Becky's quilt obsession

When I read the tutorial on binding for the Wannabes over at M Samm’s, I asked if she was going to include one on mitering the seams at the joins instead of blunt seams. It’s not hard to do, and really reduces the bulk in your bindings. The following is how I do it: To sew the seams of the binding, place the end of the first piece, right side up, on the bed of your machine. Open up the second piece of binding and place the end, right side down, at a right angle to the first piece. The selvage of the bottom piece points to the right, and the selvage of the top is – well, to the top. You might note that I have a line drawn on the bed of my sewing table directly straight to the needle of my machine. Some people use an angler, or other devices, I just use a Sharpie fine line marker. If you make a mistake, it cleans off with alcohol, and you can mark it again. It wears off with time, I just keep remarking it. I use a leader, put my needle down, and then place the exact angle w...

I finished up this UFO – another “dead quilter’s UFO”. It was also donated to Friends United, with one block finished, some strip sets, and the muslin. The quilter had started the muslin pieces, but they were cut wrong, probably why this was set aside. Years ago I had plenty of this country blue with white pin dots. I used the circle lord feathered wreath to do the center, then free-handed the wavy lines, following an idea in a book. I was petrified about doing the border. I wanted to do feathers, but I didn’t think for my second time I would want to do them where each stitch would show.  I didn’t have any thread to match the border fabric. I used Cream So Fine in the center, and a dark taupe on the borders. The “plan” is to group with some other items for a table cover as it is only about 40” square. I’m off now to do the binding. Happy Quilting, Becky

The V & T wall hanging was finished for our trip to Carson City, NV, last week. We had a good time, and I , of course, found time to play at a quilt shop in Gardiner, NV.The wall hanging was part of the silent auction, and it brought $125. When making it, I tried using a wool batting as well as a thin cotton batting on the bottom. It certainly made everything puffy. I really hate it when pictures sag. I quilted this on my DSM as the big needles on Black Bart would have torn holes in the pictures. I know a lot of people don’t quilt in pictures, but I like the look of outlining the major lines in the photos. I took beautiful pictures of Gold Hill and Virginia City, but now can’t find them on my computer. I hate it when I do that. I made a new folder for them, but where did it end up? Happy quilting, Becky