Binding Jar

Since I am the queen of UFO's I have to be organized or I can really mess up a quilt. When I finish a top and I am not going to quilt it right then, I hang it over a hanger along with the backing fabric (if I have purchased one). That way, when the time comes to finish the quilt I am ready to go. The other thing I do is to make the binding right away. When I finish a top I decide what fabric I am going to use for my binding. I cut the strips and sew them together. Then I wind the binding up and tie a label (with the quilt name on it) around the binding. So that I don't misplace my bindings, I put them all together in a jar. It's cute to look at and it serves as a constant reminder of the quilts that I need to return to!  

Happy quilting-and may all your tops be finished! 

Cutting Corners Quilt

Another UFO in the finished pile! I am definitely on a roll and it feels good. I made this quilt for my daughter and son-in-law a few years ago. I was not pleased with the quilting in it, so I picked it all out and requilted it myself. I drew the quilting design on the top with a Pilot FriXion pen (I love them-they disappear with heat) and followed the lines to quilt it. The pattern was loops and butterflies and I had a lot of fun quilting it.

Fireside Cozy Finished

Oh, it feels good to put that last stitch in the binding and finish a quilt. This one was a long time coming, but I am happy to finally be done with it. I am getting more confident with my Sweet Sixteen and every quilt I stitch on it gets a little better than the one before. I quilted this in an overall meander pattern. My stitch length is more consistent and so was the size of the meandering. I am pleased with the results.

An Awesome Hinged Design Wall Made by My Awesome Husband!

I can't believe an entire month has gone by without me posting! I have been super busy quilting and now it's time to show you what I've up to. 

Before I show you quilts, I have to post about the absolutely, fabulous design wall that my husband made for me. I already have a great design wall in my quilt room, but it is always covered with a long term project and many times I have to take down the blocks to put up another project for a while. 

One day while my friend Judy was visiting, she said that she had been thinking about a design wall that would be hinged on the side so that you could swing it away from the wall and put blocks on both sides. I have the perfect spot in my quilt room for this, so I mentioned the idea to my husband. He spent some time mulling the idea around in his head, deciding how to make it light enough to swing well and not pull out of the wall. He decided to make a "frame" from PVC pipe and put insulation board on the front and back. I could then cover that with batting and flannel. Here are the pictures of how the project progressed from start to finish....

Here is the frame-this is a dry fit without the cross bars. The two T-joints that are sticking out on the left are where the design wall will attach to the wall. 

This is a close up of the T-joint used for the hinge.

Next step was to glue all the PVC pipe together and then cut the insulation board to size. He used Duck Tape to join the boards.

Then he glued the insulation board to the  PVC frame. He glued large pieces on each side and strips around the edges  to make it smooth.

This is the wall mount part of the hinge. He used a block of wood, drilled it out and fitted a dowel in it for the T-joint to fit over. That was affixed to the wall with a board-screwed into joists for support.

Here is my design wall hanging on the wall. Now I just need to pretty it up and make it usable.

First I covered it in batting. I bought warm and natural at Jo-Ann's on the roll. It was the perfect width. I used hot glue on the sides and bottom to hold the batting in place once I had it stretched and smooth.

Lastly, I covered it with white flannel-because it was 45" wide I had to buy twice the length I needed and seamed it. Again, I used hot glue to keep it in place, but I only used the hot glue on the edges, top, and bottom. I did not use any glue on the surface of the wall.

Here is the front of my hinged design wall! 

And here it is, swung open. You can see that I have quilt blocks on the back too-and on my original fixed design wall. Now I can work on several projects at once.

I hope you are inspired by my new design wall to find a place for one in your own quilt room. Happy stitching.............