Jelly Bean Quilts will be making it’s TV debut this evening, 10PM Central Time, on WHO-TV – the local NBC station here in lovely Des Moines, Iowa! I’ll be talking about “turning my passion into a paycheck!”

You can read the article here: http://www.whotv.com/news/who-story-passion-to-paycheck-111709,0,3491918.story

I’ll definitely post the video on my site after it airs!!

Best Day Ever,

Jamie

This allows you to purchase a quilt for someone as a gift, without having to coordinate getting their clothing, etc.

You simply select which size & what options you would like and I will create a gift certificate for you. I am including a gorgeous handmade certificate, along with some information with pictures of my work, all in beautiful gift wrapping. Your loved one simply needs to send in her certificate with the order form & I will send her back a gorgeous quilt wrapped in a satin ribbon.

If she wants any additional options or a larger size, she can simply select those upon ordering & include a check for the upgraded amount.

If you would also like to include the cost of shipping the clothes to me with your gift (typically around $20-$30, depending on the size) just let me know what size you will be ordering and we can add that to your gift certificate total. I will then include a pre-addressed UPS mailing label that will charge my UPS account – she just needs put the label on her box & drop off the package at any UPS location!

Contact me to order your gift certificate! I will be posting pictures of the whole package soon!

As scary as it seems, Christmas is right around the corner! This is even more important if you’re in the market for a handmade baby clothes or memory quilt, since I need a little time to create your masterpiece.

My current projection for a Christmas deadline (that’s when I need to have your clothing, order form & deposit) is November 10th. That will give me enough time to finish your quilt & ship it back to you before Christmas. However, it’s hard to know how many quilts will be arriving between now & then, so I do have to reserve the right to move this date (I am not superwoman – I can only sew so fast!) So please plan to get your clothing to me early – the earlier the better!

After November 10th, I will likely charge a rush fee of $50 per quilt, and after Thanksgiving I can no longer guarantee Christmas delivery (although I will still try!)

I really try my best to accommodate everyone’s deadlines, so I wanted to get this out there early so that we can all plan ahead. Christmas is my busiest time of year, both for my quilts & my online store, so I do have to put up deadlines, but don’t hesitate to contact me if you are wondering if there’s still time or if I can meet your requests.

Instead of tucking it away in plastic organizers, I love having my thread openly displayed in my studio, on a shelf right behind my sewing machine.

A small glimpse of my thread collection.

The way the colors line up is really inspiring to me – almost like a giant color wheel that’s always changing as I use a spool and put it back in a different spot, or buy a new color and have to find a home for it.

One of the really fun things about creating my memory quilts is that I don’t have any “standard” fabrics that I use for the backings and bindings. I always use 100% cotton for the binding, and I usually use flannel for the backing unless someone has a different request or orders the minky upgrade, but I don’t actually stock any fabrics.

This means I take each individual quilt top to the store once it’s finished to pick out a backing and binding that complement it perfectly. Sometimes I end up going to 3 or 4 stores before I find just the right backing pattern that reflects the style of clothing in the memory quilt, or just the right shade of purple to bring out a little girl’s favorite shirt.

This also means that I’ve accumulated a TON of thread. No 2 shades of pink are the same, and I hate compromising on details.

Luckily I love thread!

If I asked you for a serger for my birthday (next week!), would you know what that is?

Will you be my birthday present?

Didn’t think so.

Why a serger? I’ve been really getting into sewing clothes for myself in my very limited free time (like 2 AM when everyone’s asleep!) I love knits, and thusly feel that a serger is not just a want, but a need. I don’t want an expensive one – just a basic serger will do!

I have the urge to serge. (don’t blame me for the cheese; I’m highly caffeinated, and simultaneously blogging and keeping my 9-month-old from getting into the dog’s water dish.)

Hopefully in the next week I will be able to post some pictures of my very own serger!

I thought it would be fun to add a blog to my site, to give all my clients & potential clients & everyone interested a glimpse behind the scenes here at Jelly Bean Quilts. I’ll be blogging about my quilting, other sewing & web design projects that I’m always working on, various craftiness that goes on when I’m not sewing, and of course my family, community and whatever else I feel like!

Hopefully you all will enjoy my nonsense!

By the way… my goal was to get this blog running ASAP, so it’s not visually exactly the same as my site. You probably don’t care, and it’s perfectly functional and fabulous in every way other than not being totally visually integrated. So, to the web designers & devlopers out there, my apologies. It bothers the web designer in me, too.  I might fix it, and I might not. But I think I’d rather just blog!