Monday, November 26, 2012

Working on my UFOs



I've made progress on two UFOs this week. I've got the Cross Quilt bound. All that is left is to put a partial sleeve on the back so I can use a hanger I own.

 I decided to bind the quilt totally by machine using a technique that is new to me. So here it is sewn to the back of the quilt.

 And here are front and back photos of the blanket stitch I used to attach the binding to the front. Most of the mitered corners turned out great.

As expected the front turned out nicer than the back, but the back wasn't bad. I'll use this system again. I do understand why some people using this system like a slightly narrower strip for the binding. I cut mine 2 1/2, but if I do this again, I'll try a 2 1/4 strip and see if that works out better.

I know that people use other decorative stitches on their bindings when they sew it all on by hand. I am going to try out some other stitches.

But the next experiment in binding will be a bit different than this one. And I will need a 2 1/2 inch strip for that one.








My blue art quilt has been sitting on the cork board for a very long time while I worked on free motion quilting projects. I just didn't know what to do with it.

I've been going upstairs to my attic storeroom and looking around and I found four doilies I'd made when we lived in California. I'd never done anything with them and I suddenly thought they might look good on this project.

I'm not sure which pair I will put on the project. I like the idea of one in white and one in blue. I know I'm going to be doing more decorative stitches on what is now going to be the background of the project. And I think I'll quilt it before I put the doilies on the project. I expect there will be a bunch of hand stitching and maybe some beadwork on this as well.







I also found two boxes of thread, and a box of buttons upstairs. I'd forgotten about them totally. They are old, but not ancient. I dumped the bobbins because they were for a machine I no longer own. And I got rid of the thread that was intended only for surgers. I no longer own a surger.

 The top box is mainly normal sewing cotton. The bottom is mostly metallic threads from a manufacturer that I haven't seen lately. I remember that brand as being a pretty good one to machine sew with, but I'll have to try it out before I actually use any of it on a project. I'll keep them separate from the new thread I've bought over the last year.













11 comments:

  1. Stella, congrats on finishing your Crosses Quilt! I love that clean modern look with quilting in the negative space. I have also used that binding method, and yours looks great with the blanket stitch.

    I will poke around your blog to see more about your blue art quilt. I am curious about the use of doilies and such. I have a hankies quilt on my list. The idea started one day when I got out all my mom's and grandmother's old dainty hankies...

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  2. Your binding turned out great and I love your art quilt. Yippee for finding "lost" thread! You can always use it for practicing some FMQ!

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  3. NickersMarie, I just found the doilies. I decided to just try it and see how it all comes out.

    Pat Merkle, boy are you right about the found thread. I'm going to play.

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  4. I think your binding looks great and I really like your art quilt! I used to do a lot of crazy quilting and look forward to getting back into that once I get my UFO quilting situation under control.

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  5. The binding looks great and good on you for trying a new technique. I find when using a decorative stitch for machining the binding that a 2 1/2 inch works well as it means my decorative stitch is completely off the binding (and runs along the edge of the binding) on the back. When I use a narrower binding I find I somehow manage to wiggle on and off the binding at the back and it doesn't look as nice.

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    1. Leanne, this was a blanket stitch binding, and although it looked nice on the back, I think that the areas where the stitch caught the binding on the back looked a bit better. But I can see that with other stitches, you would want them completely off the binding on the back. Thanks for the tip.

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  6. Интересная работа!!!

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  7. Congrats on the UFO finish - and what a neat use of the doilies! Both pairs are gorgeous on that blue. That's going to be neat.

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  8. Stella, your binding looks great and the corner miter is perfect!

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  9. I like your cross quilt, Stella, and I think the binding looks fabulous. I can never remember the width to cut my bindings and so have to play every time I do it. (Not like I've bound many quilts, though....)

    Don't you love finding a jumble of thread somewhere in your house - or even at a thrift store? I hope the colors work for your upcoming projects.
    Nancy from joy for grace

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