Binding Day

The baby quilt is quilted and bound! I can't believe how quickly I finished this one. I finished the quilt top on Sunday. I loaded and quilted it yesterday. The binding went on today! The shower is coming up so I had to finish it as soon as I could.

Look what else I finished! I decided to get the binding finished on this as well. The machine was all set up with a walking foot so I thought I would just get it done. It's so hot today that I decided to just stay in on my day off. This quilt took quite a bit longer to bind than the baby quilt. The curves and the squared off areas made the whole process rather slow but I just kept going. I had a good amount of iced coffee to get me through!

I don't think you can see the fabric I used for the binding. It's not quite as dark as this picture. I had a hard time picking a fabric that would match the many fabrics used in this vintage quilt. I happened to run into Debby Brown who is a HandiQuilter educator. She helped me pick this out. It was perfect!!

Baby Piece of Cake

I finished my baby quilt top this morning. I had the blocks all done a few weeks ago. I put the first 2 rows together yesterday and finished the last 2 rows today. The name of this pattern is Piece of Cake by Quilt in a Day. It measures 46" X 61".

This is the backing. I couldn't resist the unicorns! 

This is just a closeup of the backing. I'm hoping to load it on the longarm tomorrow and have it all quilted by the end of the week. Then I'll have 2 quilts that need binding!

Vintage Double Wedding Ring Quilt

I finished quilting my Vintage Double Wedding Ring! It's such a great feeling to have finished this quilt. My intention was to have the quilting enhance the quilt. I hope I achieved that!

I'm quite happy with the way the quilting came out. It's not perfect but I feel much more comfortable with feathers after spending so much time on this quilt.

Here's the entire quilt with excess batting and backing trimmed off. I can't wait to bind it!

Jelly Roll Rugs

I finished my two Jelly Roll Rugs today! When I started to sew, I was hoping I would be able to finish one rug sometime today. I ended up finishing both rugs before dinner!

I think the toughest part was at the very beginning. When turning, the angles are very sharp and it's tough to zigzag over them. After the first few rows, it becomes very easy sewing!

I also figured out how to keep my foot in the middle of the seam. There's a little notch in the clear area that was easy to keep centered so the zigzag would catch both strips equally. If I did veer off, I would break thread and sew over it. 

Both rugs came out a little wavy and had to be ironed. I used Best Press as well as some starch to get rid of those waves.

As you can see, they both look pretty flat! I will definitely make more of these rugs. I may use my own scraps next time. I was thinking of using cat fabric and making little rugs for the cats to sit on! Wouldn't that be cute?! They'll probably claw the heck out of them! I may have to rethink that one!

  

New Baby Quilt

Someone I work with is having a baby girl. It's her first and she needs lots of baby items. She always talks to me about sewing so I decided to make her a quilt. I needed 27 squares measuring 10" by 10".  I had a partial pack of blocks leftover from a layer cake that I had used for a previous baby quilt. I decided to add some solid fabrics to make up the difference. I used primary colors.

This is a Quilt in A Day pattern. You make the squares into 9 patches and then cut them down into blocks. I need to buy some fabric for the sashing and binding. It will only take me a few hours to machine quilt. It's not very large.

I had some leftover pink yarn and decided to make her a pair of baby booties. I finished one bootie this afternoon! I love quick projects!! I can't wait to give her these gifts!

Then There Were Two!!

I've been so busy lately. I worked extra during the week so I could have yesterday off. I get most of my sewing done when I'm home alone and everyone else is at work. My whole family went to Comic Con Boston yesterday. It's a long day of walking around. It's fun but tiring. I haven't had a chance to sew anything for a few days. I did manage to finish the second ball of fabric strips for the second jelly roll rug. I have to play around with my zigzag stitch and just start sewing! They recommend a specific stitch width. 

Does anyone remember the old Thumbelina dolls? Thumbelina was my favorite doll when I was little. My husband bought me a new one years ago and I always put her on my bed. I think Lily likes her too! I love how she has her little paw on her leg! She sure looks comfy!

Vintage DWR Quilting

Would you believe I'm almost done quilting this vintage beauty?? It's been fun and a bit of a challenge at the same time! There was quite a bit of bulk in some of the areas. I feel as though I'm still new at long arm quilting but I did figure out what to do. The quilting motifs I chose seemed to use up some of that bulk. It looks nice and flat. Hope it still looks good after it's off the long arm!!

 

This is all I have left! I'm thrilled to have this quilt almost finished. Now, to buy the binding fabric!!

Stellaria Shawl #2

In between quilting the vintage Double Wedding Ring quilt and making my jelly roll rugs, I'm also knitting a shawl. This is Stellaria by Susanna IC. I've knit this shawl before but this one is for my mother. She has a new blue coat with brass buttons and requested a gold shawl for winter! I love to knit while watching television. It also comes in handy when thunderstorms are in the area and I need to shut off my machines. 

You can begin to see the pattern. The first half of the shawl is just the garter stitch and short rows to make that crescent shape. The pattern is hard to see until the shawl is completed and blocked. I'm using Madelinetosh merino wool, lace weight. I'm also using Addi Turbo Lace knitting needles. I love using these needles when working with lace weight yarn. I feel you have better control with these needles. They're worth every penny!