Quilt Binding Buddy

 Happy Valentine's Day Quilty Friends!  Wishing you a day filled with love and laughter and of course lots of time doing whatever makes your little ole heart go pitter pat. 

For me that means finishing up the Bow-Ties quilt.  She was taken off the quilting frame on Wednesday.  Trimming the backing fabric away from this 90 x 90 quilt was a real chore.  In my younger years it would have been tossed on the floor for trimming.  These days my knees tell me it's a better to wrestle with her on the cutting table, and I agree!

I won the wrestling match and promptly started auditioning binding fabrics.  That meant pulling my favorite ginghams and striped fabrics.  Surely one of them will tickle my fancy.

A few striped fabrics also made into the auditioning line up.  

While all of them were beautiful, they didn't make the cut.  Instead, I opted to go with plain ole white.  The blocks of this quilt are the stars of the show and they want to be ogled.  A colorful whimsy binding would draw the eye to the edge of the quilt and steal the show.  I wanted the binding to be a bodyguard not a part of the dance.  

The idea of a true quarter inch binding was also scrapped, simply because I didn't feel like a wrestling match with the bodyguard.  A compromise was made.  Two inches wide will give the look I want and avoid the hours of wrestling it into place.

Yesterday was a relaxing day cuddled up on the couch with all my favorite things...quilts, coffee and my sidekick Khaleesi.  Binding a quilt has always been my favorite part of quilting.  I think it's Khaleesi's favorite part as well. 🩷 It's nice having a binding buddy to remind me to get up and move (play with her).  We had a fun day and will get to do it again today.  I can't think of any other way I would want to spend my Valentine's Day.

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WIP's Wednesday

 Hi Friends!  Yesterday while using my sewing machine to fill the bobbins for my quilter, I realized I had not shared the progress of my Old Town Mystery quilt blocks.

The plan is to finish piecing this quilt top as soon as the Bow-Tie quilt is finished.  

Piecing these blocks a slow process due to the petting and admiring each block and the many different background fabrics.

As you all know I like scrappy quilts, but most of the time I use a consistent background fabric...white.

The low volume adds so much interest to the quilt but doesn't take away from the beauty of the block.

Every time I make a super scrappy quilt like this one, I tell myself I should make every quilt with a scrappy low volume background.

When it comes time to cut for the next quilt reality kicks in...sigh...it takes much longer to cut a gazillion different prints.  Laziness?  I prefer more positive words like...eager to sew or too excited for slow progress.   

Anyway...I shared each block individually because I'm pretty sure many of you are like me and it will make you smile to see the many different fabrics.

  

Believe it or not and I know you do believe it because I do this all the time.  I set an easy goal and fail to achieve it.  I'm beginning to think it's my superpower.  My Monday plan was to have the quilt off the frame by Monday night.

The Bow-Tie quilt is still on the frame.  

Today's plan... I'm staying in my jammies. No cooking, no cleaning.  And due to the weather, no dog walking.  This quilt will be off the quilt frame today, no if's and's or buts!  

Well for now, I'm pretty sure...HAHA!

Only two more rows of Bow-Ties to quilt.   The edge of my quilt has been marked with blue lines to remind me not to quilt in the binding area.  Some longarm quilters will add binding to the quilt before taking it off the quilt frame.  I prefer to do it by sewing machine.  The less time I spend at the quilt frame the better.

I'll be doing a true quarter inch binding which means a quarter inch on the front and on the back. Instead of cutting the binding strips 2.25" or 2.50" wide, they will be cut 1.5" or 1.75".  Scraps of fabric will be used to test which width works best for this quilt's thickness.  Try saying that three times fast...which width works... HAHA!

On Monday's blogpost I was asked what fabric will be used to bind this quilt.  Good question, but I don't have a good answer because I haven't decided.  It's going to be a surprise for both you and me.  After the quilt is off the frame, I'll start pulling different fabrics, lay them next to the quilt to see which one I like best.

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Back In My Happy Space

 Hello Happy Quilty Friends!  I'm so excited to share some exciting news...I finally found time to sew on Friday night after days of not one stitch!  YAH!  

On Saturday as I was quilting the Bow-Tie quilt, this happened.  The middle of the quilt backing!!! YeeHaw!!

Seeing the UFO Vortex quilt I put in the middle of the backing washed away a week of not so fun days.  It also recharged my quilty mojo and I'm rip roaring and ready to get this cutie finished and on my bed.  The quilting continued until I saw the end of the quilt emerge on the bottom bar of the quilt frame. It was time to call it a day.

Before shutting down the studio I noticed my batting was too short.  No worries.  I knew this might happen.  When closer to the end, a scrap piece of batting will be added to the bottom with quilt spray basting glue.  After it's washed the dense quilting will hold it in place.

Today's plan: Finish quilting this quilt and get her off the frame. 

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Nothing New In Podunk

These past few days have been spent quilting and cooking, but I have nothing new to share.  So, I thought this would be a good time to give a shout out to a couple new to me YouTube Channels I think are worth watching.

The first one is Blue Rooster Farm.  Karen's channel is more than quilting she also cooks and does small sewing and craft projects.

Her recent projects caught my eye, it took all I had not to run to the fabric cabinets and start a new project.  Click on the images below to go to the videos on YouTube and to find the free printable pattern for them.

The next channel is From Small Things.  Sue is a very talented scrap quilter from the Pennsylvania Dutch area.  I love her simple style. She shares tips for saving and using scraps. My favorite thing about Sue is her orphan block quilts and the explanation of her process for making them, an area where I have issues.  

Her YouTube Channel is fairly new but it's growing fast. The video I'm sharing today is one of her first videos from 4 months ago.  It's about thrifty fabric purchasing. She also shares one of her orphan block quilts up close and explains some the hows and whys of the designing. Click on the image to go to the video on YouTube. 

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