Pave The Way…for another finish!

A few days ago I finished up a quilt I started almost two years ago, which feels great. I cut all the pieces for the quilt and then promptly put them in a Ziploc bag never to be touched again until a week ago.  The pattern is called “Pave the Way” by Karen Gray and was featured in the Quilt Sampler magazine from Spring/Summer of 2011.  It was fun, easy, and fast to put together.

 

The background solid is Kona sand and I stippled in cream thread.  The finished size is 50” x 66.5”.  The fabric I used is designed by Carolyn Gavin and called “Soul Garden.”

I love the pretty butterflies! 

The backing is a pretty floral print from the collection.  I used a green pindot from my stash for the binding.

My cousin who just had a baby last month was admiring the quilt top a few days ago, so I knew just who to give it to and it gave me the extra motivation to get it finished.  It’s perfect for mom and baby to snuggle under!

Up next, finish up the Valentine’s pillows I started last month.  I am linking up to “A Lovely Year of Finishes.”

A Lovely Year of Finishes--January

The project I chose to finish in January was my Little Apples quilt called “Easy As Pie.”  I finished it earlier this month.

My next Lovely Year of Finishes project will be a pair of Olive the Ostrich pillows for Valentine’s Day. 

I cut a bunch of 2.5” squares from some of my stash fabrics and plan to border the top with solid dark gray.

Thank you, Melissa and Shanna for hosting such a lovely party!

A Lovely Year of Finishes

I am linking up the first of my Just Three goals to the Flickr group “A Lovely Year of Finishes.”  I just finished sewing the binding on this morning and am picking up my oldest from school a little early to head to the park for a photo shoot this afternoon (don’t tell her teacher!).

I thought I’d show a few photos of my machine binding process. The first few I bound by machine didn’t come out perfect, but just like with fmq, my machine binding skills get better and better with practice.

I start by just stitching all the way around the perimeter of the quilt about 1/8 from the edge.  It is important to do this while your extra batting and batting are still intact!!!!!!!!  If you try to stitch after you’ve cut it off, you’ll get all kinds of puckers and pulls.  I learned this the hard way.

This little one helped with the binding process.  Just so you know, I cut my binding 2.75” wide.  I can’t seem to get things to line up properly when it’s 2.5”.

Love those Wonder Clips!  I like to just clip the binding onto the back and then mark my 1/4 inch stopping point with a straight pin.  I just sew right up to it and then backstitch.

Here’s what the back looks like after I use a zig-zag stitch to attach the binding on the front. 

The zig-zag stitch is nearly perfectly straight along the edge of the binding.  I find that as long as I don’t stop and start stitching too much or pull on the binding as I wrap it over, the stitches don’t arc.

Here’s what a corner looks like. These stitches are not coming out in the wash!

My first finish of 2013 is this quilt I designed for a Quilt Along that will start later this month.  It’s called “Easy as Pie” and the name says it all!  The pattern uses exactly every piece of a layer cake, has relatively little cutting, and comes together fast!