Trip Around the World - A Finished Quilt

Pieced, quilted, and bound... I finished the Trip Around the World quilt that I pieced last summer.  The weather has been so good lately so I took this photo outside in our back yard.

It is a generous throw size, 64" by 72" and I bound it using the same fabric that is in the outer most "ring" of squares, the teal green tone-on-tone fabric.  You can read more about how I pieced this quilt in my earlier post on it, here.

This is the last quilt that Karen Thompson quilted for me, before she retired from longarm quilting for clients.  She quilted it with a curvy swirl panto design.  

I like swirling designs like this one for their softening effect on the angular patches.

I made the quilt top last summer when I was in use-the-stash mode so almost all of the fabric came from my stash, even the backing.  I did a fabric pull to coordinate with the colors in our family room, using the floral throw pillow as the key inspiration (the curtains in the room are made of the same floral fabric).  I wanted this particular quilt to be used in our family room and to complement the decor there but even when I'm not trying to coordinate with a room's decorating scheme, I find this method of selecting fabrics for a quilt to be quite effective.  

If you have a fabric you like, select your quilting fabrics based on the colors/shades in the inspiration fabric, in the ratios they are used in the print, and you pretty much can't go wrong.  You don't even have to use the inspiration fabric in the quilt itself, but just as a guide to selecting the fabrics you will use.  

Mr. Main Street is trying to hold the quilt up to get a picture.  The corgis saw the camera and thought they were supposed to be the models; you can see the paws of one of them (along with the mister's sock feet) under the bottom edge.  

Well, I have even more binding to do.

Love In The Time of Covid-19

I have my first finish of 2020, Love In The Time of Covid-19.

I used the pattern Piece & Love Quilt by The Cloth Parcel.  Well, I used the pattern mostly as inspiration because I changed the size and the construction method.  The pattern makes a quilt 70" x 80" or 70" x 92" while I wanted a smaller quilt to fit my kitchen hanging space.  The wooden quilt holder is 40" wide so I resized roughly proportionately.  

I used a charm pack of Braveheart fabric from Laundry Basket Quilts, actually parts of two charm packs because I didn't use the lightest prints.  I used the charm squares to make quarter triangle squares that finish at 3 inches to form the heart.  I used two tone-on-tone fabrics from my stash for the background, one a mini polka dot and the other a subtle paisley print.  The background stripes finish at 6 inches wide.  The finished quilt is 38" by 48".

 

The backing and binding also came from my stash so it was a pretty good use of stash fabrics.  I sent the finished top to my long-time quilting collaborator, Karen Thompson of Greenbriar Designs.  She used pale pink thread to quilt a pantograph pattern of a vine with hearts and curlicues.  I like the way it came out and the pale pink thread shows up just enough against both the off-white background and the darker pinks and reds and in the heart.  

The binding is a beige and tan mini hounds tooth print; it's one of my favorites for binding.  I like the way it finishes the edge against the lighter background fabric.  

My fabric choices resulted in quilt that is less "modern" in appearance than the original on the pattern but it fits very well with my decor.  You could get a similar, more traditional look with Laundry Basket's other red and pink line called Anna or a modern look with Just Red by Zen Chic or red and pink batiks.

As for the name, Love In The Time Of Covid-19, I chose it to commemorate this time.  I started the quilt in late January by making the blocks that would form the heart; at that time, we thought Covid-19 was a flu-like condition confined to China.  I took a break while I went on a vacation in Florida then started assembling the heart and adding the background in late February.  By the time I finished the top, Italy was in quarantine and New Jersey entered stay-at-home orders just as I mailed the top and backing to Karen in North Carolina.  My husband and I are in our 11th week of staying at home to "flatten the curve" and while neither of us, nor any other family members, have caught the virus (or have been asymptomatic if they have), over 100,000 Americans have died to date.  I hope it is over soon.

Still Here!

I did not intend to take such a long break from blogging, but the truth is that there is not much quilting going on here on Main Street.  I am continuing to work on Modern Herringbone but have not progressed to the point where a status update is in order.  I interrupted that project this weekend to finish a few smaller tasks.

First, I pieced the backing for my Double Wedding Ring, so I can get it off the quilter. 

 

I'm using the large floral print from Paris Flea Market.  I bought 10 yards just for this purpose when it went on sale; the back used up a little over 8 yards so I still have some left.

 

 

My second task was to make the binding for this quilt, Christmas Crossroads.  I began this quilt about 10 months ago and finished the piecing early this year.  Even the quilting was completed months ago.  Time to stop procrastinating and get the binding on so we can use this this Christmas.  

After consideration, I decided to use the red.  It is a subtle stripe and I used a little of it in the body of the quilt.  There is more green than red in the pieced sections; the red binding gives it some "pop."

I plan to be back soon.

Binding

I have a big binding job to do and that means I have a quilt that's about to be finished.  Yeah!

It seems like binding is one of those tasks that quilters either love or hate.  I enjoy it; I find the hand sewing part relaxing, but there is also the satisfaction of having reached the finish line on a project, because the binding is the last step in making a quilt. 

This binding is going on one of my Fig Tree projects.  The fabric is a tiny check in pale pink and ivory.  I like checks, small plaids, and stripes for binding but often use other prints too.

I usually cut my binding on the bias, in strips 2.25 inches wide.  I go a little narrower on smaller quilts, like wall hangings.  I sew the binding to the front of the quilt on my sewing machine, then turn it to the back and hand sew in place.  I recently found that using a walking foot is a big help; it makes the application a little smoother, especially on a big quilt.  This was a tip I picked up on another blog.  There are a lot of tutorials for making and attaching binding on blogs and on YouTube so take a look around if you've been struggling with this step. 

Binding Next

We are in the process of having our living room, dining room, and foyer painted here on Main Street and as a result, there has been very little quilting going on.  Instead, I've spent my evenings boxing up the contents of the dining room hutch and moving furniture between rooms.  The house will look so good when the paint job is finished.

As I  have two quilts back from the quilter, this seemed like the pefect time for binding. 

I machine sewed the binding on both quilts on Saturday.  I use a walking foot for binding application, I think it makes the process a little smoother plus if helps prevent the binding application process form stretching the edge of the quilt.  Now it is time to hand stitch the other side, a good activity for the coming week.  Be on the lookout for two finished quilt unveilings!

Back in Business!

Our power went out in the storm on Monday evening and we did not have it back until last night (Thursday) - 3 full days without lights, heat, or internet, but I'm not complaining as it could have been much worse.  Many in our area still don't have power and there is devastation everywhere in NJ but we were almost unscathed.  The wind was absolutely ferocious,bringing down tree branches and whole trees, which in turn pulled down power lines.  Utility poles toppled over as well. Our block of Main Street was closed to traffic until Thursday afternoon because downed power lines were lying in the street.  But we did not have flooding in our area.  We are some miles inland from the shore, the rain was not that heavy, and the ground was not already saturated (unlike last year's storm).  Most of the areas that experienced floods were hit by surging water from the ocean or up the Hudson River.  My sister-in-law's house on Long Island, one block from the bay, was flooded on the first floor, with water up to the roof of the car parked in the driveway (the family was on a trip to Toronto at the time of the storm so all are safe). 

In our case, we just experienced first world problems under post-storm third world conditions - how to keep our cell phones and e-readers charged, the monotony of meal after meal composed of peanut butter sandwiches and Halloween candy, and the anxiety of trying to get Miss Main Street's early decision college application due Nov. 1 sent on Oct. 31 without internet service.  Wow, I needed something stronger than a Diet Coke after that process!  The worst was the cold; by Thursday morning the temperature in our house had dropped to 52 degrees (F) and it's a real downer when you feel cold all the time.  Fortunately we have a lot of quilts to wrap up in.

Speaking of quilts, I got some binding done during daylight hours (which are surprisingly short this time of year), and here is my latest finish:

 

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might remember my project I called Magic Eight Square from back in May.  My tutorial for the block made from layer cake squares is here.   I made this quilt from a layer cake of Lately Arrived From London by Barbara Brackman for Moda, a 19th century reproduction collection, along with some yardage for border and binding. 

I had the quilt long arm quilted with a pantograph design and it was only as I was putting on the binding that I noticed my mistake.  Did you notice?  The two blocks in the upper right corner are reversed.  Too late to fix now and fortunately, it does not totally ruin the quilt.  In fact, if I don't call attention to it, maybe no one will notice. 

I could name this quilt Numbskull, but I think I will go with Humility, after the Amish concept of the humility block (because only God is perfect).  Also, the name Humility fits the Victorian look of the fabric prints. 

I did more than finish Humility during this adventure.  I'll be back in a couple of days with more to show you.

Binding Quilts

My post about my Spools quilt, Keep Calm and Sew On, elicited some comments about the different types of binding. 

I nearly always use double-fold bias binding on my quilts.  The fabric is cut at a 45 degree angle to the selvages.  The strips are sewn together, then folded in half length-wise to create two layers of fabric before sewing along the quilt edge.  Bias binding stretches a little so it is a must on any curved edge.   The downside is that some quilters find bias binding tends to pull out of shape on straight edges and may even stretch the edge of quilt, creating ripples.   In theory, double-fold bias binding is the most durable type of binding because the fibers in the binding are not aligned with the edge of the quilt.  A straight binding cut exactly on grain will have one thread running right along the edge of the quilt and this thread will get a lot of wear and stress, so the binding could eventually split right along this thread.  However, the reality is that straight grain binding is rarely exactly on grain and will be even more "off" after sewing, so it is not likely that one single fiber will run along the edge. 

So double-fold, straight grain binding works well on straight edges.  It was the perfect choice for Keep Calm and Sew On, where I wanted the stripes to be straight, not bias, plus wear along the edge is not a big issue for a wall hanging. 

I have a few books I frequently refer to for bindings and other edge treatments. A Fine Finish, by Cody Mazuran, is an excellent resource for how to do anything above and beyond the most basic binding.  This book is out-of-print but used copies are available on Amazon.com.  It covers putting binding on a curved edge (like a double wedding ring quilt), using piping along the edge with and without binding, and other decorative treatments.  It is a worthwhile addition to your quilting library.

Borders, Bindings, & Edges, by Sally Collins, is another good resource.  While this book covers binding techniques, it includes unusual border treatments, especially pieced borders. 

Darlene Zimmerman's book, The Quilter's Edge, is another good resource for borders, bindings, and finishing techniques.  If you've been wondering how to do prairie points on a quilt, you will find out how in this book. 

 

Well, I have lots of binding to attend to.  Better get cracking!

 

 

Binding, Binding, and More Binding

I recently got three quilts back from longarm quilters.  But I need to bind and label them before I can truly call them finished.  So I've been making binding.  And over the next few weeks, I'll be sewing it on.  And then there will be a few "show off the final quilt" posts around here on Main Street.  Stay tuned!