Go (book by Richard Scarry) so we decided to call it "Things That Go!" 

I was actually able to sew the quilt top while Monkey was in the room with me.  He wasn't that interested.  But he once caught a glimpse of the backing when I was showing a friend and said, "That's mine."  So there was some nap time and late night sewing involved so he wouldn't catch another glimpse of the backing.  Plus some nap time photography and blogging.  I had to bribe Panda to stay in his room so I could take pictures during nap time. I took them as quickly as possible, because I didn't know if he would change his mind.

I quilted it simply by stitching in the ditch around the chevrons.  It is super soft and snugly.

I bound it in a cute green made by Northcott.  I love this circle print.  I did include an orange corner label, but didn't take a picture of it. 

It feels incredible to be this close to my goal. 

Quilt Stats #117
Name: Things That Go!

Pattern: Chevron made with HST finishing at 6 inches

Fabric: From my LQS and Kona White

Amount Used: 7 yards

Batting: Warm and White

Size: About 60 x 72 inches

Date Finished: November 2014

What I Learned:

• Pinning the points on the chevron was not optional.
• Trimming the HST took longer than piecing the top.

 Maybe I can finish Cheetah's quilt this week too.  I had no idea I could finish this one so quickly.  I am really looking forward to some not so sneaky sewing.

XX,

Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Let's Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday, and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop (Links on Sidebar).  Plus I will be linking up for Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts. 

P.P.S.  I am also linking up with Jennie of Porch Swing Quilts for her Santa's Sweatshop linky party.

The Month of October and November Goals

October was a great sewing month even with Fall Break and colds going through the family.  I was able to finish my October goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes which was to make a Halloween quilt.  We have enjoyed Happy Haunting in the kitchen so much that it is hard to take it down now that it is November. 

I also finished up some small projects to keep the kids from getting suspicious about my sneaky sewing.  Here are two Halloween table toppers.  One is for me and the other was a gift for a friend. 

And I used up the scraps from Scatter Sunshine to make a doll quilt turned table/piano topper. 

But to me, the most exciting finish was Beary Blue. 

It is a gift for Panda for Christmas and is inspired by the quilt in Bear Stays Up for Christmas. 

I almost forgot about a little finish for my friend that I never blogged about.  I took a cross-stitch that her sister did for her and turned it into a mini quilt.  It is about 12 inches square. 

My part was very simple.  Her sister put in the work for this awesomeness. 

Towards the end of the month I went to my first Free Sew at my LQS, and I didn't do any sewing.

However, I did trim 120 6.5 inch HST blocks for Monkey's Christmas quilt.  Such a great place to work on sneaky sewing. 

So my November goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes, is to finish Monkey's quilt.  Here is what it looked like on the design wall. 

It was up there for less than an hour before I labeled the top of every column and stacked up the blocks.  Now they are hidden and ready for some sneaky sewing.  ;)

But I also hope to finish Cheetah's quilt.  His HST blocks are also all trimmed now. 

It will be so nice to finish these so I can work on non-sneaky Christmas gifts.  Are you working on Christmas gifts?

XX,
Jasmine