Quilt Binding

I forgot to mention in my previous post how I did my binding (double clicking on the picture will exand it). I followed the very detailed information provided by Sharon Pederson in her book Reversible Quilts Two at a Time. I purchased it several years ago when I was in my quilt thinking stage. I see it is still available on amazon (Reversible-Quilts-Two-at-Time). It has 20 five star ratings.

Her technique starts and ends at a corner. It hides the ends of the binding on a corner of the quilt and was super easy to follow. She also has a technique for making a reversible binding if you want the binding on the two sides to differ.

While I have not used other techniques I liked this one and will continue to use it.

One of the frustrations I had with my first quilt was trying to manage the amount of material I had to put through my sewing machine. In my next post I will share some of the tips that Harriet Hargrave has in her book Heirloom Machine Quilting. Unfortunately I did not review it before I machine quilted this one. For my next quilt I will incorporate the Divide and Conquer method (Nancy Smith & Lynda Milligan). My current plan is for a queen size quilt. May be a while before I finish. So many projects so little time.

First Quilt

I always said that I would never make a quilt. Even though my grandmother was an awesome quilter and did all her work by hand well into her 80's. I have several that she made and sometime I will post them on this blog. I just could not see the point in cutting apart a bunch of fabrics and sewing them back together.

Well, never say never. I have been bitten by the quilting bug. I just love all the great fabrics and modern quilt designs that are on the web. My husband was asked to be the godfather to his best friend's son. I felt that a special gift was in order. Thus, a quilt was born. Based on a tutorial from teaginny designs off center squares baby quilt tutorial. She has lots of pictures and various finishing options and the quilt on her blog teaginnydesigns.

Of course, I could not just follow her tutorial I had to give it my own twist. I pieced the binding, embroidered the event and date, added an additional block to the width, and quilted it in a diagonal pattern.

I learned a lot and made several mistakes. If I would have reviewed my Harriet Hargrave Heirloom Machine Quiliting book I would have made many less. I guess I have to admit that quiliting has always been on my mind as I purchased several books over the years.

Ah, experience. I know just what not to do next time. There will be a next time as I have a few in the cutting and planning stages. I just love the art and the freedom to do my own thing.