Today on the blog, it's time to introduce you (officially) to my other business/the "big sister" of ListaLu: Jelly Bean Quilts!

I always assume people were fans of Jelly Bean Quilts before they found ListaLu. After all, my original intention when I created the Create Your Own Baby Clothes Quilt book & kit was to have something to offer the hundreds of fans asking for a tutorial, tips, a pattern, or even just a cheaper option than a custom quilt! 

But ListaLu has truly taken on a life of it's own, so I thought it would be fun to chat with you DIYers about the other side of my baby-clothes-quilt-making life!

Jelly Bean Quilts is the custom baby clothes memory quilt business I've lived & breathed full time since 2008. People from all over the world fill out an online order form (I have a bunch of sizes & options to choose from!) and ship me their box of clothes. I turn their clothing into an amazing quilt, and ship it back!

The quilts are a little bit different than my ListaLu pattern, because to be honest I don't use a pattern! I lay out each quilt as a piece of art, constantly shifting things to fit and balance all the pieces. 

Here are some pictures of my work over at Jelly Bean Quilts:

I offer sizes ranging from a Small Throw/Crib Quilt (40x54) for $550 all the way up to a King (120x120) for $1550, and all the sizes in between! I also offer throw pillows, pillow shams, and my extra-special tooth fairy pillows that use one of those tiny pockets we all love so much! 

My waiting list is pretty long - it takes about 10 months from ordering to receive your item. This is purely just a factor of how many orders I have in line - I usually have about 40-50 quilts in progress!

I absolutely adore my job! I love to sew all day long while listening to podcasts, and I love that each quilt is a unique creation all it's own. I don't think I could mass produce one or two items over & over!

If you have decided you would like to have a baby clothes quilt custom made, head on over to JellyBeanQuilts.com to fill out your order form!

You might be looking through my products, wondering if a book or a kit is the right product for you. Let me help!

There are 3 ways to get all of the info you need to create an amazing baby clothes quilt:

Instant PDF Download

This is the whole book, instantly downloadable in PDF form, and can be read on your computer or tablet. It is the exact same book that is printed in spiral-bound hard copy that you can purchase individually or in my kit. It included a second PDF that is a printer-friendly version of my cutting templates, printable on 2 sheets of regular printer paper on any home printer. You will be sent a link immediately for both downloads, and can access them again in your account on my website.

It also includes access to my 2+ hours of video tutorials, which are password protected right here on my site. The password is in the "Online Extras" chapter of the book.

If you like ebooks, frequently shop at a fabric store that has apparel fabrics and interfacings (like Joanns,) and want to purchase your own materials, interfacing, etc, this is a great option for you!

Hard Copy Book

This option is for my physical book, 70 - 8.5x11 pages that are spiral bound and printed on gorgeous high-quality paper with over 100 pictures. It also comes with a pre-printed cutting template, plus access to the downloadable template if you need to re-print in the future. I find it much easier to have craft/sewing books in their physical form so I can keep them open to the page I'm on, have them next to my project as I'm working, etc... I use my tablet for a million things, and with how-to and cook books I feel like I can never find my spot again! So I wanted to make sure the "real" book would be available for all of you who love hard copy sewing books!

The hard copy also includes access to my 2+ hours of video tutorials, which are password protected right here on my site. The password is in the "Online Extras" chapter of the book.

If you love a beautiful hard-copy sewing book, frequently shop at a fabric store that has apparel fabrics and interfacings (like Joanns,) and want to purchase your own materials, interfacing, etc, this is the perfect option for you!

Create Your Own Baby Clothes Kit

This option is the complete kit, and includes just about everything you need to complete your quilt. It includes the spiral bound book and pre-printed cutting templates. It also includes the fabrics and supplies you will need - interfacing for the squares, white minky for the back, thread, pins, and safety pins. It comes in an adorable box, and makes a great gift for Mother's Day or a baby shower!

The kit also comes complete with access to the 2 hours of online video tutorials, as well as to the printable templates should you need to reprint for future quilts.

All you need to have on hand to complete your quilt are your baby clothes (about 30 items, but this is very flexible as you will see in the book!), a sewing machine (any machine with work!), an iron, and scissors. If you have sewn before at all you should have those things on hand, but your can add my favorite scissors to your kit right here on ListaLu.com if you feel like your scissors are a little dull.

If you want to order once and have exactly the things you need - not having to run around to fabric stores to find the materials and notions - this kit is perfect for you! This kit is also a fantastic, unique gift!

ListaLu Handmade Memories is the retail arm of Jelly Bean Quilts, and is owned by Jamie Wilson (that's me!) - the leading maker of custom baby clothes quilts known all over the world for modern designs and heirloom quality (not to toot my own horn or anything, but I really do have customers all over the world! I even had a family fly to Phoenix from Luxembourg to drop off 5 suitcases of clothing, and fly back in 6 months to pick up their quilts! They did get to see the Grand Canyon, so win-win.)

I started sewing when I was just a kid - I am an Iowa farm girl, after all, so obviously I was the president of my township's 4-H club! My high school was tiny, but it had (and still has!) a great home economics program, and I created my first quilt during my senior year in Textiles II.

I started creating baby clothes quilts back in 2004, when my little Jelly Bean was just a baby (he's 14 now - someone slow down time!) My husband was playing pro soccer and we had to move a lot - every 6 months, to be exact - and since the teams provided us with furnished apartments we liked to pack light and fit everything in our Honda Civic.

Packing light takes on a whole new meaning with a baby, but that plastic tote of adorable baby clothes that Erik had already grown out of was just not making the "need it" cut. I was up late one night with the Jelly Bean, rocking him to sleep, when I started watching a rerun of Martha Stewart. She was creating a blanket out of worn out wool suit coats, and I had an epiphany - why not cut apart Erik's clothes and sew them into a baby clothes quilt?

T-shirt quilts were not a new concept - they are pretty popular in Iowa, and are commonly created out of high school sports t-shirts, sorority t-shirts, camp t-shirts and the like. But the t-shirt quilts at that time were very traditional, with cotton sashing and borders, and I had never heard of anyone doing a quilt with baby clothes. As much as I loved to quilt, I personally lean towards a modern aesthetic, and I wanted Erik's quilt to be about the clothing and the cute little memories in that caterpillar onesie, not look like a traditional quilt.

So I started cutting. Literally, that night I cut apart all his clothes, and I had his quilt done by morning. Of course, I didn't use the right interfacing, and I didn't have any instructions or patterns so it looks a little rough, and I just used a receiving blanket as the back and hand-tied it with yarn instead of quilting it. But he loved it, and I loved it, and it was exactly what I hoped it would be - to this day, every time I look at it I don't see the stitches or the mistakes, I just see Erik in those cute little walrus jammies! He even still has it hanging on his wall at 14 years old!

One thing led to another, and I started making quilts for friends and family. Eventually my husband retired from pro soccer, and we finally were staying in one place. In 2008 I was pregnant with Kalista (my little Lista Lu), working for a web marketing company, and I decided it was time to turn my hobby into a business so I could stay at home full time. I put up JellyBeanQuilts.com, placed a few ads on Craigslist, and had my first order in just a few days!

My Jelly Bean & My Lista Lu!

Over the next decade my business grew quickly, and I've reached the point that my turnaround time for custom quilts is always at least 10-11 months. I actually have an entire room of my house that is just bin storage, because I have about 50 quilts in my line up, and 50 quilts= tons of clothes!!!

Which brings me all the way back here, to ListaLu! ListaLu was created after years of fielding daily emails about how fans might make their own baby clothes quilt at home, as well as after redoing countless projects started by customers or other quilters but not finished - mostly just because they just lacked the knowledge of what materials to use and how to put it all together. I knew there was a need in the marketplace for a comprehensive DIY kit and book, and I had the knowledge - why not create that product?

After a ton of research, product development, pattern design, writing, photography, videography, web design, sewing, sourcing, package design and coffee, I am finally here - my Create Your Own Baby Clothes Quilt Kit & Books are officially ready to roll!!

My customers have been so excited about this kit, and I am so excited for you to try it out! I can't wait to see what you create, so please tag #listalu in all your social media, or send me pics and I will shout them out!