Sweet Quilt

Here's my latest finished quilt, made using the same gingham fabrics as in this quilt that I showed last month.

I think it looks like pieces of candy. The free pattern is appropriately called "Candy Swirls" and can be found on the Moda Bake Shop site. It comes together very easily.

Here's a closeup shot of the quilting...just easy, loopy meandering...

And the fun backing and binding...

How I Trim My Quilts

A friend recently asked me to show her how I trim my quilts after quilting and before binding. I usually like the bindings on my quilts to be full (except on wall hangings), so this is how I do it.

This is what I use to cut the excess backing and batting. It's a portable cutting mat/ironing mat combo...

Here it is opened up...

This is the quilt as it comes off of my HQ16 midarm machine...

I use a long ruler and trim 1/2 inch from the quilt top. The extra 1/2 inch of batting and backing fabric will be sewn into the binding and help make it full...

Here's what the top looks like after all four sides are trimmed...

And a closeup shot of one of the corners where you can see the extra 1/2 inch...

Nothing Goes to Waste

Like most quilters, I usually have a piece of batting left over when I'm finished with quilting a quilt. I can't bring myself to throw it away, so the pieces accumulate in a plastic tote that I keep in my quilting studio. After quilting seven quilts, I had enough pieces that could be joined together for a decent-sized batting. My Bernina has a flat joining stitch, which is just that. It joins two pieces together and the seam is completely flat. Here's a shot of what it looks like...It's a bit hard to see because of the light thread.

Here are the seven pieces of batting joined together...big enough for my next quilt!

The Best Things in Life Are Free (Part 2)

Here's what I made with some of the free fabric that I came home with in March (see my previous blog post for details).

The top, backing, and binding fabric was all free to me. All I contributed was the batting and thread (and my labor, of course).

 I don't really like the fabrics individually, but I am pleasantly surprised with the result. If you have enough variety in scraps, the outcome looks great!

The Best Things in Life Are Free

On National Quilting Day (March 17 this year), I attended a fun one-day "mini-retreat" with 20 of my fellow guild members. It was a day filled with friends, food, fun, demos, laughter, and lots of inspiration. If you're interested, click here for photos from the event.

At the mini-retreat, we had a table set up with free items that guild members had donated. Things like books, fabric, notions, etc., that needed a good home. I came home with some yardage, fat quarters,  and a bunch of  2 1/2" squares, already cut!

Free yardage and FQs

2 1/2" squares, already cut!

chaining, chaining

Check my next blog post to see what I made with all of those squares!