2012 First Finish

 My first finish for 2012.  This quilt is a BOM  from Stitch 'N Quilt a local shop that has been closed for several years.

The blocks were made in 2005 and forgotten about, but since joining Sew It's Finished I have been going through my UFO's to see what I have and I discovered this one.  It was called Sunday Sampler because you picked up your block on Sunday afternoon.  The first block was $5 but if you brought your block in completed the next month your block was free.

This past week I added the corners and the black sashing put on the borders and quilted it.  When I was ready to do the binding I decided to try something different.  Instead of doing all that sewing by hand I added a machine sewn binding.

First I cut my binding 2 1/4 inches wide.  I like to use bias binding when I have enough fabric.  After joining the ends and pressing I sewed it to the back of the quilt instead of the front just like I would do if I planed on sewing it down by hand only  the back instead of the front.

When I came to a corner I just mitered it like I normally would and kept sewing and sewing until I came to the end.

This is the way I join my ends.  First I measure 2 1/4 inches from the end of the binding strip on the left.  

The exact width of my binding.  If my binding was 2 1/2 inches I would measure that amount.  Then I overlap the strip on the right and cut it at the mark.  I hope the picture shows better than I  explain.

 I  lay the strip on the left---right side up and place the strip on the right wrong side up on top of it.  Mark from corner to corner and stitch on this line.  If you click on the pictures they should enlarge.  Don't be tempted to add a little to your measurement because it won't fit if you do.














Trim to 1/4" and sew the binding  to the quilt.

 Turn your quilt to the right side and sew the binding down.  I used my little foot with an edge guide to help keep my stitching straight. I also backstitched a couple of stitches in the corners just to be sure they were secure.

You can see  some stitching on the back of the quilt and I wouldn't use this method for all my quilts mostly just what I call draggers.

It is much faster a lot less stress on my hands and I have a finished quilt.

Happy stitching,
Nancy

I Joined GO-Ville

I really tried to win a GO on the blog giveaway's but no luck -  so I asked for one for Christmas.
Christmas afternoon while everyone was watching football I took it out to  see if I could figure out how to use it.

One of the extra dies I ordered is the Apple Core so I decided to make a scrappy Christmas apple core quilt.
After all it was Christmas.
Well,  the cutting was a lot of fun and I just kept cutting those apple cores until I ran out of scraps.

 All I can say is thank goodness I ran out of scraps!
The cutting may be easy and fun but sewing all those curves are not.

I tried pinning them together and didn't like sewing over all those pins - so I got out my trusty Elmer's school glue and tried gluing them together at the ends and centers.
I quickly got tired of that and went back to the pins because I think it was quicker.

Not one to give up I kept pinning and sewing and glueing and sewing.
I now have this great apple core quilt which I really like.
I am going to do a curved binding since I like sewing curves so much..

Cutting Bias Quilt Binding

I was cutting some bias binding today and thought some of you might like to know how I cut mine.

The first thing I do is fold my fabric cut edge to selvedge so I have a bias fold.

I always press as I go so I have a nice crisp edge to work with.

The next step is to fold again along the bias fold.

Then you fold a second time.   Always keep the folded edges together.

After folding the second time you will have a little bit left over.  Just turn this piece down. (got tired of using the word fold.)

Now you trim  all the folds .  Cutting off just about a quarter inch.

                                                                             Turn your fabric around- if you are right handed like I am- and start cutting your strips whatever width you want.

I was a weaver in another life and this is the way I would cut strips when I wove with fabric.  If this isn't clear to anyone (not sure it's even clear to me) let me know and I will try to help.