My name is Jilene and I'm a home quilter residing in Central Utah. I have lived here for almost 5 years, moved to Utah from South Dakota. I love the outdoors (gardening and landscaping) and enjoy making quilts during the "colder months" and "special orders" anytime. I caught the "quilting bug" in 2007 from my neighbor who hand-made quilts for over 30 years, she is now semi-retired. I am carrying on the tradition for her while doing something I truly enjoy (her shop is filled with beautiful and unique fabric, some of which is no longer available). Now, I will try to explain what goes into making a quilt, comforter or throw the "old-fashioned" hand knotted way. I start with a picture middle (usually 18x18" pillow panel or 36x36" wall hanging panel), then cut and piece either solid or printed strips or triangles to the centers, machine sew 1/4" hems and steam iron the article after adding each strip (especially cotton) to make sure the hems are flat and material is sterilized. This also has to be done for the backs that are pieced together and not one solid piece of fabric. Once I've created the size top I'm wanting, I then complete the back. Next it's attaching the back, batting and top onto my quilt frames with a staple gun and cardboard squares where each staple is to protect the material. Then I mathematically place the quilt pins (usually every 4-6"), then take a needle and yarn to "darn" (meaning go through all layers from top to bottom then bring needle and yarn back up through all layers with about a 1/4" space between the two). Once I've completed several rows at a time or have run out of yarn on my needle, it's time to cut the yarn to about 2-3" per tie, double knot each, then cut the yarn ends to about 1 to 1 1/2" tall. When the quilt, comforter or throw is completely tied, its taken off the quilt frame, has the edges trimmed, corners hand sewn to 1" max., seams hand measured (and hand basted if on fur back) to 1" max., then zigzag stitched on my sewing machine for most of the quilts I create. Once done, each item is "delinted", rolled up and tied like a bedroll, then I add my business card, washing instructions and place each item in a plastic bag, sometimes empty Walmart shopping bags or empty batting bags, priced and put into my shoppe, then stored in a closet until sold. When shipping, I use USPS flat rate boxes whenever possible. For quilts that don't fit into USPS boxes, the item is placed in a corrugated cardboard box, sealed up tight and shipped insured with delivery confirmation based on weight and value of the item. NOTE: The only machine sewn parts are the pieced ones and the hems, the mathematical cutting of printed fabric to line up prints, not cut off designs, not seam over a print or specific border, hand tied, hand sewn corners, hand basted hems on fur backs is ALL DONE BY HAND. The throws take as little as 15 hours and the large cotton top pieced king size takes up to 70 hours for one. I have had the pleasure of creating these unique, distinct quilts for friends and family and now hope to share these beautiful quilts with others through my online shoppe. Welcome to my boutique!