Apple Quilt

I decided that I really needed another seasonal quilt for the month of September.  I bought Lori Holt's book Quilty Fun when it first came out specifically for the apple pattern.  There were a lot more tiny pieces than I normally like to use so it took me a couple years to actually decide to make the apple quilt.

To simplify it a little, I changed her pieced border to a plain border.  2 inch finished four patches are not for me!  ;)  Some of the fabrics are scraps (like the stems, leaves, and a few apples) and some were from my new stash.

The apple cores actually came from an ombre yellow fabric.  The darker the apple, the darker the core.  I like the subtle effect from the ombre fabric.

I quilted it on my little Pfaff because I already had bobbins wound to match all the different Aurifil threads I used.

I backed the quilt in Kona White and I love how it became a two sided apple quilt.

Quilting it was so much fun.

I bound the quilt in the same red print as the border.

I love how it turned out!

The pattern originally had six apple core blocks which don't have leaves.  I decided to just make five, so one uneaten apple has a ghost leaf.  Did you notice?  

Quilt Stats #207
Name:  Apple Quilt
Pattern: From Quilty Fun by Lori Holt
Fabrics Used: Kona White and various stash fabrics
Batting: Warm and White
Size: About 34 x 46 inches
Date Finished: 2017

I love having it hang by my stairs in the great room.

It helps draw out the red in my September Decor.  (The red minky you see is actually Christmas Addition folded so only the red shows.)

Now I need a red, orange, and yellow table runner.

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the fun parties on my sidebar.  Check them out for more quilty inspiration.

More Minky Blankets

My boys loved the first minky blanket that I made so much that I had to make another one.  They call the first one the "Elephant Blanket" and told me that the second one needed elephants as well.

I gathered my minky scraps, added some new elephant fabric, and pieced it together.

The backing is this ultra fuzzy gray rosette minky.

It has scraps from nine different quilts including a couple different reds and blues.  It finishes about 60 by 70 inches.

I love how the blue brightens up a black, white and red quilt.

While I had all my minky scraps out and my studio was already a fuzzy minky mess, I couldn't resist making one more.

This mini minky blanket finishes about 30 inches square.

It has scraps from six different projects.  Monkey loves it!

The backing is this red dotty minky.  It was much harder than even the rosette minky to work with due to how stretchy it is.

My boys have already asked for another elephant blanket.  The cute elephant minky also comes in navy blue.  We'll see how long it takes until I cave in and buy it.  It took over an hour to clean my studio after making both of these.

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the fun parties on my sidebar.  Check them out for more quilty inspiration.

A Sweet Surprise

I love teaching free motion quilting classes at my local quilt shop.

I teach the basics class about 3-4 times each year.

I had a sweet surprise in my last class.

My high school sewing teacher (one of my favorite teachers ever) was one of my students.  It was wonderful seeing her again.  The student had become the teacher.  ;)

XX,
Jasmine

Punny Vortex: A Finished Challenge Quilt

Here is my finished fat quarter challenge quilt for this year at my local quilt shop.

The challenge was to use 80% of the fat quarter.  I talked about making it and using Amanda Jean's Scrap Vortex Quilt Along in my previous post.

I decided to name it "Punny Vortex" due to all the quilty puns from the license plate fabric.

It was really fun reading them as I worked on the project.

If the quilt looks a little familiar that is because I have made a couple other scrap vortex quilts in bright colors before.

From a distance they really blend in to each other.

The big one is still my favorite cuddle quilt that I keep in my bedroom.  I will probably hang this one in my studio once I get it back from the quilt shop.

I quilted it in a spiral with a shiny gray polyester embroidery thread like the smaller scrap vortex.

I bound it in blue to keep it similar to the others as well.

It is a little hard to see, but the backing is a gray with concentric circles formed by dots.

Here it is closer up.

I love how it turned out!

Quilt Stats #206
Name:  Punny Vortex
Pattern:  Scrap Vortex
Fabrics Used: Timeless Treasures License Plates and Scraps
Batting: Warm and White
Size:  About 40 by 52 inches
Date Finished:  2017

I could still make more scrap vortex quilts.  They are so much fun.

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 making.

Challenge Quilt in Progress

This is my third year participating in the summer fat quarter challenge at my LQS.  We have to use 80% of the fat quarter in a project that is not bigger than 48 by 60 inches.

I must admit that I wasn't very inspired in the beginning.  Good thing that they gave us two months to complete the challenge.  I thought about making a bag, a basket, or an apron.  But I was not going to make a quilt with the liscense plate fabric.  Famous last words.  I did make a quilt!  But I decided to cut it out so that you couldn't really tell it was license plates.  I like the quilty phrases or puns as my dad would call them.

Here are the license plates after cutting the fat quarter apart.

Here are what they look like trimmed and all lined up.  I did add some extra phrases from yardage that I bought.  So yes, I have more of this (originally) uninspiring fabric.  However, I think one or two on a zipper pouch or small project would be really cute.

I definitely used more than 80% of a fat quarter.  Here are all my trimmings.

I decided to "Cut the Scrap" and go "Scrap Crazy" making another scrap vortex quilt using Amanda Jean's quilt along from a couple years ago.

I like to use up my string scraps and chain sew as much as possible.

After sewing around three sides of each phrase I put it up on my design wall.

I thought it was too dark so I added some lighter scraps.

I liked it better and kept going until my quilt top finished about 40 by 52 inches.

Because this will be a wall hanging for my studio, I decided to try quilting it in a large spiral.

I used the built in walking foot on my old Pfaff.  In the picture above you can see that I  used my Hera Marker and marked some concentric circles to use as guides to keep my spiral circular.  It helped a lot when quilting a spiral on a quilt this big.

After five hours of walking foot quilting, I quilted the very center with my free motion quilting foot.  I tried to spiral in towards a little spiral on the fabric.

Good enough for me.  I didn't feel like unpicking and trying again.

I will share the finished quilt later this week.

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with some of the parties on my sidebar.  Check them out for more quilty inspiration.

September Decor and More

I was enjoying the red, white, and blue decorations so much that I just barely switched them around. I love how the red, orange, and yellow combination brightens up my great room.

I realized that I don't have anything else in that color combination.  So I pulled out my old lace table topper.  My mom always used one just like it on this table when I was growing up.  It brings back lots of memories.

Although, it makes me want to stop everything and make something red, orange, and yellow.  ;)

I do have a back to school quilt which I hung.

It is sweet, but not as bright.

Most of what little sewing time I had this summer went to making baby gifts.  Here are ten more, mostly for baby boys.  They aren't quite as interesting as quilts.  ;)

Two were quilted by my mom on the Bernina Q24 and eight were quilted by me with my Baby Lock Tiara.  They all have Hobbs 80/20 batting.  Half were Franken-Batts.  It felt good to use up batting scraps.

I did all of the bindings.

Now I need to go deliver them.

I often wonder if I should simplify my baby gifts, but then I always go back to these sweet little flannel quilts that are about 42 by 54 inches.  They are fun to make.

XX,
Jasmine