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

Matching Quilts

Last year I made matching quilts for my matching girls. 

The quilts started with fabric pulls from my stash.  Pink for Miss Kitty's pink nursery. 

Purple for Miss Bunny's purple bedroom. 

I had 30 fabrics each in pink and purple, so I cut four inch strips from each fabric. 

I cut each strip in half at the fold and sewed them in sections jelly roll race style.  Three pieces made one row, eleven and a half pieces made four rows, and forty-five and a half pieces made sixteen rows.  The tops came together pretty quickly.  The quilt tops finish about 58 inches by 74 inches. 

The purple quilt was quilted on my Tiara because the backing was not long enough to use the long arm.  It was quilted between the rows to stabilize it and then with hearts. 

The pink quilt was quilted on the Bernina Q24.  It just has the heart quilting. 

These took a few months start to finish.  The tops were pieced before Kitty was born and quilted after she was born during some long naps.  I was able to get the bindings on the week before Christmas.  Just in time to put under the tree. 

They have been getting lots of snuggles this year. 

Bunny was kind enough to share her quilt with Kitty one day. 

Kitty already loves brightly colored fabric.  Gotta start them young, right? 

XX,
Jasmine

Botanical Quilt

One of my neighbors had chemo therapy last fall.  I decided to make him a quilt before he started his treatments.  One of his hobbies is gardening, so I thought he wouldn't mind some subtle flowers on his quilt. I used a botannical layer cake from Craftsy and a very simple design so I could finish it quickly.  Each block only has one seam.  It doesn't get much simpler than that. 

I quilted it with a large stipple on the Bernina Q24 because my baby belly was pretty big by then.  It was all I could do. 

It has a blue minky on the back. 

Oreo (a year old in this picture) was very curious about what I was doing. 

I bound the quilt in a solid teal. 

He loved the quilt and said it had his favorite color (not that I remember what it is now).

Sometimes super simple is just what the doctor ordered. 

XX,
Jasmine

Miss A's First Quilt

This is Miss A's first quilt.  She pieced it with my mother using the basic Turning 20 pattern.  I pieced the backing and loaded it on the frames. 

Miss A originally wanted me to quilt it with the spirals and paisleys combo, but that would have been too difficult with my baby belly (and pregnancy brain).  She chose the simpler spirals design instead of waiting until I could quilt something more complex. 

I bound the quilt by machine for her. 

It may look familiar because Miss H used a matching kit for her first quilt.  While Miss H has a pink backing, Miss A has a blue backing. 

She did a great job piecing.  It turned out so cute! 

We were able to finish it in time for her to take it to college. 

I love quilting with family.

XX,
Jasmine

Limeade

A friend of mine was going to start radiation treatment.  Another friend was collecting items for a care package for her.  One week before the deadline I was going to make her a coaster.  Six days before the deadline I was going to make her a placemat. Five days before the deadline I was going to make her a wall hanging.  Four days before the deadline I decided she really needed a cuddle quilt and I better start working on it.

I chose to make another disappearing nine patch quilt in her favorite color: green.  I used navy blue for the accent color because she has a navy blue couch.  The top came together very quickly.  All but a few of the greens came from my stash.  I was able to find some lime green minky on sale and loaded it on the Bernina Q24.  

My baby belly made quilting on the longarm difficult, so I quilted it with spirals which I can practically do in my sleep (or one handed).

The spirals are consistently inconsistent because it was harder than normal to keep them uniform.

I bound the quilt in the navy blue solid.

Then I took it outside for a few pictures.

The picture above is the most accurate for the colors in the quilt.  

Then I tied it with ribbon and brought it to our mutual friend one day before the deadline. 

So many people brought gifts for our friend that the care package became a tower of boxes.  It helped her  feel loved through a difficult time.  I named it Limeade because I hope she can continue to make the limes she is given into limeade.

XX,
Jasmine