Log Cabin Baby Quilt

Yesterday was a very exciting day for me.  I was flipping through the blogs in my reader and came upon the listing of the Top 10 link ups in the Festival of Half Square Triangles at Canoe Ridge Creations.  I scrolled through, admiring the quilts, and then, BAM - there was my quilt.  Wow - I couldn't (and can't) believe it.  There were so many amazing entries into the festival - I am so flattered to be chosen.  The choice has now been turned over to the viewer's and voting is open until tomorrow night (Wednesday, April 25th at midnight CST.)

I was in such a happy place because of my HST quilt news that I couldn't wait to get started on my next project but as I've been mentioning, my fabric stash is running very low.  So, while I was waiting for my new fabrics to arrive, I decided to fix the binding on this Log Cabin quilt.  This was one of the first patchwork quilts I made after discovering my love of quilting.  I made it last summer while very pregnant and had my two older kids nearby taking turns picking out the fabrics.  This quilt definitely has its, um, imperfections - puckering and uneven squares for example - but most of its, um, imperfections, don't bother me at all.  However, the binding was really awful.  I think this was only the second quilt that I actually put a binding on - and I machine-stitched the binding which didn't work out very well.  (It was after this quilt that I started hand-stitching my bindings until I decided to try machine-stitching again a few months ago.)  Anyway, here is a small photo of the binding:

Redoing the binding has been on my to-do list for awhile and I'm so glad I finally did it.  What a huge difference it makes!

I machine stitched the binding again but I think my technique has come a long way over the last eight months (not perfect but much improved.)

And another pic:

I started this binding as soon as the baby started her nap this morning.  While I was stitching, I was trying to remember what I did during nap times when my older two were babies - I didn't do anything crafty back then - no sewing, no crochet, no embroidery - seriously, what I do with that time?  Okay, back to the present - one more photo:

Happily, my new fabric order arrived.  Yea!

So I started sewing my quilt for the My Precious QAL at Kelbysews.

Can you guess what my precious fabric is?

It is the Momo Wonderland and the Mendocino.  I also used the few precious scraps I had left of Nicey Jane and various other fabric scraps I love.  I only had a 1/2 yard (or even less) of the Mendocino but I had a full yard of the Wonderland so I'll be doing another project or two with that as well.

Oh, and I'll leave you with this:

This is the old binding I cut off the quilt and some scraps that are even too tiny for me to use.  I collect these in a basket for my daughters who put them to use in their craft projects.  They use the scraps in a variety of ways including as stuffing since they always seem to be making pillows and mattresses for their dolls.

I have a few other projects in this works this week including this one that I posted a peek of over the weekend.  And I think I might get back to a little crochet - it has been awhile.

Linking up to JAQ Studios - Made by Me Wednesday, Sew Much Ado - We did it! Wednesday, Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, and WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Okay, I'm off to check out the link parties to see what everyone else has been up to this week.

The "Just Start Sewing Quilt"

Since my sewing time is limited to an ever-shrinking nap time, I need to have a project ready to go as soon as I put the baby in the crib.  And when I don't have a plan, I tend to waste those precious moments deciding what to do.  And to make it even worse, my fabric stash is running very low right now so I can't even start many of the projects on my list - What to do, what to do?!?  Well, what I did was dump my box of scraps out on the ironing board looking for inspiration.  Nothing immediately came to mind so I decided to just start sewing.  And this is what happened:

And then this:

I added some turquoise/aqua-y quilting and binding (attached to back first and then sewn down with a zig zag to the top - which is my favorite machine stitched binding method so far) and got this:

The "Improv Corner Quilt."

Sadly, I also had a lot of this:

I've used dark solids before and haven't had a lint issue but with this quilt - Wow!  I don't even have a lint brush so I had to use masking tape to remove the lint before taking the photos.  I'll see what happens after I wash it - any suggestions?

In other quilty news, I did start making granny squares this week.  My first two squares turned out less than stellar so I sewed them into a zip pouch instead and I'll start again when my kona yardage comes in the mail.

And, lastly, I used some of the leftover charms from the City Weekend pack I used to make this quilt and made up this quick bag.  I used the bright thread to quilt this as well - it looks so much more subdued here, don't you think?

On the list for this week:
1.  Writing a project list!
2.  Using the rest of the squares from my Little Apples Doll Quilt to make a pillow and a bag.
3.  Trying again with the Granny Square Quilt (when the Kona arrives).
4.  Finally trying HSTs.

Linking up to JAQS Studios - Made by Me Wednesday, Sew Much Ado - We did it! Wednesday, Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, and WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Mixed-up Rainbow Brick Wall Doll Quilt

As I continue to work my way through the charm packs I ordered way back when, I put together a little doll quilt (by request) using the solids.  I started piecing in a similar fashion to how I pieced the Rainbow Striped Quilt.

I randomly selected colors as I went and did rows of 6 charms.

I then cut those rows in half lengthwise but this time since I have lots of charms but hardly any solid yardage, I sewed the strips to each other.

After I sewed together the seventh row, I decided I wanted to use the little bit of off-white I had left to break up the color so I sewed together a group of 5 strips and a group of 2 strips (in addition to the first group of 7 strips.)  I then cut each of those groupings into thirds and added the sashing.

For the quilting, I just did diagonal lines.  I used masking tape (I think others use painter's tape but this was all I had) and marked the first line down the middle and then used the first sewn line as a guide for the rest.

I had a few strips of dark gray left from an old project so I used that for the binding and then machine quilted using an aqua thread.

This quilt is very different from my usual aesthetic but I like it.  If I make a similar quilt in the future, I think I would add sashing around the border and probably use wider strips between the blocks.  I also wonder how it might look if I got some of the black and white fabric that I've seen around blogland lately for the binding.

Oh, and while I was looking through my stash to find fabric for the binding, I found my first set of hexies that I had appliqued poorly and put away in frustration (if you look closely, you can see all the trial and ERROR that is not reflective of all the time I spent on them.)  I decided to put it to use and sewed up a quick little bag that I hung on a hook in my crafting room - I think I'll use it as a crochet bag.

And I'm happy to announce "I've been PINNED!"  I saw an article about how to check if anything from your blog is on Pinterest and was so excited to see both my rainbow stripe quilt and my crochet mobile.  Not sure anyone in my offline life understands my excitement but I'm sure my blog friends do!

I'm linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, Amylouwho, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Thoughts on Machine Binding and a Finish

I really am backtracking on my feelings about machine sewing the binding on my quilts.  I've made several mini's lately "practicing" free motion quilting and I have yet to hand sew any of the bindings.  Although the baby still takes 2 or 3 naps a day, I usually am only able to get to the sewing machine for one of them since I like her to have one of the naps in her stroller so that I can take a long walk.  And her third nap is either also on the go if we are out and about with her sisters or is just a short 20 minutes at home.  In other words, I have limited sewing time these days and it is very satisfying to be able to get the binding done in under one hour (for these small quilts!)

I'm still basically sticking with the zigzag method I wrote about in my last post.  However, a couple days ago, I unintentionally sewed the binding (raw edge to raw edge) to the back of the quilt.  I know I could have cut down the quilt and started again but I decided to go with it since I remembered reading this tutorial from Crazy Mom Quilts.  However, she uses a straight stitch and I stuck with the zigzag.  Combining elements of her tutorial with the the tutorial from Stitched in Color has really resulted in both a process and end result that I love (not to say that won't change since I am apparently fickle when it comes to binding methods.)

Speaking of bindings, another change for me is using bright and/or contrasting colors for the thread.  I used to just use off-white, beige, ivory, etc (you get the picture) for basically everything I sewed.  When I started hand sewing the bindings, I ordered a variety of thread colors so that I could match the binding fabric.  I've now been using those bright colors to sew the zigzag.  I like the look when I stay within the same color family as the binding but using a bright enough thread that it purposefully shows.

As for the "finish," as you can probably surmise from my pictures, it's my hexagons!  Following the same paper piecing method, I attached a border of hexies made out of one fabric and then cut strips out of that same fabric to attach to the hexagons.

I originally sewed two more borders around the hexagons BUT I somehow messed up the quilting.  I'm not exactly sure what happened - when I first noticed the fabric bunching I just kept going figuring once I washed the quilt, it wouldn't matter but the bunching kept getting worse.  I also felt the quilt was too large since I really just wanted to highlight the hexagons and plan on using it as wall art.  So I stopped quilting once I got to the border closest to the hexagons and cut off everything else.

At that point, I probably should have just put it away so that I could come at it with a fresh perspective in a few days but instead I sewed on a binding.

I still might cut off that binding and figure something else out.  I spent a LONG time sewing those hexies by hand so I really want to love the finished product - I really LIKE it, but I want to absolutely LOVE it.   So, now I am going to put it away for a few days (or maybe hang it in the baby's room) and look at it with fresh eyes in a week or so.  What do you think?

Try Something New

In one of my first posts, I wrote about how my husband bought me my original sewing machine when he misunderstood a joke I had made about wanting to sew.  Now, 10 years later, he again surprised me over the holidays with a new sewing machine (one that I had been not so secretly coveting.)  My old one was doing just okay - it wasn't working so well and it was very basic - so I was very excited to get the new machine (and my daughters are so happy to no longer have to share the old one with ME!)  My new machine has many great features - the auto thread cutter alone has revolutionized my quilting - but I've yet to use many of those features.  A few weeks ago (after using the machine for over 2 months), I read somewhere online that many machines have the ability to change the needle position - seriously?!?  I got out my manual and, lo and behold, my machine has the feature - wow did that make a difference in sewing on bindings!   So, to motivate myself to start learning the ins and outs of the sewing machine, I've decided to commit myself to trying something new at least once a week.


Up first - free motion quilting.  Well, free motion quilting drawing, is it called?  Or free motion machine embroidery?  Freestyle quilting?  I don't know the official name but I love the look of the quilts I've been seeing around blogland of mini quilts created by drawing with thread.

I really liked making these quilts - which is good because I agree with everyone who says that free motion quilting takes lots of practice!  I've made three so far and have improved tremendously with each but I still have a long way to go.  In trying to find a good rhythm between the speed of my hands and the speed of the stitch, I found that keeping my maximum stitch speed set to medium fast was best so that I can can press the pedal all the way down without the needle going crazy.  This also enables me to move my hands a little slower without getting super long stitches (which happened a lot during my first try.)  I don't have any other tips yet but I'll blog about it as I figure out what works for me.

In honor of my first Try Something New (TBD day), I tried a few other new things as well.  As you can see on my quilts, I machine stitched the binding.  I've always had a hard time doing so and as I wrote about in an earlier post, once I tried hand-stitching the binding, I realized how much I preferred both the process and the end result.  This was partly because I could never quite get machine binding to work - I tried several tutorials but it never took.  However, I recently stumbled upon this tutorial from Stitched in Color and it finally clicked (I realized after I finished that she uses a 3/8" seam - not sure how I missed that but I'll try next time.)  My first attempt didn't work well at all - I think it was because I am not usually very careful about attaching the binding with the 1/4 inch seam to the quilt top since it is easy to make up for this when hand-stitching.  But for the second and third try, I went with the premise that slow and steady wins the race and indeed, it did (I'm not posting any pics of my third try because I actually think I am satisfied enough with it that I'll be giving it as a gift.)  I was very careful to evenly stitch 1/4 inch from the edge all around and then carefully pressed the binding to the other side.  And then went slow and steady again when using the zigzag stitch.  I'm not saying that I am going to abandon hand-stitching but even going slowly, this still was super quick - leaving me time to make more quilts!

My third new thing of the day was learning how to make a blog button but I'm still working on it so I'll save that for another day.


And lastly, my 6 year old was busy drawing and decorating a few days ago but I just noticed how much I love this - not just for the obvious reasons but because we apparently share a color palette aesthetic - so lovin' aqua and red right now.

Actually, one more thing to add.  I finished the binding on my wonky, log cabin, improv mini/doll quilt.  I really love how the binding just brings it all together.  This one I did handstitch.