Scrappy Totes

It may have taken a long time, but I was able to turn my scrappy panels into scrappy bags.

The bags were inspired by Amanda Jean's scrappy purse, but pieced using the pattern in Christina Cameli's Scrappy Market Tote class which I watched on Bluprint.  Her class was wonderful. 

I finished the big one first.  It was the size in Christina's pattern.

And the other side.

After awhile I finished the smaller one.  I just altered the size of the panel and straps from Christina's pattern.

And the other side.

Here the cute bags are together.

There is actually a bigger size difference than appears in the photo above.  Here the small one is inside the larger one.

Now they are hanging on the quilt rack by my cutting table waiting to be used.

I love how they turned out, but next time I would use cool colors for one and warm colors for the other.  I think I would like a more limited palette.  I would love to make more bags like these when I have time.

XX,
Jasmine

Table Runners

I was able to finish up the Halloween table runner I started earlier this year.  It was pieced with my scraps and got some simple quilting, orange backing, and orange binding.  It is all ready for October this year.

I also finished up the Amanda Murphy scrap table runner.  I didn't want binding, so added the backing and batting right sides together then turned it right side out.  Then it got some top stitching around the edge and simple quilting.  I love how it looks in the basement.

Even small finishes feel so good.

XX,
Jasmine

Bunny's Princess Quilt

My mom embroidered these darling princess blocks for Bunny.

 

Her hands were hurting and she struggled to pin the minky blocks together.  So I told her that I would be happy to finish it up.  I pieced the blocks together and then added a darker border.

Then I loaded it on the Bernina Q24 and quilted it with some large loops to fill the empty space.  I used my finger to "mark" the loops on the block before quilting.  It was my first time quilting on the long arm with minky on both sides.  It turned out great!

I added a binding and finished up the little pillow she also embroidered.

The backing is the same dark purple as the border and binding.

My mom was very happy to have it finished.  So she came over to gift it to Bunny.  Bunny was being very shy.

Bunny loves her princess quilt from Grandma!  My mom has already embroidered some blocks for Kitty.  Here is a sneak peek at her pony quilt.  I've promised my mom to finish it as well.

The girls' quilts are so cute!

XX,
Jasmine

Organizing My Studio

My studio is one of the many things that has undergone some changes this year.  The picture above is what it looked like at the beginning of 2020.  The following are pictures taken at the same time moving around the room.

We got a pop up camper from Ikea for Miss Bunny to play in.  It is light enough that it moves around the room when I need to use the design wall. 

My sewing cabinet had moved closer to the window a couple years ago. 

Moving the sewing cabinet there opened up some more space in front of the Bernina Q24.

The Baby Lock Tiara and my laptop were near the door. 

The closet contained both scrapbooking and quilting items, and it was sometimes hard to walk to the end of it. 

After playing with scraps I decided to do some more organizing.  The following are changes made this year.  This is what it now looks like from the entrance.

Another Kallax unit replaced the old brown cubes which were damaged in our move. It now holds my quilting stash (the top four cubes) and my baby flannel stash (the bottom four cubes).

Here is what it looks like with the camper in front. 

I got some bins for a cleaner look at my cutting table.  My magazines, quilting books, tools, threads, and batting scraps are in my cutting table. 

My scraps are all in the Kallax unit which is closer to the window.  That is a Brabantia ironing board my husband surprised me with for Christmas a year ago.  It is the size C (49 x 18 inches).  It is very steady and I love it. 

Not much has changed over here by the Bernina.

The biggest change is over here.  My laptop space became a home office space for my husband.  He has been able to work from home frequently during quarantine times.  There is also a play pen for when Miss Kitty comes to the studio/office. 

Another change is that my closet is now mostly my scrapbooking stuff.  The walkway is also more open after organizing things. 

I like that my cardstock (which I accessed the most) is now more accessible.  It used to be on the bottom shelf of the shelves in the back of the closet.  

There is a hidden corner in the closet between the shelves and the Expedit unit.  I roll up my seasonal wall hangings and store them there.  It works very well.  There is probably about 20 quilts in the small corner. 

There wasn't a lot of big changes since the beginning of the year, but it feels nicer with even less clutter.

Thanks again for stopping by my freshly organized studio.  Click here to see how my studio has changed over time. 

XX,
Jasmine

Masks

Sometimes it is hard to take a break from what we want to sew to make what we need to sew, especially when our sewing time is so limited.  ;)  That is the case with masks.  They are sadly necessary, so something worth sacrificing for our loved ones.  I combined three different tutorials to make the mask how I wanted.  Here is a test mask I made. 

I've also made some masculine ones for the men in my life:  Cheetah, my husband, my dad, and my father-in-law. 

Then there were roses for my mom, her best friend (an honorary gradma), and my mother-in-law. 

The kids got slightly smaller and much cuter masks.  Pink for Bunny. 

Bright and orange for Panda.

Bright and blue for Monkey. 

(Please note that Panda and Monkey got haircuts right after these pictures were taken.)

I hope you are all staying safe and well. 

XX,
Jasmine

Playing with Scraps

After putting away my Skittles quilt I was still in the mood to play with scraps.  Scraps are great when you have limited time to sew.  I first pulled out my five inch width scraps.  I sewed them into rows and then into panels for two bags.  It used up all but a few of the five inch pieces.  

Then I pulled out all of my Halloween scraps.  I just started sewing like sizes together and came up with a table runner which fits perfectly on the Ikea Kallax unit right by the craft room.  

It is wild and crazy, but Cheetah likes that it is at least symmetrical.  All the smaller pieces ended up in the middle.  The cat is my favorite part.  

It used up all but these few pieces.  (The grid on my cutting table is half inch squares.)

 

Then I pulled out some scraps from my Amanda Murphy quilts.  They became this blended table runner.  

The scraps filled up my design wall and were fun to work with.  

So I went from one UFO/WISP (Skittles) to five unfinished projects.  It is definitely not normal for me, but it was very therapeutic.  

XX,

Jasmine

Skittles Quilt in Progress

Three years ago I started a hand applique project inspired by the 365 quilts I loved.  Before going on a road trip I traced four inch circles onto iron-on interfacing, sewed the circles to sixteen scraps, turned them right side out, and ironed them onto gray squares.  Even though we were in the car for several hours, I only hand sewed three and a half around the edge.  I realized I didn't like doing it.  

I thought about the project for a couple years and wondered if I should change my methods.  I had machine appliqued some circles at a retreat a few years ago using a blind hem stitch.  Machine applique is so much faster!

 I decided that appliqueing the circles by machine was a much better idea.  Then I could work on my only UFO.  I pulled out the circles I had started and all the five inch scraps I had.  Then I placed them on my design wall.  There were 93 different fabrics.

It wasn't nearly enough for a lap quilt.  So I cut into my stash for more variety.  This is definitely a case where the scraps were multiplying.  There was now 140 different fabrics.

I worked on one color at a time for a little while.  Pink and purple were my first choice.  Even with only working on it for twenty to thirty minutes at a time things got done.

But I didn't like them all in rows.  So I played with the layout.

Much better.  I ended up preparing the rest of the circles.  This could be done out of the craft room while watching the kids.

Things went much faster after that.  (This layout was inspired by Kelly's Shattered Rainbow scrap quilt.)

I totally loved it, but did't feel like piecing all the blocks together in little spurts of time.  So it is now sitting in a box, stacked in columns, and waiting some more.

XX,
Jasmine