Simplifying Solid Bindings

I loved that last Memorial Quilt - I had a really hard time handing it over.  I'm particularly pleased with the way the binding really framed the quilt.  That binding, however, was a pain in the heinie.  It was a solid fabric - same color on both sides.

What's the big deal?  You don't want to join your strips together and, while pressing, discover that you have some seams facing up and some down.  When you sew together 200+ inches, you don't want to sew "right" sides together and, 40 inches later, "wrong" sides together.

So here's my little trick. Since you can't tell which side is the "wrong" side, I marked them!  No big deal as any markings on the ends will be trimmed away. It's not a very good picture, but I've laid 8 strips atop each other and marked them.  Then I rotated the pile and marked the other ends, too.

When you grab two strips to sew together, you just make sure the markings are on the same side.

I wish the pictures were a little clearer.

Happy Stitching!

Elisa

Spinning Oxfords

Here it is! The memorial quilt for a friend's Mom. She passed away this last summer, and she loved her Oxford shirts! The entire front, including the sashing (but not the binding), was made from her crisp, starched shirts!

I hope it doesn't appear washed out with the snow behind it, but, up close, it looks like a summer picnic quilt. And it's the perfect drape - the heavy seams just melt into the Quilter's Dream Puff batting.

This is my favorite one yet and will be VERY hard to give away.

Big Reveal, Lauri!

... But it was a windy day, and Steve got confused...

Cold Outside

Have you tried Luigi's Pizza in Livonia? AMAZING! Worth setting aside the quilt for a night.

Quilted Soft!

Just finished quilting the Memorial quilt. Even looking at the back, you can just imagine how soft it is!

Quilter's Dream Puff batting is AWESOME for Memory quilts! Puffy enough for bulky seams to sink into but light enough not to add significantly to the quilt's weight. Machine quilts like butter!

Now onto binding! If the cards fall right, I should be sewing down the binding during Masterpiece Theatre tomorrow night!

Still Plugging Away

Ok, you've heard nothing from me this month. I'm working away on that Memorial Quilt, and I just have a week until deadline! I can't wait to share the pictures - gorgeous! And in this weather, it's oh so tempting to snuggle under it!

I'm bummed that it's the last of a series of Memorial quilts - have completed several over the last 3 years. On the positive, maybe I can actually work on my own projects now. My sisters butterfly quilt is calling me, and Steve wants me to quilt my journal quilt.

I don't know about you, but I'm really loving my house full of quilts in this weird, record-breaking Winter. Today we had thunder snow!

Picture Perfect on Belle Isle