A Detour

I finished sewing the binding to the Tickled Pink quilt. Now I just have to fold it over and hand sew it down on the front. Yes, I do my final stitching on the front. I was taught how to do it so it doesn't show. If you want to know more about how I do it, click here.

It will be nice just to sit and do some hand sewing.

Wrap Me Up!

Adding the binding to the Sparkling Winkel quilt the way I wanted to meant I'd have to position the binding just right to align the print on the backing to the binding.

It also meant some fussy cut joins.

Fortunately I am always up for a challenge.

A few evenings of hand sewing and I'll be ready to enjoy this beauty.

If you want to know more about how I sew the binding to the front of the quilt, you can read this post.

Beginning Binding

Last night I sewed the binding to the Colorado Quilt. You know I sew it to the back of the quilt,

and then fold it over to the front, where I will sew it down with a blindstitch. You can read about how I do it here and here. And if you want to know WHY I sew my binding down on the front of my quilts by hand, (even though that's the way I was taught to do it - make the binding lie flat, make it even and make your stitches invisible) you can read this story that makes me smile to this day, some thirty plus years later.

I find the whole discussion so amusing. All my students freak out when I tell them. Even the vaunted Gerald Roy popped up out of his chair like a jack-in-the-box when I told him I did my binding on the front of my quilts, and that I did it by hand! Later, I asked my pal Julie why he did that?  "Because he missed it," she said. "He's an expert. He's supposed to be able to NOTICE things like that."

Heh!

So anyway, I've got a week's worth of tv watching to do while I sew the binding down on this quilt. I've been planning another scrap slab triangle quilt for when this quilt is finished. I will teach another Barns class at Quilted Threads on January 27th, and another Birds class on February 10. If you want to attend, you better sign up now. Apparently my classes fill up fast, which both surprises and pleases me. 

Blindstitching Again

I seem to be having a rough year. I can't seem to get out of my own way. I think hearing I am going to be a grandmother may have knocked me for a loop. My grandbaby will live 3,000 miles away on the opposite side of the country and that's going to be hard for me. I've kind of been in denial about it, trying to bury my feelings in books and busywork. I've got my tickets to visit after the baby is born, and that will be great, so I am trying to keep looking on the positive side of things.

I've been sending a stream of gifts to my son and DIL. A tote bag with pockets to use as a diaper bag and a baby sling along with a few other goodies for Mom and Dad. I have pile of stuff that I've been collecting set aside - some books, some baby onesies, a receiving blanket and a heating pad.

Now I'm working on finishing the baby quilt, Blue Topaz, above.

I'm also preparing for another Birds class at QT this coming Saturday. (It's full.) They tell me that every day at least three customers ask about the Flight of Fancy quilt.  Which is pretty cool.

Binding Diamond Jubilee

I'm getting there. The binding is sewn to three sides of the quilt. Tonight I'll sew down the last side and start folding the edge over to the front and pin it there.

Regular readers know I hand sew my binding to the FRONT of my quilts. My Mom taught me to blindstitch many years ago. I used to sew my binding down on the back, but an experience over 30 years ago changed my mind. You can read about that here.

I never thought much about my blindstitching, but three certified quilt appraisers (including the vaunted Gerald Roy) have missed it when appraising my quilts. The first time I said something about it when Gerry was appraising my quilts he popped out of his chair like a jack-in-the-box to go back to the quilt and check.

"Why did he do that?" I asked my pal Julie later.

"Because he missed it," she said. "He's not supposed to miss stuff like that."

"Yeah, but so what? What's so special about my blindstitching?"

"Lynne, not only can nobody see your stitches, but your binding lies so flat and it's so even, that it just doesn't look like it was done by hand."

"Isn't that the way it's supposed to look?" I asked.

Eggs!

I've sewn the binding to the back of the birds quilt.

Now I blindstitch my way all around the quilt. I guess I'll be "watching" a lot of TV over the next few nights.

Binding the Petals

Regular readers know I hand sew my binding on the front of my quilts. My mother taught me how to blindstitch when I was in the fifth grade.

Because I have arthritis in my right thumb, I can only hand sew about 30" a day, so I am working my way around the quilt 30" at a time.

Binding for Life Is 'Tweet!

 I worked all Sunday afternoon on the pieced binding for Life is 'Tweet.

This is kinda, sorta what it's going to look like. I wanted the pieces of color to be of varying sizes and irregularly placed.

Only to realize that I couldn't sew it to the quilt until I made the hanging sleeve.

I pulled this greenish teal paisley from my stash and made the sleeve last night.

I stitched the binding to one side, then it was time for bed.

*Regular readers know that I do my final hand-stitching on the front of my quilts. You can read the story about how this came to be, here.

More Black

In for a penny, in for a pound. I'm sewing the [black] binding on the [black] crayons quilt.

Although I've got all four Crayons quilts here, I've never looked at them all side-by-side-by-side-by-side. When the Black Crayons quilt is finished, I'll line them up and check them out. Yes, there will be pictures.

Binding Font Factory

Regular readers know I sew my binding down on the front of the quilt rather than the back. I have a description of it here for those who are interested. For those interested in WHY, the answer is here.

One more sewing session and the binding will be finished. Then I will have to sew down the last edge of the hanging sleeve.

Magic Fingers

I'm always asked why I do my finish binding on the FRONT of the quilt instead of the back.

Simple answer: I think it looks better. Above, is a photo of a corner of my quilt, all sewn down, by hand, on the front of the quilt. Can you see any stitches? You cannot.

Here is the corner on the back

I don't like the pucker that happens in the corners where the bulk of the fabric pivots. I like my way better, where the fabric appears to be just lying on the top of the edge.

And then there's the ego thing.

When I was in my twenties, (you know, like 30-plus years ago) I was part of an artists-in-the-park day at a local museum. It was hot as hell and I took refuge in the shade. (Everybody else took refuge at the beach.) I was hand quilting a quilt. A little old lady came by and looked at my quilts. She was looking very closely, turning the edges over and over in her hands, looking at the binding both back and the front.

"Which side of the quilt do you sew the finish binding on?" she asked.

"Oh, I do it on the back, so it doesn't show."

"I can't see any stitches. I can't see them on either side."

I reached for a quilt, flipped it over, and pulled the binding apart from the backing slightly, revealing my stitches. "See?"

She examined the quilt again.  "Can you show me how you do it?"

I didn't have anything that needed binding, and my needle was threaded with stiff white quilting thread.  "Well here, let's do this." I folded an edge of my quilt over to the back, and using my quilting thread, demonstrated my blindstitching. (If you want to know how I do it, I have instructions here.)

The quilt was dark blue. I was using stiff white thread. When I was done sewing, neither one of us could see the stitches.  The woman looked at me and smiled. "You have magic fingers."

As she walked away, I looked at my quilts. Why was I hiding my invisible stitches on the back, where they didn't make any difference? If they were truly invisible, I should show them off, on the front.

I've done it that way ever since.

And I've never forgotten the gift she gave me, "You have magic fingers."

Friday Facts

My cat Millie occasionally deigns to sit beside me. Here she is watching me handsew the binding on the Sunshine Quilt. Millie was a rescue cat, and she was feral, so she does NOT like to be handled. I've had her three years and I still can't pick her up, so when she decides to sit near me, it's a nice thing.

It got me to thinking...

Twenty-five years ago, when I was still married, I had a worktable four feet wide by ten feet long. Yes, four feet by TEN feet! It was glorious! When I had to sew the binding on a quilt, I would lay it out on the table, and let the edge hang down. Then I'd sit in an office chair and just move the chair as I stitched my way from one end to the other. In this manner, I could blindstitch an astonishing two inches a minute. Of course I didn't have arthritis and I didn't need bifocals either! LOL!

When I start handsewing the binding on a quilt, I always start about 18" away from a corner, and work my way to the corner. That way, when I turn the fourth corner, I'm well and truly in the homestretch.

I -always- use a thimble. I wear it on my middle finger of my right hand. It's a size 8. I have two thimbles, both size 8, but I always use the same one, and if I set it down somewhere and forget where I put it, I can't work until I find it. I never use the "alternate." The one I prefer is on the right in this picture.I've been watching the US Open Tennis Tournament on television. I've made good progress on binding the Sunshine Quilt while watching. I've turned three corners, and have two sides complete. (I can't sew anywhere near two inches a minute any more.)

How come I can do so much handsewing when doing 24" in one session is usually so tough for me? One word:

Ice.

In The Corner

Sara, I got to a corner on my quilt last night. I got out my camera and took pictures, just for you.

Alas, except for this one, they were all out of focus. Sorry!

One corner left, and I won't get to it until the weekend.

Blindstitching

I can't remember if it was my mother or my grandmother who taught me how to blindstitch. They were both excellent seamstresses. I think it was my mother. This picture is a good one. You can click it to make it even bigger.


Thank you all for being so concerned about my arthritis. My problem spot is at the base of my right thumb, where the red arrow is pointing.I got it in my early 40's, and yeah, it really sucks. It's the position, not the pressure, so anything that brings my thumb and forefinger together is going to aggravate it. The hardest thing to hold is a needle.

I use the fattest pens I can find, and generally try to do anything to avoid that position for an extended period of time. It doesn't give me pain, but if I were to do any hand sewing for longer than my allotted 30" or 30 minutes, then my thumb just feels really stiff, and it isn't much good for anything the next day.

So I take it easy, and do lots of stretches to keep my fingers and hand limber. If I overdo it (overdoing it is defined as doing anything long enough until my hand really really hurts), the best thing to do is massage it with ice, and then rest, neither of which is any fun.