While the husband's away the wife will....sew

Andy's been out of town for the past few days, so I'm glad I have a few projects to keep me busy.  This past month, I've traveled a couple times with him on business to Victoria, which is about 2.5 hours away.  I just pack up my sewing machine and set up shop at the hotel, it's really quite nice.  However, this time I wasn't able to go because we're dogsitting for some neighbors.  So, to occupy my lonely nights, I've been working on some new things.  I'm still working on my quilts, but sometimes, it's nice to have a little break from a project and work on something new.  I borrowed a bib from a neighbor, made myself a little pattern, and dug up some scraps from prior projects to make this:

It was pretty quick to make once I figured out all the sizing.  I think I might try making some more in different designs and in the future sell them on etsy.  It's a great way to use the smaller fabric scraps that are left over from the blankets.  I'm also working on some burp cloth patterns as well.  We'll see how those turn out!   I like making smaller things because they are quicker and use less fabric, which make them more profitable.  Stay tuned for some more designs!

The Quilt Challenge Part I (and a little bit of naming history)

Lately, many people have been asking me where "jslik" came from. Well, in college, I was dubbed "jLin" by my friends (with Lin being my maiden name).  I think the nickname stemmed from a pair of sunglasses I wore that were JLo worthy.  As I am now married, I can't really go by jLin anymore. So, taking the same naming convention and incorporating my new last name, Sokolik, I am now jslik (pronounced like j-slick). Well, there it is, that's how the name for my new business came about.

Anyway, on to my latest project. This one has been quite interesting. A friend approached me about doing a keepsake quilt for her two young children that would incorporate some fabrics from their father's old baby blanket (which is about 30+ years old and in ragged shape). She had originally asked her mother-in-law to do the blanket and her mother-in-law bought some fabric to add to the blanket, but passed away before she could make anything out of it. So, I was given the challenge to use these fabrics presented before me to make a cute blanket....

Not very inspiring, I thought...not to add that the darker blue fabric had a scary woman staring back at me and vicious coyotes that basically destroyed the "cute" factor I was striving for.  I'm not sure I know any child would want a blanket with that scary woman watching over them.

On top of that, the mother-in-law had already started cutting up ancient baby blanket....but none of us could make out exactly what purpose a couple of half moon shapes and a few shredded strips would have.  Her design ideas were lost to us.

So, this week, I've been working hard on making these quilts and once I'm done I will post the results for all to see....It's gonna be a challenge!  My goal is to create two crib-sized quilts out of these fabrics (with the help of a few extra fabrics).  One will be for a boy and one for a girl....stay tuned to see what happens!

Elephants

I've been working hard this week on a special blanket commissioned by my friend Erica. I found a great line of fabrics called Arcadia by Sanae for Moda fabrics. There were some awesome floral/bird/swirly prints, but we decided to stick with the leaf print since the baby's gender is not determined. To make this blanket extra special, I added a couple of cute elephant appliques. The elephants turned out to be a little more difficult than I thought (well actually alot more difficult) but I always enjoy a challenge. I really like how it turned out.

A few of my favorite things

I thought I'd dedicate this post to some of my past projects. I set up a link to the right where you can click to see My Design Album that has pictures of all of my projects.



This was a blanket I made for some friends whose last name is Bird. Hence, the appliqued birds:





This one I did for Baby Stella. Black and white toile print with a satin ruffle and bow:








Baby Stella, being my first "niece" got spoiled with a quilt in addition to her blanket:





I found this cute airplane fabric by Michael Miller and did a little extra embroidery on the flap:





A Loopy blanket:





A couple of my patchwork designs:







A close up of some of my embroidery work:

Introducing jslik designs

Well, I guess it's about time to start my blog. I've been pondering for weeks now and after much prodding from my good friend alau...I've finally decided to start posting. So here it is: I, through jslik designs, will be sharing with everyone my latest projects (as well as a random thought or two).

So, a little about my fledgling business, jslik designs. My experience began with a job as a seamstress for a high-end baby bedding company. For a few months, I worked on developing my skills and learning some tricks of the trade. However, after one frustrating day where I spent all day re-doing two green-leopard-printed-pink-velvet-ruffled pillowcases and only making $14, I decided to switch gears.

Then started all the baby showers. As I find myself amidst the prime childbearing ages, there has been an onslaught of babies amongst my friends. So, I put my seamstress skills to use in making baby blankets as gifts. One thing led to another, and now I'm taking custom orders for blankets. I love every bit of it - I (or my client) get to choose the fabrics (that's right - no more green leopard prints), I design the blanket, and then put it all together. I love the challenge of creating something unique and special. When it comes to sewing, the love shows in the little details like an extra bow, or a cute little applique. There's nothing more rewarding than seeing a beautiful baby wrapped up in one of my creations! I love babies and I love sewing, so why not make beautiful sewn things for babies?

So, there you have it - the start of my new business adventure...should be interesting!