Gold Medal Winnings

I feel like I've just run the vacuuming, dusting and scrubbing Olympics and taken home a gold. Every floor - every last one - and seemingly every surface in the house is now clean and shiny and ready for the week's festivities. Whew! And my reward? Binding, of course!

My gingham is proving to be the icing on the cake for Country Charmer.

I was very focused on how it would go with the red floral border on the quilt front, but am really liking how it works with the paisley backing too.

Bindings have been cut and sewn onto both Country Charmer and Nantucket, and this time I used a new method to join the start/end points. I usually create little pocket when I first attach my binding to the quilt and then tuck the end into it when the binding finishes up, but at times I've felt it was just a little too bulky. Time to try something new. These instructions from Mimi Dietrich's book Happy Endings are a cinch and give a great finish. For some reason I thought this was going to be very complicated, but it couldn't be easier, and you can say bye bye to unnecessary bulk. Wonder if it would work on my waistline?

As if on cue, today we finally got more than a few flakes of snow - not tons, but enough to make the Christmas lights glitter just a little brighter and lift your spirits. It's a start. So, I'm going to spend my evening with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a few good carols and see if I can finish the hand stitching on this one. On with the reindeer games!....M