As I’m sure you know, since you are already here on my blog after all, I haven’t posted in many, many moons. But yes – I am still making baby clothes quilts, memorial quilts & t-shirt quilts, and am busier than ever! Hence the lack of blog posts (plus I forgot my password to get into the blog – oops!)

So I just wanted to write a quick post to make sure everyone knows that everything on my site is current, as I had a few people email me wondering if I was still in business since I hadn’t updated my blog in a while! I am actually more in business than ever before, and I am simply a much better quilter than blogger.

Current turn around time is between 12-16 weeks.

Please email me with any questions, and if at all possible include as much information as possible so that I can get back to you via email, it really is the best way to communicate with me as I am a stay at home mom & my working/correspondence times are typically early, early morning or after 8 PM pacific time! I try my very best to stay on top of all of the email inquiries – I do get a pretty high volume of emails, so if it takes me a few days to get back to you, rest assured that I will within the week (Sunday is my email catch up day!)

Thanks so much!!!

Jamie

How many pieces of clothing should I send?

This is the most common question, and I will have to refer you to either my Pricing page or my Order Form. These pages both let you know my minimums for each size, and they are still correct.

Can I send more than the minimum number listed?

ABSOLUTELY! The minimum is really the bare minimum – the least that you should send – and I wanted to keep it as low as possible so that as many people as possible would be able to get the size they wanted. But the more you send, the more personality the quilt has (and the easier it is for me to piece it all together), so you can send up to double the listed amount if you want!

When I have lots of clothing, I will use all the cute parts first & generally leave out the solid white backs of onesies & t-shirts, etc.

Can you use swimsuits/costumes/curtains/beads/a pillow/dance outfits/hand knitted items/lace/frilly dress?

Simple – if it’s fabric, I can use it! I will find a way! If I can’t (and this has never happened – it’s just my escape clause) I’ll let you know and send the item back with your quilt (uncut/undamaged, of course).

I also have sewn on special beads – let me know if you’re interested in something crafty like that, as it does take a lot of extra hand sewing, and I will quote you a price.

Can I organize my clothing from most important to least important, put notes on the clothing, etc?

Sure!! Anything you want! Lots of people send 2 bags of clothes in the box – the “must-haves” and the “extras.” Other people pins notes to important pieces. Feel free to give me any guidance you would like!

What is your pricing?

Again, this is already on my site: check out either my Pricing page or my Order Form. I make sure to keep it all current.

Do you ever have any specials?

I always give 10% off orders of multiple quilts. If you want to pair up with a friend & send your items in as one order, that’s great! But that’s generally the only special I run – if I do have something else going on, it will be on my home page & on my order form.

How should I send you my clothing?

Whatever works best for you! You can use any shipping method & packaging you would like – in fact, many people put everything in a diaper box, put lots of shipping tape on the seams & stick a USPS label on the front!

That’s all I can think of for now, so I’d better get back to sewing! I will add more as new questions pop up!

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.

How cute is this pillow!?!?!

I really am in love with it! It’s all made out of baby clothes, of course – it’s for a customer who had also ordered a throw quilt, so this matches. I used a little shirt pocket for the tooth pocket, and made a 1-inch flange around the edges. The pillow is actually both a little pillow sewn out of flannel and then a (tiny) quilted sham, so that it can be removed & washed easily, and because I just think it makes a more professional finished product.

I just added these pillows as a new item on my site a few weeks ago – my son lost his first 2 teeth in the past few months and I remembered my grandma making me a little tooth fairy pillow with a little pocket for the tooth. Immediately I thought of all the tiny pockets I work with every day when I make my baby clothes quilts, and the idea was born. I whipped up a few prototypes (now my 9-month-old has a tooth fairy pillow for each individual tooth!) and I am super pleased with the result!

Meet my new Husqvarna Viking Mega Quilter! (stock photo)

my new best friend

Business has been absolutely fabulous lately (thank you, JBQ customers!), and I’ve been quilting like a mad woman. Up until now, I’ve been crafting all my quilts (and everything else) on my trusty-but-basic Janome. The Janome was my Christmas present back in 2002, and has probably sewn itself around the world a few times with the amount of sewing I’ve done in the past 7 years (has it really been 7 years?)

Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE my Janome machine, and will absolutely still use it for fancy stitches and whenever I need the free arm, but the HV Mega Quilter is something else entirely. I have only used it for a day – albeit a day in which I constructed an entire quilt top – but it’s safe to say I’m in love.

It sews like buttah. Honestly! It is just so (sew) smooth and even and fast… I don’t know how I lived without it for so long!

But not only can I sew better & faster, I can also do things I never could do with my standard-sized Janome – I can make full, queen and even king quilts! There is just so much more room in the arm/throat/whatever you refer to it as. I’ve had so many requests over the years for full sized quilts, and I am thrilled to say that I can now do it.

Needless to say, it’s been a great birthday – and it’s not even my birthday yet!

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!

Kali loves her flowers!

All I did was buy some really big, bright fake flowers, some nylon fishing line, some ribbon and a large embroidery hoop. I cut the stems of the flowers, used a heavy duty needle to poke holes in the bases of the flowers & thread through the fishing line. Then I tied the line to the embroidery hoop (I only used the part of the hoop that is one piece, not the adjustable part), wrapped the hoop in ribbon, and tied 2 ribbons across the top, so they would cross in the middle. To the middle I tied a long ribbon that ties to a plant hook on the ceiling.

That’s it! Easy & cute! Sometimes Kalista will wake up and just lie under her flowers for a full hour, just talking to them & staring at them, which gives me time to run down to my studio and work on quilts – win, win!

PS – I also made those crib bumpers… they are made out of light green silky brocade fabric with a subtle cherry blossom print & light purple ribbon ties. Cute!

Now that Kalista is 9 months old, I am finally getting caught up on some things, including my business cards & tags.

Here’s a pic of my new business cards:

My new business cards - pretty snazzy.

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself! Looks like being a design major for my first semester of college actually left me with some usable skills! And hey, I didn’t have to pay anybody to do it!