i know im not supposed to.....and a binding tip

ok, i know i have been trying to be really good and not spend money frivolously, but i hadnt gone to my favorite antique mall in ages. the lady that owns my favorite booth even said she hadnt seen me since before christmas.....so thats good, right??? what i am trying to tell you is i fell off the wagon tonight. i wasnt too bad, i spent $30, and i was really happy with everything i got.

here is the breakdown for you folks that are keeping track. the lovely floral jug/vase(8") was $12, the adorable little pitcher(5.5") was $9, i got the little pups(a teeny 1.25") for $3.50, 10 quilt blocks for $6.50, and a small assortment of buttons for i think about $3.

i have a question for my bloggy quilting friends. i figured that i need to sew these together, but what i dont know is what do i do once they are all sewn? do i have to applique it to another fabric? it will definately be doll quilt size when done. its about 16" long by 12" wide. zoom in on those fabrics will ya?? they are gorgeous, what i wouldnt give for a pile of all these beauties!!!

i wanted to say thank you to my friend shelly. she is such a sweetie. she works at my local quilt shop(no not the one going out of business), and she quilts really big quilts (well they are big to me because i make doll quilts) on a long arm. one of the things that is great for me about that fact is that you need extra batting and fabric on your quilt to use the machine. here is where i come in to the picture. she has no need for these odd smallish bits, but they are perfect size for my doll quilts!!! every so often she gives me her bits. aint' she sweet?? i dont know if it was a booboo or not but this time there was 4 1/2 yards of some adorable tan fabric..... i need to call her to find out.....and

i have a little quilting tip for you. i wont call it a tute because it isnt that much, but it is very helpful.

it is a great tip for making perfect miters on your quilt binding.

ok, so you know how you are suppose to sew up to the edge of the quilt and then do the fold up and flip down bit??? well with my tip you dont sew to the edge like normal...

i hope this makes sense and my pic isnt confusing. if you are sewing 3/8" away from the edge sewing your binding down, then you would stop that same distance from the edge(3/8") and sew diagonally out to the edge, like in the pic above. capeesh?

you fold your binding upwards as normal, and see how it just automatically goes up into an angle?

then fold down as usual and sew starting a smidge from the top like you normally would. 

now when you flip your quilt over you can see that it just becomes the perfect miter!! voila!!

if this is muddy or if you want pix of the steps i left out, just let me know

this really does make a difference in the look and ease of your miters. try it, you might like it! mikey does.

Comments

[Anita]

Those antique quilt squares are awesome! I think it would be great to make a tiny bias binding and just keep the edge as it is. But if you want it to be rectangular, then either appliqueing it to another fabric or just filling in the diamond shapes would work too.

And thanks for the binding tip! I'll have to try that.

[barbara]

I'm not a quilter but I had a quilt similar to the one you're showing - the hexagons or whatever you call them were joined together, and then partial pieces filled in along the edges to square it off. I love the fabrics - wow!

[Jill]

I love your quilt blocks. Everyone falls off the wagon once in a while... it looks like it was a nice fall since you picked up some nice treasures. Thanks for the binding demo. I tried to do this yesterday but my corners didn't turn out like that. I need to try it again. Thanks for the help!

[Gabrielle]

Ooh, wonderful quilt blocks, it is great to think that all that effort someone has put into them will be put to good use and treasured. Thanks for the binding tip too - I'm such a total beginner it is all very useful to me.

[Wendy]

great tip on the binding! so doing that next time.