A Finish & A Little Help~

I finished off the last stitches on this lap quilt the other night.

I did the binding by hand on it because I was just not comfortable with the Martelli Binding System yet. (see previous post)  BUT I did try out a new binding gadget. ;-)

First the lap quilt~

The pattern is called 'Celebrate' and it is free on the Riley Blake website

You do need to scroll almost to the bottom of the page. ;-)

The 'white' areas are not really white, but a yellow dotted fabric. 

Sorry for the lighting~it was another grey and rainy day!

I put a line of diamonds down the back with some of the leftover fabrics. This is not part of the pattern and took a little bit of figuring on my part to get the side triangles the right size. In hindsight, it would have been really easy had I not had a brain cramp! I h@te when that happens! LOL

Although I bound it by hand, for the first step (machine sewing it to the quilt), I had a little help. ;-)

I won this 'Binding Butler' a while back from an online drawing. I was anxious to give it a try!

I must admit I was all thumbs getting my binding into the little gadget LOL but once I got it rolled in there, sewing it on was really slick! No more twisting!

The directions said to put it on the bed of your machine as you sewed. I barely had enough room for that set-up, but it has little grippers on the bottom, so it did stay where I put it.  It also spins really sweetly in feeding the binding off of the spool.  I didn't have a single twist! No binding on the floor or any of the other troubles I have had in the past~ it is a keeper!  :-) Next time I will try setting it right behind my machine bed and see how that works.

What are you working on?  I have a million projects on my table so need to get back to it!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

Binding...

I always do my bindings on quilts and things by hand, but recently I have tried machine binding smaller things

like placemats and items that might get washed a lot. 

I always seem to miss a few spots on the back when I sew in the ditch on the front. :-/

Then I go back and try to fix it and generally make it worse!

How about you? Hand or machine? Or a place for both?

Recently a friend gave me a Martelli Stitch in the Ditch binding system.

I have been dying to try it out!  Well, it does work, but I think I need a lot of practice!

This is the system attached to my machine~

Sorry for the lighting~ it is another grey day in paradise. ;-)

 

This is the front~ nicely in the ditch...

 

 

And this is the back~

 

While I didn't miss any spots, I don't like how it is a bit crooked.  Especially the edge toward the bottom left corner.  :-/  I am going to keep trying on this piece, but that corner is going to be ripped.

I am thinking that maybe if I starch the binding first, it will feed smoother?  any thoughts?

Have you tried this system? If so I would love to hear your comments!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

 

I Remembered~~

...but only because my Mom called and reminded me when I was block swapping! LOL thanks Mom! :-)

I had a 6 foot table and the stairs~

I got all the blocks swapped, packed and back out in the mail by Monday.

They are starting to arrive home today. :-)  We had so many unique combinations this time.

It would be hard to choose a favorite!

 

Monday's mail also took my anniversary block to Temecula Quilts~

 

Did you make a block for their 10th Anniversary Quilt? 

You can find the info HERE.

It was a fun little block to stitch up~ and wouldn't it be cute for a milestone birthday quilt for a quilty friend?

 

I'm headed back to the sewing machine~ lots of catching up still going on here.

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

 

String Blocks

Once or sometimes twice a year I host a string block swap for a group of ladies from the former HGTV Quilting & Needlework message board.  We now connect on a Groupbox board, or through Facebook.  ;-)

The latest blocks will be swapped tomorrow, so I got mine out and labeled them in prep for swapping.

Our guidelines are pretty simple~ we all sew the strings to washed, bleached muslin.  The blocks are to measure 8½ inches when trimmed down. Some of the ladies prefer to do their own trimming, so some of my blocks look larger. ;-)  Each player gets to choose the color and size of their center strip, and what colors they want for the 'strings'.  This time the choices included a lot of red. (which I love!)  I haven't made any blocks for myself yet, but I chose Seahawks colors~ bright green, navy and grey.  I want to make a lap quilt for my DS2 for Christmas. Hopefully I will get it done! 

I will try to remember to take a few pix tomorrow when I am swapping. I usually get so engrossed in it that I totally forget!  I need to wait for hubby to get home from work today to help me set up my table.

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!