Using the light box to re-draw the border design worked ok, but it's not as straight as before. This one was a lot easier to sew but just as I was getting the hang of it, I ran out of border - this is just a small crib size quilt.
I managed to stay within the lines a bit better than before but I'm getting little jerks each time I stop to re-position my hands. I can't seem to co-ordinate my foot action with my hand action yet. More practice required!
You can see a little jerk on top of the heart shape on the left
There it is again - top left
I was just getting the hang of it when I ran out of quilt!
Next it needed trimming so I could make the binding. If you don't look too closely, it came up ok, despite the dramas :)
I really like Harriet's method of making the borders bigger, then trimming them back. The quilt measured up exactly to size.
BINDING
I actually wanted to use the blue again for the binding, but didn't have enough fabric left. Instead I chose a yellow print from the same Circus collection. This turned out to be a mistake, as it's another busy print and doesn't really improve the quilt at all - the blue would have been much better.
I am proud to say that I did all the binding without having to refer back to the book. This is a bit of a milestone for me - retention of information not being one of my strong points.
Using Harriet's trick, I didn't cut the strips on the bias, but just used off-grain fabric. It was still pretty stretchy even so, and should be plenty strong enough. My calculations told me I needed 4.3 strips to make the binding. I cut 4 strips thinking I could make it fit, then had second thoughts and cut another one. I hate to waste fabric, but I would also hate to run short.
The joining part had me bamboozled the first few times I did it, I kept getting the angles wrong, but now I have it sorted. I still can't quite get an exact fit, but am getting better.
I used this pressing gadget a friend made for me to press the seams open - thanks Ros, it works well!
Harriet's method for starting the binding
The corners are no problem - except I keep forgetting to take the machine off reverse!
That's the last join right there - could I have made it with just 4 strips?
That's about 1/4 inch between the first & last strips - bummer!
Nearly there - just hand sewing of the binding and into the wash
Try putting the needle down, or using the needle down setting, so the quilt can't move when your hands are off doing other things.
ReplyDeleteThe quilt looks great! I've been following your posts since 3/12; I had the joy of taking a class from Harriet Hargrave. I've never machine quilted before and have always wanted to; now I've taken her challenge and quilted daily since the 14th. (I know, it's not even been a week). I can't wait to get to doing quilts! Keep going girl; you rock.
ReplyDeleteAven
Hi...I found you through Harriets site. I just love your work and will definitely follow what you are aup to...I will be back to check out more of what you have done later...i have visitors due here soon. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDelete