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The 4 1/2″ squares for this quilt were free at the Palm Beach County Quilter’s Guild meeting about two months ago. I was surprised when no one picked them up by the end of the meeting, so I brought them home with me. ♥

I wasn’t quite sure what I’d make, but I took them up to use, not to store, so I laid them out Wednesday night, started piecing a top at my quilting bee on Thursday morning. I finished the last couple of rows later that night. When I woke up today, I figured I’d try to get it both quilted and bound if I could. My cutting table is a bit of a mess, so I have a lot to do on my Saturday reset day and I really didn’t want to put this away unfinished.

The quilting design is Hearts A Flutter by Urban Elementz. The pattern for the quilt top can be found at The Linus Connection. They’re a group from central Texas and they have a lot of free patterns available here. I’ve already decided on the one I’d like to make.

For being such a little quilt, 40″ x 45″, it managed to give me a few problems, like puppies tend to do!

I thought I had enough backing left from the quilt I finished on Wednesday to quilt this one too – I was wrong. Yikes! I had to remove the quilt, add about six more inches to the backing, reload it, then try to match up the quilting design. Luckily, I had a package of that made reattaching it a lot easier. They’re those pink things you see in the photo above. They were also free on the guild’s de-stash table recently.

The purple is the backing. I was happy to find I had just the right fabric for the binding to go with the colors in the top and match the back.

When I attached the binding, somehow I got the ends twisted when I joined them and had to stop, take out the seam, and restitch it. Grrrr… I haven’t made that mistake in years!

This little rascal is done though, and for all the trouble he gave me, I still love him. ♥

These were “My Own Round Robin” projects with a final ending date this coming Saturday. (Yes, I procrastinated making this last round until I almost ran out of time!) It was a group project but instead of passing the top around, each person’s original selection of prompts was rotated. The prompts were a choice of three different colors or one type of fabric. You had to at least use one of the choices for that round. No one knew in advance what their next prompt would be, we found out monthly.

This month one of my choices was “dots” for the fabric type so that’s what I used for both quilts

All week I’ve reminded myself why I rarely enjoy making the type of quilt you have to put aside for several weeks at a time. I’m much happier going from start to finish. When I put something aside for several weeks, it’s just fun to pick up and work on again if you’re in the middle of a project you really want to make. If I’m not careful, I’ll turn it into a UFO. I know that and it’s why I normally avoid BOM’s, round robins, sew-alongs, and mystery quilts. 🙂 Oh, and did I mention I was crazy enough to attempt making two quilts? LOL Maybe I’ve finally learned my lesson. Maybe.

The finished patriotic quilt

The first four months rounds

The finished teddy bears’ quilt

The first four months rounds

These photos show the backing used on both quilts.

I decided to make a flange binding for the teddy bear quilt. I make mine a bit wider than some quilters do so I can topstitch on the binding part rather than in the ditch on the flange.

I cut the binding at 1.5″ and the flange at 1.75″ and press the seams toward the binding fabric.

I had planned to use the same pink as the narrow strip between the 3rd and 4th rounds but when I chose this purple backing it didn’t look great from the back. I used it for the flange instead. It’s hard to see in the photo of the finished quilt.

When I’m attaching my binding to the back of the quilt, I don’t sew off the end at a diagonal like some methods demonstrate. Instead, I stop 1/4″ from the end and backstitch.

When I’m pressing out the binding to get ready to top stitch, I use my embroidery scissors to cut of a little tiny bit of batting from the corner. (You have to be super careful NOT to cut into the fabrics though.) It really helps those corners to lie a lot flatter and avoids that big bump… especially when you have a flange and even more fabric in that miter.

I use the line in middle of my walking foot as a guide and shift my needle position one click to the right. It allows that line of stitching to fall very close the flange/binding seam.

Here’s a tip… Always fold the button of the binding up first – not the side. That keeps the diagonal folds going in the opposite directions on the top and back of the quilt which also helps the corner lie flatter.

I also stick a large head pin in the diagonal to hold the miter. When I approach the corner I use my needle up/down to take the last two or three stitches so I don’t accidentally run over that pin. Once I’m next to it, I lift the presser foot and pivot the quilt, pull the pin, and keep stitching down the next side. The pin really helps to temporarily hold the miter in place.

I hope this helps and, that it makes sense! It’s easier to do than it is to explain. 🙂

I’ve been purchasing Pellon 80/20 batting from Walmart for quite a while now. It’s been $40.99 for 9 yards by 96″ for at least the last year. The shipping is free with my Walmart account.

In the last month I’ve gone through a lot of batting. I placed an order on Friday night and it was delivered on Sunday morning via FedEx.

I usually keep 4 bolts (36 yards) on hand. I just split the cardboard bolt at the end and slide my arm in to spread the opening a bit so it’ll slide on the 2 inch pipe under my longarm.

I don’t like to wait until I run out as they’re occasionally out of stock.

The only place I keep batting cut-offs is at the end of the long arm table. They’re generally not in the way because I don’t quilt many large quilts. I know that if I designate a better, out of the way, place for them it’ll be easier to let them pile up. Once I have a few large pieces I go ahead and stitch together. I only need about 45″ x 55″ for a kid size quilt so I use them up pretty quickly.

This is actually more than I normally accumulate and it was enough to make 2 Frankenbatts. It’s been a busy week or two and I just haven’t had the energy to deal with them.

I need to start reading more books. I’ve gotten out of the habit lately for some reason. I read this one years ago but I remember how much I enjoyed it so beginning with this one.

And will move on to a few others by the same author.

I’ve been busy for the last two weeks but not much that’s quilting related.

I came across this quilt when I was considering which ones to donate for a fundraiser.

It’s a block of the month from 2018 called Surf and Sand. I didn’t like the setting in the original pattern so it was a while before I took it back out to finish.

This was the original setting. I was lucky to find more of the Quilting Treasures fabric line for the setting I ended up making. I’d seen a photo on a long armer’s quilting page and was able to graph it out. I’m glad I waited because I’m much happier with the quilt I eventually made.

I made a lap quilt with nothing but leftovers. As you can see, it’s been folded for awhile. I need to do better at refolding my quilts every so often.

I have more scraps and these white strips I’d like to use up but I haven’t quite made up my mind what I feel like making with them yet.

I DO know what I think I’ll make with this half-roll I’d purchased from JoAnn’s several months ago on sale.

Your guess about what comes next is as good as mine! There are 2 of my quilt tops in line to be quilted and a couple for my guild’s outreach program so not much chance of getting bored anytime soon. 🙂

Happy Friday!