A Whole Lotta Binding Goin' On

The last few months I've been resolved to move several projects to the finish line, and lately that means making lots of bindings, and lots of hand stitching, of course. The two baby quilts were at the top of the list because baby number two is due in about a week, and, believe it or not, I will have them finished before he/she arrives.

Pink Hearts is for the two-year-old - I totally missed that deadline - and I think she will like it. I do. In addition to those stylized scrappy little hearts throughout I just love the Fandango panto that Roberta used to quilt it - it just brings the whole thing to life in such a beautiful way.

And, as luck would have it, there was enough pink gingham in the stash to bind it with, so I'm pretty happy about that.

Those little pink radishes rolling across the backing are really sweet and a nice contrast to the hard lines of the hearts.

The second quilt, Monkey Business, turned out really well also. I chose a panto of stars and moons that skip across the surface and the swirling pattern softens the geometric shapes in the blocks beautifully.

This quilt took a few twists and turns as it went along. I had thought that the Strawberry Fields print which I used for the backing would also be the sashing, but it turns out that cornerstones was all that was needed, in part because that beautiful taupe pin dot that Roberta found came to the rescue.

It's a pretty quilt without being too feminine.

And the strawberry binding wraps around from the back to finish it off nicely.

Now that I see them quilted I'm thinking that either of these blocks would work equally well for larger quilts. There LOTS of the Strawberry Fields backing left so who knows? Maybe some day I'll take the plunge....M

Spectacular Slow Stitching

Often the scraps and leftovers from a quilt become the seeds for beautiful projects unto themselves. Such is the case with these gorgeous little Kantha bags that Jane is stitching.

Using scrappy strips from her Untraditional Log Cabin which was finished earlier this year, she sewed panels that are roughly 6 - 7" square and then spent time leisurely hand stitching them with a variety of coloured embroidery flosses. Even before they are made into any thing they are gorgeous and the texture when you run your hand across them is just wonderful.

We spent a day together earlier this week, so while I worked on bindings she started making them into little lined bags.

Each one is as spectacular as the next and she had lots of fun picking coordinating linings and zippers. Like with the quilt, the riot of rich colours pulls you right in.

In the end there were two sizes; the larger one is about six inches square and a smaller one that is more of a change purse size. There's still tassels needed to be added to the zippers to finish them up, but even without the tassel they are mini works of art. LUV!....M

Helping Mom With a Finish

Since 2017, Anne has been continuing to hand piece blocks for a quilt called Roses at the Window, begun by mom in 1990. 

When she first uncovered the box with all of the contents and instructions needed she was in awe of mom's organization skills and fondly referred to this as her quilt-in-a-box, working at it off and on as a hand stitching project.

A short while ago, after mom's goddaughter Bernadette was diagnosed with breast cancer, my sister Betty offered that we would give her a quilt made by mom. Bernadette was thrilled. It's taken a little longer than planned, but the quilt is now ready for delivery.

With all of the blocks sewn, I helped Anne assemble the top. We needed to incorporate another cream to the sashing, which ended up working out well. We also decided to cut it down in size a bit and incorporated the surplus blocks into the backing. 

A border of dark green worked to nicely frame it.

And Roberta found a beautiful leafy floral pattern to quilt it with which really suits the floral print and leafy green backing. In the pattern, there were roses appliqued overtop of the grid of blocks but we opted not to go there.

Betty was keen to help out as well, so she finished it off by doing the binding and giving it a good wash. So, it's officially out of the box and ready to go. Bernadette's oldest sister is visiting this weekend so Anne will be able to hand deliver it. This was a great team effort to not only finish up one of mom's projects, but to be able to share her quilting legacy with extended family on this Mother's Day. Mom would be thrilled; I know we three are....M

To Scream or Not To Scream...

There's been a little Shakespearean tragedy (or maybe it's a comedy?) playing out in the sewing room.

Keen to get Halo closer to the finish line now that the baby quilts are done, I've been focused on finishing up all the necessary pie shapes needed so that I can move on to assembling the blocks. I was getting to the end of the line so I started cleaning up the fabrics and templates and decided to take a look at the pattern again. 

It took a bit of time to register, but eventually I figured out that I have been laying the edge pieces out incorrectly. 

I should have been building it so that the edges finished in complete circles, as shown at the right, but I was finishing off with half circles/a straight edge. Ah, the power of the pattern.

Things were eventually rearranged to where they should be but what made me want scream was the fact that I had sewn so many unneeded 'T' centres for the blocks - 15 in all. So I resorted to my tried and true crisis management technique: turn out the lights and leave the room.

Sanity prevailed a day or two later and I returned to begin sewing the blocks - finally! I have to say that I'm just loving seeing them come together.

SO scrappy!

I take the pieces for one block down off the wall at a time and it helps me track how many I've made and how many are left to go.

As for those 15 extra T sections, not sure what their fate is. Maybe some day they will become a runner or a baby quilt, but right now I'm not up for cutting more pie-shaped pieces to finish them off. Time will tell....M