FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Don’t Toss that Superhero Onesie! New Book - Create Your Own Baby Clothes Quilt - Has Arrived

Top Quilter Pens First-Of-Its-Kind Book Teaching Moms to Create Heirlooms from Baby Clothes

(Phoenix) May 23, 2017 - Moms around the world are picking up their scissors and upcycling their old baby clothes into adorable, modern baby clothes quilts after the launch of Create Your Own Baby Clothes Quilt: Everything you need to know to create a modern memory quilt from your baby’s clothes.

A fast-rising trend, baby clothes quilts are rapidly becoming a popular project. On the heels of the KonMari closet-cleaning craze, moms have discovered that they aren’t ready to part with those adorable baby clothes that hold the memories of baby’s first years.

A baby clothes quilt upcycles those clothes, typically too stained or too worn to be resold, into an heirloom that can be seen and used daily, and even passed down to the next generation.

In her new book, Jamie Wilson – professional baby clothes quilter since 2008 – breaks down the process into step-by-step picture tutorials. Written in response to hundreds of fan requests, she incorporates her best tips and tricks from over a decade of turning baby clothes into quilts.

“Baby clothes quilts are absolutely my passion,” states Wilson. “With a year-long waiting list at Jelly Bean Quilts for a custom quilt, I could not be more excited to have a tool to help more moms preserve those memories and create their own heirloom.”

The full-color, 70 page, spiral-bound 8.5x11 book has over 100 pictures, and a multitude of design options. Designed to be approachable for all sewing levels, she has also included 2 hours of online video tutorials, where she walks through each chapter of the book and creates a quilt from start to finish.

Create Your Own Baby Clothes Quilt, along with the ebook version and companion quilt kit, can be purchased online at ListaLu.com. Her books and kit can also be found on Amazon.com.

For more information, contact Jamie at contact@listalu.com

Media Kit: Web/High Res Pictures, Full Bios & Story Ideas https://listalu.com/pages/media-blogger-kit

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Reviews

I loved this book!!! I am new to quilting and found the book easy to follow. Since I'm new, the step by step instructions, along with the provided materials really set me up for success. I was very proud of the product that I had made! Now I can say that I have successfully sewn a blanket that I could give to my kids and they can say, "My mom made this! -Bookworm

Love it! I've always wanted to have baby clothes quilts made for my kids, but was unsure about my own skill level and was put off by the cost of having someone else do it. This book made it easy and approachable for me to make them myself and they turned out wonderfully. Thank you so much!  -Etsy Customer

This is the best tutorial on how to make your own quilt out of baby clothes! It walks you step by step and has great pictures to help guide you through. I would highly recommend this book to anyone considering a project like this! -Lisa

Jamie has created the most beautiful quilts over many years. Her ability to teach others is such a gift! -Diane

I have been following Jamie’s work via social media for years. She does a beautiful job on her quilts and really has become the expert in modern clothing quilts. So when she came out with her baby clothes quilt book I knew this was my chance to get a detailed tutorial on how to make a clothes blanket with sound advice. I have used this book, and the principles taught in it, to make a clothing blanket out of my husband’s shirts. I need to collect another seasons worth of clothes for my daughter then I will tackle my first baby clothes quilt. Principles and techniques taught in this book and video tutorials are geared towards baby clothes, but easily adapted for adult shirts as well! – Elizabeth

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"Can I use this pattern to create a t-shirt quilt?" is a common question I receive just about every day.

The answer is... yes! And also... sort of!

While the book & pattern were designed for baby clothes (particularly the smaller cutting template), the entire process, tips, tricks, and materials can all be easily adapted to use t-shirt quilts. At Jelly Bean Quilts, I make my custom t-shirt quilts in exactly the same way as my baby clothes - just with larger squares! 

All it takes is a little thought to adapt the pattern - you really just need to decide how big your blocks need to be to accommodate the larger designs on your t-shirts, and then make a cutting template square out of a scrap piece of fabric or some tissue/parchment paper! The rest of the process - interfacing, layout, sewing, quilting & finishing - are all the same! The compound blocks I teach at the end of the book are perfect for when you have a mix of larger and small designs on your shirts.

But you don't have to take my word for it - a customer just submitted this great review who used the pattern to create a sports t-shirt quilt, to great success! Here's the screenshot, but if you scroll down I will paste the actual text for those of you on mobile (the text will shrink down in the picture!)

Here's a larger picture of the quilt she created:

Full Review In Text:

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"I have been wanting to make a t shirt blanket for my husband for a long time. There are so many tutorials out there on the internet, but all with varying advice, which left me unsure and my project not touched for years!

I have been following Jamie’s work via social media for years. She does a beautiful job on her quilts and really has become the expert in modern clothing quilts. So when she came out with her baby clothes quilt book I knew this was my chance to get a detailed tutorial on how to make a clothes blanket with sound advice. I have used this book, and the principles taught in it, to make a clothing blanket out of my husband’s shirts. I need to collect another seasons worth of clothes for my daughter then I will tackle my first baby clothes quilt. Principles and techniques taught in this book and video tutorials are geared towards baby clothes, but easily adapted for adult shirts as well!

What I love about this book:

- Not only are there a TON of pictures to show each and every step, but there is a video tutorial guide for each step too. At the end of the book is a unique code that you can enter into her website to access the videos. I did not watch each one, just the ones for the steps I was unsure of or wanting to make sure I had it just right.
- The format. So many of the book’s pages had a special section at the bottom titled ‘Pro Tip’. I learned so many fun details and tips here. Things I never would of thought of. So useful and easy to read!
- The materials list. To use a fusible stabilizer or not? That’s one of the biggest questions with a clothes quilt and Jamie not only answers it, but give specific brand names of what to use. Have you ever looked at stabilizers at your big box fabric store? It can be crazy confusing if you don’t know what you are buying. She also shares all her fabrics with us, even thread and scissor brands!
- At the end of the book is a chapter dedicated to special design cases – like preemie clothes and those cute little pants with the picture on the butt of them. She shows you just how to piece them into a quilt block so they can be included as well.
- Design. While each of our quilts will be unique, this books shares some basic design tips and layouts that are pleasing to the eye.

This book will not teach you how to sew or use your sewing machine. You need to have a basic understanding of material and sewing first. But if you have that, this book is for you! Even if you have never sewn a quilt in your life I am confident with this book you can do it!

I viewed this book on my laptop. I used Adobe to view it and the links worked perfectly to get to the videos or to purchase materials right from there. I kept my laptop open on my sewing table and followed right along with each step as I created my quilt."

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Isn't that awesome! She did such a fabulous job adapting the pattern, and I love the extra-fuzzy gray minky she chose for the backing - perfect for a throw blanket to take to a football game!!!

You can see this review (and more reviews!) live and in person over on the Kindle version at Amazon, if that's your style!

You can also purchase via the Etsy listing for my PDF book, or here on my site: Create Your Own Baby Clothes Quilt Digital Download

Excited to announce that my Create Your Own Baby Clothes Quilt ebook is now available as a Kindle book on Amazon.com! 

Everything is the same as the PDF version that you can purchase here on my site... there is an access code in the book for the videos and cutting template download, and links to resources as well. This is just a great option for those of you who prefer to keep all of your ebooks organized in your kindle library! 

This version is jam-packed with pictures, so it's only available on color tablets (ipad, galaxy, nexus - any of them), kindle fires, and the kindle viewing app on computers, phones, etc - just not the e-ink version of kindle. You wouldn't be able to see my great step-by-step tutorials! 

What are people saying?

I loved this book! !! I am new to quilting and found this book easy to follow. Since I'm new, the step by step instructions, along with the provided materials, really set me up for success. I was very proud of the product that I had made! Now I can say that I have successfully sewn a blanket that I could give to my kids and they can say, "My mom made this!' -Bookworm

This book was instrumental to me, a beginning quilter, complete an adorable quilt. I am delighted with the results and I'm positive my quilt is something that my family will treasure forever! I could not be happier with this purchase!! -Hilary

This is the best tutorial on how to make your own quilt out of baby clothes! It walks you step by step and has great pictures to help guide you through. I would highly recommend this book to anyone considering a project like this! -Lisa

Jamie has created the most beautiful quilts over many years. Her ability to teach others is such a gift! -Diane

Get it now: 

Click here to purchase on Amazon.com!

Are you a crafter (or a craft supporter) who loves Etsy? Maybe you already have an account over there, and you prefer to use the Etsy site for your crafty purchases?

Great! I'm now on Etsy too, so that you can purchase your kit whichever way is most convenient for you.

Click here to view my kit on Esty >>>

Recording some videos last night, and I somehow wrangled my teenager into being my "Vanna White." Although he has no idea who Vanna White is...

We created this little video about my eBook, so check it out!

The standard quilt backing for my ListaLu baby clothes quilt kits is white minky, and it's what I use in my book tutorials and video tutorials as well! It's also my most popular quilt backing for my custom quilts over at JellyBeanQuilt.com - people love it!

But what the heck is it?

For those of you uninitiated into the world of fuzzy baby stuff, minky is basically a super plush, super soft fabric. Most people can't help but touch it when they see it, and it's perfect for anything designed to snuggle.

It is commonly used for baby softies, like toys, plush animals and blankets. It can come in a variety of styles, like smooth chevron, chenille ribbing, animal prints, and ultra-plush. But by far the most popular is the dimple dot, which is what we use in our kits!

Because it's such a plush fabric, we don't need to use batting in our quilts - and since these blankets aren't bed-size, batting would make them a little too stiff anyway, so minky works great! It's also a high-quality, professional looking fabric, so you quilt will really look polished.

White is standard in all our kits, mainly because it just coordinates with everything! We do carry several other colors, and are happy to swap out the white for the color of your choice - just let us know in your order notes! It might just take an extra day to ship, depending on your order time - we will just have to open up your box, make the swap, and pack it back up.

Caring for minky is easy - another reason to love it! It doesn't pill or look old with washing, so feel free to machine wash it! It's also very sturdy, and can really hold it own as the backing material for such a wide variety of fabrics types that most people use on the quilt top.

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!