Wordless Wednesday

Tutorial: Binding Fixes

Way back in September, I presented a tutorial on how to fold over binding. In that post, while showing you how to make a binding by folding over the backing to the front, I made a couple of errors, and I promised that a tutorial on how to fix the errors would be forthcoming "very soon."  I fixed my binding, took pictures, and eventually forgot about my promise.  Since that post is one of my 10 most popular posts, I think maybe it is about time that I make good on my promise. Here's what I said:

10. Now, if you didn't follow my advice in step 4 and have any issues, you have options.  You can decide you want a separate binding after all, or you can wait for the next tutorial (coming up very soon) where I will show you some intermediary steps.

I don't recommend doing this.

I am sorry that I left you wondering how I fixed this problem. When you first encounter this problem, it is important not to panic. You can keep clear headed and decide what to do. There are two ways to fix it.

One way is to give up on the fold over binding, and decide to do it the regular way with a separate binding. To do this, you can trim all of the backing even with the edge of the quilt, and attach a separate binding. But if you are making a casual quilt, one that is meant to provide love and comfort for kids, and not one you are showing to the quilt police, there really isn't any reason you can't add more love by fixing your errors. A little secret spot that got some extra attention might be just the place that the kid will gravitate to when he needs some extra attention himself.

First, trim off the error.  You don't want to look at it any more than you have to.  Then, find a piece of similar or matching fabric that is bigger than the error.  You want to have enough fabric that you can fold over the ends, and still have it big enough to cover the problem area.

Fold down the sides and pin right sides together.  With a machine sew from edge to edge, including the folded over parts.  It is okay if you manage to sew through the batting seam.  That part will be covered up with the binding anyway, and might add some extra security to your layers. 

Fold the fabric up over the seam, and it is almost as good as new.  Trim your little piece to be even with the remaining fabric.  Repeat for as many errors as you made (I made two), and proceed as usual with the steps shown in the first tutorial.  Because the sides aren't sewn, you will have to either hand stitch or machine stitch them when you are done.  I used a machine.

Progress

This is an older picture, which does not provide proof, so you will just have to take my word for it, that I am finished with the quilting on the rail fence quilt. Well, the machine part anyway.  I just love the way the diamonds look, and the scallops in the border look pretty good too.

I thought about parallel zig zags, which would make sure that the quilting would be at least three inches apart, but decided to go with the diamond shape instead.  This makes sure there isn't a very long unquilted part through the width of the quilt. Plus it was a lot easier to quilt it this way.


What it does mean though that there is a space where the quilting is six inches apart - in the center of each diamond.  The batting calls for 10 inches so it will be okay, but I am thinking about adding ties through those centers anyway. It will give an old fashioned look to the quilt, and keep me from worrying over the quilt. This center space is where lots of seams meet, so it probably won't be a fun job, but I can go ahead and bind the quilt, and do that part at my leisure.

I've also done some more hand quilting on the Moldy Cheese quilt.  I would love to add it to my finishes for 2010 year end recap, but I doubt that will happen.  But progress is progress, and maybe it will be an early 2011 finish.  I also want to start new things - Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt looks so intriguing, plus her old one - the Double Delight is also on my to do list.  But keeping focused on having a nice recap for you is keeping me focused.  I am allowed to start new things, but finishing what I start brings great satisfaction .

Reading

I am really good at procrastinating, and when we had a snow "storm", I sat down and read a couple of books instead of following the to-do list.  It felt so good, and both of these books were wonderful.

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The book review of Shaking the Family Tree by Buzzy Jackson has been moved to Millionaire Tips on Hubpages.

Acts of Faith is written by Eboo Patel book review has been moved to Millionaire Tips.

Midnight Ramblings

I was minding my own business when my sister asked me if I wanted to go grocery shopping with her. I went, I put stuff away and sat back down at the computer. I had my family tree up, because I was trying to do some editing - you know, making sure things were explained reasonably, capitalized correctly, there wasn't wasted space, fix typo's, etc. I find this part very difficult, because it is so easy to decide I want to find out something else, and go off searching for new information.

Which is what I did. Wandered off. I don't know why, maybe because it was midnight. I had a person up. She and her first husband are the ancestors. I started searching for the family of her second husband's first wife. It makes absolutely no sense to research them, because they will never show up on any report, and the information will just be sitting useless on the file. It is possible that my person never met the first wife's grandparents. I doubt that they would have family gatherings like that, you know.

But I let myself wander. I do that from time to time, especially around midnight when that "what are you doing?" part of me is sleeping.

Eventually, I found great-grandparents or something, and the names started becoming very familiar. I found Mary White's sister! Apparently I knew her by her middle name, but through this backwards way of finding her, I found both her first and middle names together.

So the person in question - her first husband was a descendant of Mary White, and her second husband's first wife was a descendant of Mary's sister.

I don't think I believe in ghosts, but it does seem like sometimes they help you find them!

There's some QUILTING going on

If you compare this quilt with the Simply Squares one, I notice a big difference. This one represents me so much more than the other one. These are the fabrics I have used in quilts I have made. Fabric I would choose and have chosen and have processed into other quilts.  Only they are all out to play together.  Mish-mash.  There are wallflower fabrics, and bright bold ones. There are sedate fabrics and crazy novelty ones. The little pieces show that I'm not afraid of repetitious, tedious hard work.

So when it came to choosing a quilting design, I thought that I could maybe quilt my initials into it. The first letter of my first name on the one row, alternated with the first letter of my last name. I practiced the S over and over again on several pieces of junk mail and their envelopes. I didn't like it. Finally I decided to go back to the zig zag I used on the African quilt. I like zig zag. I could zig on one block, and zag on the other block, and in the end, I would have a pretty diamond shape.

I slept on the idea, and decided that I liked it. But I also got smart enough to realize I could quilt straight lines instead of zigging and zagging, and come up with the same design on the fabric, without all the turning. I'm so glad I figured that out before I started sewing!

But the straight lines means that there is a lot more of the quilt to stuff into the throat of the sewing machine, since it is turned diagonally. Luckily I didn't turn this into a queen sized quilt, which is the other brilliant idea I got while I slept!

End of the Year Panic

Eye Cookie

The countdown to the end of the year is on.  Besides the normal day-to-day of normal life, there are extra things to do.

• making the list and buying the perfect gifts for loved ones
• wrapping said gifts
• filling out refund forms and depositing checks
• writing annual letter and sending out holiday cards
• decorating the house
• buying and putting up the tree
• doing the final end of the year cleaning, so I can start the new year fresh
• finishing some quilts so the end of the year quilt report looks good
• keeping up with the day to day stuff

But what do I do instead? Work on the puzzle I got last year.  Hey, I need to finish it before this year's puzzle comes around, right?