pins and glue

Last week I wrote about how I realized that (for me) pinning actually makes piecing easier and that it didn't actually take more time in the long run. I also asked the question to anyone reading about whether they pin and if they have any tips. There were lots of great comments and it seems that many of you regularly use pins. You can find the comments here.

The next "new to me" thing I decided to try was glue basting (with washable school glue) for a machine stitched binding. I was tentative thinking it might be messy and more trouble than its worth but I know so many quilters love this method so I figured I'd try it at least once. And, you know what - it worked really well! Any extra time taken by applying and setting the glue was more than made up for when I went to actually stitch down the binding. At first I forgot to make sure I was covering the stitching line on the back (I used the stitch in the ditch method on the front of the quilt to sew the binding) so I did miss a bit including a corner but then I realized what I was doing wrong and it was pretty much smooth sailing from there! Not perfect but so much closer than I've ever been.

So, I'll put the question out to you - do you glue baste your bindings? Tips, tricks, warnings? One of my concerns was whether it would hurt my sewing machine - I used a minimal amount of glue and I made sure that the glue was dry before sewing and I don't think it adversely affected my machine, at least I really hoped it didn't! At this point, I don't plan on using glue for basting when piecing the quilt but is there anyone reading this that does? Again, any tips?

pins

Do you use pins? Up until recently I almost never used pins but I think I might finally understand the allure. I just finished sewing my largest quilt thus far and decided to try pinning the rows and wow, it really makes it so much easier! 

So, what about you? Do you pin when quilting? Sometimes, always, never? Do you have any tips? How about glue basting? 

Recently

Last week I had the rare opportunity for some child-free travel with my husband. He had a conference in Arizona so I tagged along and spent a few days just relaxing, reading, and hiking. I even got to meet a few of my blogging friends in person - Alyssa, Danny, and Cristy. 

And just so this post isn't completely devoid of any sewing, here are some pics of a scrappy panel I made last week. I really reached far into my scrap drawer for this and used many fabrics I haven't seen in quite a long time.

Frolic Floor Pillow

So, what do you get when you mix the photo above with the photo below?

A new reading pillow!

Though I also like to read so maybe this should be a new reading pillow for my room!?!?

Ha - that's doubtful!

The pillow is made from an adorable new fabric collection coming this month from Birch Organic Fabric. You can find my tutorial for the pillow on the Birch blog by clicking here.

I had a long narrow piece of their organic cotton fleece left over from when I made this late last year so I cut it in half and used it to back the pillow. The fleece is so soft and provided great structure for the backing. 

To see how I made the pillow - front and back - just click over to the Birch blog.

thursday

If this photo above wasn't enough to remind me to wait until a certain someone is asleep to take photos of fabric, then the photo below should.

And speaking of reminders, all these wrinkles should remind me not to keep an embroidery WIP rolled/folded for so long - they'll come out, right?

Tea Party Napkins

Remember this photo from a few weeks ago? Well, those tea parties are a regular occurence around here and since my 2 year old has two older sisters to help out with the planning and preparing, those tea parties are pretty involved! Anyway, guess I caught the bug because I noticed the other day that they didn't have napkins and well, look what I made! Placemats might be next.

However, I haven't yet been able to take a photo of them being used at a tea party because, of course, now that I made them, there has not been another tea party.  Instead it seems like my littlest has been spending most of her time in this corner of her room - so still using something I made!

balance on a snow day

*courtesy of my lovely husband who baked with our 2 year old while I got to sew!