Antique Quilts (That I Wish Were Mine!), and Binding

At quilt class Monday night, the teacher brought some of her quilts to show the different methods of binding, or finishing. These are beauties!

I especially liked the hexagon one, the maker placed black triangles at each point of the hexagon "flower", and it was a great design call.


The Double Wedding Ring was very creative in its design, too. Each solid color of the ring has an appearance in the print next to it. That took some planning!

I was sharing with friends my method of binding. Life is too short for me to do hand stitching. Come on, "Pokey" is a well earned name, I tell ya. :-}

Today was Little Zoe's first birthday. Here's some final pictures of her quilt, and the binding is machine finished.

Even at machine stitched, sewing the binding took about 3 hours to complete. I attach mine like you hand stitch-ers do, but I attach onto the back so that my finished top seams are spot on.

If it gets off a bit in the back, I'm okay. I'm pretty picky, so I make considerations on thread color and the contrast, but usually after the wash and draw up of the quilt it is all good. I only pin at the corners, because I want those neat mitered corners!

But, I've found if I don't pin the long sides I'm able to get my seams on the binding on the back by trying to match the seam line the bobbin shows. Is that clear?

You know, I deeply appreciate the fine hand stitching of others, it just isn't reality for me. I joke that if our ancestor quilting mothers had the wonderful sewing machines we have, we probably wouldn't see the quilting done by hand.

I know, I have friends in class that say I'd get marked down in competition, but hey, most of my work is love driven, not competitive. BTW, I have won two blue ribbons and a third place in county fairs, in machine quilting...just saying it is possible....
Now, I'm only sharing this for those of you who want to try, I am not criticizing anyone else's practices! I find it a joy to sew, but I always have. I hope you keep creating and enjoying it, too.

Oh, and I'm happy to add, the "Our America" quilt raised $275 at auction! Amen!!

Happy Quilting!
Pokey

Finish Ticker Tape

The Ticker Tape table runner is done, and I know already, it's not my last. My daughter Lydia is working up several gifts, and the lavender, green and white "checkerboard" shared space on the quilt frame with mine, isn't it sweet, too.

On mine, I cut 18" by 44" wide heavyweight muslin ($2.48 per yard at Walmart-!), and my floral prints are from dresses, purses and general stash accumulation over the years- don't ask, but the stash has its own room!-

I cut my pieces no larger than 3 inches, but the most of them were no smaller than 1" by 2"; some 2" squares, some 2-1/2" by 1-1/2, you get the idea. There are some longer 1-1/4" by 3 inch strips, too.

I started gluing from the center of the muslin. With Elmer's washable school gluestick, I just put a dab spot as needed on the back of the 'confetti' floral, and go on. There is no need to glue to the edges, you are just saving yourself the grief of pinning! I eyeballed the placement, no measuring. After all, accuracy of the raw edges against one another goes out the window when you wash it, and they draw up as they will.

As you work your own 'mosaic' pattern, occasionally you will have a small blank space to deal with. (I wish I could get my pictures to post where I want them to!?! ) That is when I decided to either move an already piece down to absorb some of the space, or just cut a small piece to fit.
(I'm referring to the top photo, see the tiny, little blue squares? about 1" cut size.)

I sewed two times around each piece, quilting as I went. I cut my thread between each piece, but I bet you wouldn't have to.

Then, it was off the frame,to bind and then to wash. I felt like Linus, the Charlie Brown character, standing by the dryer to get it out :-} !

I want to do more!! Can you see these in:
-Christmas prints -sweet designer coordinates -plaids -pastels
I mean, really. I love the simplicity!

Now, on Lydia's checkerboard runner, she went with a basic measurement of 3 inch strips of color, and white on white. She has 6 squares across, and 16 squares long. Her finished runner is slightly smaller than mine. It was the first time she quilted using the frame, and she enjoyed the feeling of completion. She did great, actually!

I really was working to complete this week, so I could I could post on Amy's Sew-and-Tell Friday. Yes, I take motivation from any direction, when it is positive progress!

Sorry to be so gabby, but I had to answer some questions; I hope I was clear. Try this project. I bet you will like it, too. And if you don't-hey, it's getting time that you can give it as a gift,
right? *smile*

Happy Quilting, pokey