Still Teaching FMQ Classes

I started teaching FMQ classes last year at my local quilt shop, and I am happy to say that I am still teaching classes there.  I teach about one beginning class every other month.  I really enjoy sharing my love of free-motion quilting with my students.  I have even had one student take my basics class twice.  The classroom is a little small, so I have anywhere from three to eight students in each class.

I took a few pictures before my students came to share here on my blog.  I demonstrate on one of the store machines, usually a Baby Lock Crescendo.  I have some quilts and table runners on display and for examples at the front of the classroom.

Then I displayed my most recent finish, a class sample, and my first FMQ project on the wall.

I tell my students to not compare their beginning to my middle.  I think it helps them to see where I started with my free-motion quilting.

I look forward to teaching more classes this year.

XX,
Jasmine

My Studio

I had a lot of grand ideas to get my room absolutely perfect before sharing it on my blog.  However, I realized that my room is a work in progress.  If I waited until it was exactly how I wanted it, you would be waiting a very long time.  So with that said... 

Welcome to my new craft room which I have decided to now call my studio.  ;)  The picture above is what greets you as you walk in the door.

Directly to the left as you walk in is my closet.  I have plans to hang a flannel sheet on the wall on the left for a large hidden design wall.  My closet mostly houses my scrapbook supplies and papers.  Some batting and quilts are in the back corner.  My threads and a few other quilting things are in the large Kallax/Expedit from my old craft room.

As you walk in a little further, you can see my future design wall and cutting table.  I want my design wall to look like this one at Fresh Lemons Quilts.  My cutting table is about 4 feet by 6 feet and made with two Kallax units and a melamine coated board.  My table is on wheels and is surprisingly easy to move around without slipping when I am using the table. I  will share more details about my cutting table soon.

Just past the cutting table with the quilt rack is a play area.  I have Duplos in the storage cubes for my little visitors to play with.  The quilt rack is there so they don't hit their heads on the cutting table.  There is extra sewing space on the six foot table and my Tiara is right in front of the window.

Then to the right is my old Ikea corner desk and my sewing cabinet.  There is more sewing space at the corner desk.  I hope to be able to start a small quilting group in my new neighborhood.

Continuing to the right is my ironing station.  In the future I want it to look like this one at Hyacinth Quilt Designs.

Coming full circle is my old cutting table which now serves as a computer desk.  To the side of my computer desk is another six foot table  I can set up for even more sewing space.  I estimate that I can fit six more people in here comfortably.

That door leads to the landing at the top of the stairs where we entered.

Thank you so much for stopping by and taking a tour of my new studio.

Monkey and the rest of the Quilt Kisses family hope you stop by again.

Hopefully this stack of mini quilts will be on the wall by then.

My studio is about 14.5 by 20 feet plus the closet and corner with my computer desk.  I love spending time in here.

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 quilts are up to.

Dancing Daisies: A Finished Quilt

I am thrilled to say that my WISP (work in slow progress) is now finished.  It mostly uses the Dancing Daisies tutorial at the Moda Bake Shop, but I decided to hand piece it instead.  I started this quilt, made with Sandy Gervais' Chance of Flowers, nearly two years ago.

I took it many places and worked on it a little at a time.

I even took it to a conference.

After coming home from the conference, I quickly finished the top.  

I basted the quilt and started the quilting while living at my mom's house.  The quilting was inspired by this dancing daisies quilt quilted by Kathleen.

Then I finished up the quilting in my new studio after moving.  (I love the natural light with my machine in front of the window.)

I really just kept adding more and more quilting until it felt done.  Then I did the binding by hand.

I decided to call the quilt Dancing Daisies.  It is the same name as the pattern, but I have been calling it that for two years and nothing else seems to fit.

I love the texture from all of the quilting with the double batting.  The bottom layer is Hobbs 80/20 and the top is Hobbs Wool.

The backing is a cute flower print I found in the clearance section at my LQS in similar colors.

While the quilting doesn't show up as well on the back, the print does hide the mistakes.

I really love this quilt!

It will live on my foot board until I decide to display it somewhere else.

Quilt Stats #179
Name:  Dancing Daisies
Pattern: Modified Dancing Daisies Drunkard's Path
Fabric:  Sandy Gervais' Chance of Flowers
Amount Used:  7 yards
Size:  About 48 x 64 inches
Batting:  Hobbs 80/20 and Hobbs Wool
Date Finished: April 2016
What I learned:

• Hand piecing is fun, but takes a long time.
• The double batting gives great texture, but is very stiff.
• A little steam around the edges can help the binding lay flatter.
• I absolutely love playing with the FMQ.

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 doing.  

Quilting my WISP

I was able to baste my WISP before moving and get started on the quilting.  It has two layers of batting: Hobbs 80/20 and Hobbs Wool.  I am quilting it on my Tiara and love how it is turning out.

I am trying to sneak in some quilting time amidst all the moving and settling, but it is slow going.

XX,
Jasmine

Moving

I am thrilled to say that my new house is finished.  Just a few things need fixing, and we have already started the moving process.  Needless to say that things have been a little crazy over here.

Here is a sneak peek at my craft room over the garage.  :)  We have three tone paint throughout the house.  The wall color is Sherwin Williams  Accessible Beige.  It is a chameleon kind of color, sometimes looking beige and other times looking gray.  I love it!

This is my future design wall, sewing, and ironing area.

I will set up my quilting machine (Tiara) in front of the window and may have a play area for Monkey.

It is a big, beautiful room about 14 by 20 feet.  (Big enough for a long arm in the future.)  I will probably have a home tour when we are more settled.

Thanks for visiting and sharing in my excitement!

XX,
Jasmine

Spring Addition: A Finished Quilt

I recently finished this plus quilt which is a gift for a friend.  It was partly inspired by this quilt at A Maidenhair Fern.  While the greens and blues remind me of summer, they remind my friend of spring.  So I have named this quilt, "Spring Addition."

This will definitely not be my last plus quilt.  I already have plans (and fabric) for a "Valentine Addition."

I quilted this on my Baby Lock Tiara in my little sewing area at my mom's house.

The back of this quilt is a nice spring green minky.  The color is a little darker than shows up in the picture.

I always love how the minky shows off the quilting design.

My friend chose the quilting design which is just loops and lopsided flowers.

I have decided that lopsided flowers are much cuter than perfectly even flowers.  ;)

I bound the quilt in a navy blue textured fabric.  I love how it frames the quilt.

My friend is excited to have her own minky backed quilt after having made four quilts (all with minky on back) for everyone else in her family last year.

I love simple quilts!

Quilt Stats #178
Name:  Spring Addition
Pattern:  Plus quilt from 6 inch cut squares
Fabric:  Scraps from three quilts
Amount Used:  6.5 yards
Size:  About 55 x 77 inches
Batting:  Hobbs 80/20
Date Finished: March 2016
What I learned:

• Don't forget to have a range in values on plus quilts. (I needed a couple more darks.)

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the fun parties on my sidebar including Oh Scrap!

Plus Quilt in Progress

This navy, aqua and green plus quilt is made with the scraps from A Day in the Country.  I had bought quarter yard cuts, but ended up only using 3.5 inch strips of each fabric.

I cut the squares out at six inches because that is what was left of the original quarter yard cuts.  Knowing I wanted to make a lap quilt I did purchase a few more sixth yard cuts last year so that there would be some fabrics with more than one plus.  I started out laying the fabrics on the design floor and realized that I needed a little more variety.  So I pulled out scraps from three other quilts.

The extra fabrics really helped a lot.

I marked the rows with pins, stacked them up, and pretty soon had a finished quilt top.

You can see evidence of the quilt inspector in the picture above.  The monkey feet would not move for the picture.  ;)

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Oh Scrap today.  Check it out to see more fun scrap projects.