OMG Finish! At the Last Minute

I'm squeaking in at the last minute -- or almost the last minute.  I'm hand stitching the binding down on Christmas Favorites -- should be done long before midnight tonight.  I'll still have some threads to tie off -- I did several different background stitching including a diagonal stitching that had a million starts and stops and every one has to be tied off.  I'll be working on that tomorrow. For the most part it is done. Well, except about 30 buttons that need to be hand sewn on -- but I'm still saying it is done!  I'll share pictures later when I can get some decent ones.  It's suppose to be cloudy and/or rainy for the next few days. 

I'm linking up with One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts.  I've got a few days to figure out what my next OMG will be.  It probably should be to finish one of my Taps quilts.  Only a couple of rows need to be sewn together and then it needs quilting.  I'll let you know in a few days. 

Have a safe New Years Eve.  And Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Design Wall Monday 3-11-13

Here's what I've been working on in addition to the Mystery for Relay #28, Easy Street and my Queen Bee blocks.  Yikes, there is a lot of orange and red in those blocks.  I have a blue and yellow block going and I may break down and buy some more wild prints for this to finish it.  The triangle method I use for these makes enough for 2 blocks from each pair of fabrics.  So, even though I am trying to finish off these triangles I have a feeling I will be making more to go with the 3 sets of triangles on the right of this photo.  This will be a charity quilt.  

I tried a new way to sew on binding -- both sides by machine.  First, I'll admit I didn't follow the directions... I thought I had and when I went back to my saved copy of the directions I realized I had done it exactly backward.  Sigh.  I think this may be a great method for me once I do it a few times, especially if I follow the directions.  You sew the first side of the binding on the quilt as you would regularly, except you sew it on the back first.  Then you use your blanket stitch to catch the binding down on the other side. The directions are on Pat Sloan's web site.  It is offered as a PDF so you can easily save them to your computer. 

I did pretty well on the goals last week.  

Week of Mar 4, 2013

Continue to focus on Mystery for Relay√

Prep and sew more Orange Peel blocks√

Iron backing so I can load it on Ruthie√ not ironed but loaded

Mail out fabric & directions to Quilt Bee members√

Finish QOV Blocks and mail to Alycia√ almost finished but not mailed

Pick one section of studio to straighten/clean NOTHING done on this one….

Week of Mar 11, 2013

Quilt the scrap quilt on Ruthie

Go to Cottonwood and pu Jenny’s sewing machine and some quilt fabric/supplies

Hair Cut

Keep working on Mystery for Relay

Finish enough blocks for triangle baby quilt

Mail the blocks to Alycia’s QOV

Make Small Quilt Chat’s triangle quilt

Clean extra bathroom 

That is a huge list so I may not get it all done.  I will be focusing on the quilt on Ruthie as Jenny is bringing me a quilt to do Sunday and it would be great if we can get it on the machine and done before she leaves.  We'll see.  

That's it for me today.  I am heading out to Charlottesville to Cottonwood Quilt shop to pick up that sewing machine and see if I "need" anything.  As if! 

Make sure you visit Patchwork Times to see design walls across the internet! Oops, Judy hasn't posted it yet so I will link up later.  

Happy Quilting All! 

My Second Scrap Squad Quilt

Here it is ... the big secret quilt I've been working on for quite a while.  This is from the May/June issue of Quiltmaker.  And, if you don't have it run right over to Quilty Pleasure blog for a chance to win the issue and some of the Dritz Quilting Row Marking Safety Pins that I show in the blog.  Well, perhaps you should finish my blog, make a comment and then run over to Quilty Pleasure and read the blog and sign up for the giveaway. 


Ladder of Success was designed by Judy Martin who just happened to be editor of Quiltmaker magazine at one time.  We receive the quilt design about 2 months before the magazine comes out.  We don't always get all the pictures or I just didn't pay attention when I printed out the instructions.  I always print them in black and white and put in a sheet protector so I can keep all the pages together.  Can you guess that I am prone to misplacing things? 

This is one quilt where you really need to pay attention to the layout and the blocks.  Here's a mistake in the sashing block. RIP!  Notice the sticky note there?  Yep, I make copious notes about things.  Originally I was going to make it as a baby quilt or lap quilt. Once I decided to go for the twin size I had to go back and figure out how many of each of the pieces I needed to make.

I chain pieced a lot of units -- it goes so much faster.  And, I try to keep just little dabs of thread between each unit so all I have to do is snip the units apart.  Have I mentioned I am a loose thread freak?  Yep, if there is a 1/2" or more thread hanging off of a seam, I trim it.  No wonder I am a fairly slow sewer!  But, I have learned to bring the chain to the ironing board, position, iron and then quickly clip.  It does save time for me. 

Did I mention this was a fairly big quilt?  Yea, it went right off the design wall.  My design bed option is downstairs which I try hard not to use unless absolutely forced to.  Hum, would that count for aerobic exercise?  


Here I am auditioning some alternate ideas for the 2nd border.  I wanted to repeat the colors of the 9 patches in that border but they just didn't look right to me.  I finally settled on the small four patches that were in the sashing.  (Yes, what was I thinking to use the small four patches??) 


After a field trip to Sharon's house I was able to decide on the borders which are a bit different from the pattern.  The wonderful swirly print is very old and I had a limited amount so my measurements really took that into account and what looked balanced. All I have left of it partial strips.  


Once the top was done I had to evaluate the stash for backing.  I honestly thought I would have more than enough of the purple to use for the back. NOT.  I decided to use a wide back.  It turns out it is cheaper than buying yards and yards of regular width quilt fabric and much easier to not have to seam. 


Next up was loading it on Ruthie, the long arm, and quilting.  I used the Baptist fan groovy boards.  I think it adds a nice curve to counteract all the squares.

While I was at Sharon's she was working on binding a quilt.  She mentioned she uses up her bits of leftover bobbins while sewing the binding on.  I tried it and it works.  The thread colors don't seem to show to me.  Of course, I did sew it down to a colorful print.  I also roll my finished binding on a cardboard tube to keep the end from getting tangled in my rolly quilting chair. This time I cut my binding 2 1/4" like it called for in the pattern.  Normally I use 2 1/2" for my binding width.  I really like the slightly smaller size.  It made the binding a nice, full binding with approximately the same amount of fabric on both sides of the quilt.  Excellent! 


It took me a few days before I could get a picture of the finished quilt -- too cloudy and rainy.  Finally on a bright sunny morning I took the quilt outside to photograph.  Hum, it wouldn't stay on the fence so I could show all of it.  So after the fence pictures I took pics on the ground from the deck which was slightly higher.  Kona is guarding it from squirrels. 

I'm excited to start on the next Scrap Squad quilt.  I've even bought fabric for it.  It shouldn't take long and I am already in love with it.  Hopefully it will make up as quickly as I think it will. Stay tuned! 


Happy Quilting All! 

Binding Thoughts

I've just finished the binding on the red, white and blue quilt. Let me clarify that! I've finished the sewing machine part, I still need to turn and hand stitch it. I don't mind doing binding the way I used to. I hated trying to get the two sides to match beautifully and not be big bump. I've found the answer to nice joining of the beginning and end of the binding.

Are you a Quiltville.com fan? I am. I've done several quilts from there and Bonnie Hunter has the BEST method for meeting up the beginning and end of binding. Go to Quiltville. That is a direct link to Bonnie's tips on binding. I actually do my piecing of binding about the same. But, my, oh, my I was thrilled with her instructions to join the beginning and end. For the first few times I had to have pictures right by me. But, I've done it so many times now I've got it down.

If that is something you struggle with take a look at it. Then hunt around the site. She has some great quilts and hints.

Happy quilting and finishing!