Happy Halloween

Weather is to be  sunny, mild, and beautiful today for the trick-or-treating. 

Wanted to share a few Halloweenish photos with you today.

And Scaredy Cat Charlie is hanging by the front door.  I finished him just in time for the last minute decorating yesterday.  I was even able to do a bit of hand stitching on it too.

Have a Spooky Good Halloween!

Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Autumn 2011





Fall is here and its time to take a wonderful blog tour and see the many quilts of Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Thanks to Amy of Amy's Creative Side, twice a year we are able to be inspired by great photos and stories of a wide array of quilterly goodness.   This festival is one of my favorite blogging activities each time it comes around.  I usually spend those weekends tied to the computer, with a mug of coffee or tea in my hand as I jump to so many quilter's blogs.



This fall, I am sharing my Village Green Quilt.  It was designed by Thimbleberries and I love the combination of warm fabrics in the kit. 

Pine Tree Block

Piecing some floral and fence blocks



This was a block of the month club for 2010.   I was pretty happy with my progress each of the months. By December, I was even sewing the sawtooth border. So this quilt went together faster than last year's Three's Company quilt.  I had it quilted by my neighbor on a long arm and I got the binding stitched down very recently. 



The quilt that I chose to make was described as a "generous queen sized throw".  It works perfectly on a double bed as a coverlet and hangs down the side by a few inches.  I love it on the living room sofa as it's quite a lot bigger than the quilt I usually curl up with for TV.  I love how the colors coordinate with other quilts I already made and use in our home.  

Applying the Binding



Quilting by Carol's Corner (my neighbor)

Thimbleberries quilts often have multiple borders and this is no acception.  Some are a bit too much framing, but with the cute sawtooth border on this one, I think it's the perfect finish for the edge!  This has now won a special place in my heart as a favorite quilted finish. 

Pumpkin and Herbs

Happy Fall Everyone.  Be sure to check out the other quilts in the listing over at Amy's Creative Side.  You'll be glad you did.  And if you are on the fence about writing a post about a quilt, you should just jump off and do it!  The more, the merrier!  Just read her suggestions in her post and you'll be well on your way to participation.

Friday Night Sew-In Results

Primative and Cute, it'll be great for my Halloween decorating.  I think I'll use it near a rickety skeleton.
Just a few more finishing touches to add.

Friday Night Sew In Weekend

I have signed up for Heidi and  Bobbi's  Friday Night Sew-In for the very first time.  It sounded like a perfect way to get some of my projects a little further and have fun reporting on the progress along the way.

I must do a little tidying up in the kitchen and then organize my sewing space in the living room.  After those 2 tasks, I should be all set to do some fun stitching and quilting . 

If you're interested too, then  sign up with Bobbi on her Crafty Vegas blog.  There are quite a few participants this month.  It'll be fun checking the progress of the other sewers.
See you soon...

Creative Snipping

I made a really awesome virtual papercutting on line the other day and here are the results:

Jan, of Snippety Gibbet, suggested visiting the victorinox webpage.  Once there you'll be able to see Rob Ryan and his work.  He has made several videos on creative paper cutting.  If you go to the tab that says, "create your own"  you'll be able to save an image for yourself!  Hope you try it.

Singer 160th Anniversary

On the Singer 160th Anniversary webpage sewing machine owners may submit a story about a singer sewing machine to win a special, limited edition sewing machine which they will give away in a contest in January 2012.  You may tell about any kind of Singer machine and include a photo if you'd like.  I do love my vintage Singers, so I have already entered.

Another fun thing to do while you visit this webpage is to make a certificate for any Singer machine that was made on or before 1970.  All you need is your serial number and basic personal information. 

It makes a nice keepsake to go with your vintage machine!

Clips vs. Glue When Sewing Down Binding

How do you prefer to prepare your double fold binding when getting ready to sew it to the back?

I generally have used the metal hair clips and have liked that better than sewing pins.

Have you ever tried Elmer's wash out school glue? I have been doing it this way for more than a year and I love it.

Shows amount and placement of glue before ironing down to fasten in place.



  I first heard about it from posts on The Quilt Show website.  Quilters there were creating links to Sharon Schamberg's video about binding the Angel Quilt.  There she showed her method with the same washable school glue, but with a much smaller applicator tip.



Watch the video if you are interested.  I picked up a lot of hints and tips from seeing it more than once.  It is in three parts and takes about a half and hour to watch. 

I get by just fine by doing these steps:

1. Sew binding to the front
2. Miter corners while sewing
3. Trim edge of quilt with about 3/8 in overhang
4. Press binding out on front side of quilt, use lots of steam and some spray starch
5. Flip quilt to back and iron binding into folded position
6. Work with binding edge to have it just cover stitching
7. Apply Elmer's Washable glue just inside stitching line
8. Iron and steam binding to dry the glue
9. Sew with an invisible ladder stitch by hand
10. Wash and dry quilt



Advantages or disadvantages either way???