Bountiful Berries

The first piece that I stitched up on my long arm was built from a fat quarter of berry fabric that my husband had picked out many moons ago.

I started by picking a green dot fat quarter from my stash, to use for the back, and put the two fat quarters on the machine with a double layer of cotton batting between them.  Then I found this berry design that fit perfectly and stitched it up with Superior Omni Light Sage thread.

When the piece was fully stitched, I took it off the machine and brought it back to the cutting board for trimming.  You can easily get four 7 inch squares from one set of fat quarters!

They weren't completely made from my stash, because I turned up shy on coordinating fabrics to bind with, but now all four squares have the first machine binding stage completed and I am slowly working on hand stitching the binding to the back.  I even took them out on the deck because the day was just to lovely to sit inside!

First Block Finished!

Linking up with Let's Be Social and Slow Sunday Stitching.

June Finishes

I had two goals I wanted to work on in June: to assemble my crochet blanket, and to sew a piece up on my long arm.  And I was able to check off both!


The piece that I worked on the machine ended up not being the the runner I had intended, but a piece of strawberry fabric destined to be cut up for some pot holders.  The choice was ultimately dictated by a lack of free bobbins on which I could load the grey thread, so I quickly fired off an order for a dozen more bobbins and stitched up some yummy berries in the meantime.

Stitching on the last square!

And in slow stitching, I successfully finished my first crochet blanket!  In part because of how long it took, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment just for making it to the end!  I just attached the last square, tied off the remaining threads, and gave it a good cuddle test.  It passes!  I think I'll just hang out under here until dinner!

Linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday.

An Experiment in Binding

After having such trouble with the binding on the card trick potholders I decided to try and find another way.  I had attempted to join the ends the same way I would on a quilt, after it was partially attached, and there just wasn't enough play along the short little sides.

My first thought was to cut the back large and roll it over the same way I do on baby quilts.  Then I promptly cut the pieces too small and had to come up with a new plan.

I found a tutorial to make the binding into a loop with a straight join before attaching it to the potholder, and I thought I might be able to adapt that method to use an angled join.

First I cut a strip of fabric at 2.25 inches.  I lined it up on the potholder to determine where my ends would wind up.  These potholders were a little smaller than the last, so one strip fit just fine.  Then I cut the ends so there was a 2.25 inch overlap.

I lined up the corners and drew a diagonal from one edge to the other.  I sewed on this line, trimmed the excess triangles off, and then ironed the loop in half.

Then I pinned the loop of binding down to the front of the potholder.  It was a little on the large side, so I might make it a very little bit smaller next time.  It wasn't too big that I couldn't make it work by easing it in a little as I went though.

The moment of truth!  The corners seemed a little more determined to give me trouble with the mitering, but it's pinned down now and ready for a little hand sewing tonight!  Just in time, because these will start their journey on Wednesday!  Phew!

Linking up with MOP Monday.

Woodland Sampler - May

Both of my card trick blocks have been assembled and quilted.  There has been a lot of learning happening during the process, but all's well if it ends well!

Starting the Quilting

Binding Pinned

This was my first time quilting using a walking foot and, though this wasn't the simplest first piece I could have tried, I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.  However, I do need to look into why my machine has taken to skipping stitches.

The first potholder went through a lot of stitching and un-stitching (and possibly some yelling...) on the way towards getting the ends of the binding joined, but the second one went a bit smoother.  Hopefully the next set will be even easier still!

All that's left is a bit of hand stitching to finish off the binding!


I also picked up my Woodland Sampler again.  This cross-stitch fell off of the to-do list back in May.  I stitched the May box in July, and over Thanksgiving a gnome took up residence there!  I'd like to finish half the year before 2015 rolls around...  Only one more small square to go!

May Gnome

Linking up with MOP Monday, Slow Stitching, and Let's Bee Social.

Card Trick One

After getting two substantial quilts out this year, I've decided it's time to work on some small projects.  First up is a pair of pot holders.

I have never worked with quarter square triangles and I don't even have much experience sewing with pre-cut triangles so I was a bit nervous how this was going to come out.

But now I have the first one sewn up and am loving how it looks.  However, I wasn't feeling up to trying to match any more points after the first one, so the second card trick is still waiting for it's turn!

The first of two card tricks.

Linking up to MOP Monday and Let's Bee Social.