Some quilty stuff -

OK - in case you're wondering -

I HAVE been doing some quilty stuff between getting up and down off my soapbox the past couple of weeks - ;))

I finished up the Christmas Pinwheel table runner -

After I made a little stuffed toy for a neighbor's baby grandson - ;))

Found a T-shirt applique "left-over" from a stuffed toy dog project that I made a few years ago -

Cut it out and stitched it - right sides together -
to a brand-new white terry-cloth wash cloth -

Trimmed it - turned it inside out - stuffed it - and sewed up the opening -

For a quick and easy little last minute gift - ;))

The Christmas Pinwheel table runner took me a bit more time - ;))

First - I played with some stencil designs in EQ7 and came up with a plan -

Then I stitched-in-the-ditch (SITD) on every single seam - ;))

I have come to the conclusion that SITD is a total waste of time and thread and I'm not going to bother if I plan to quilt anything using a Free Motion all-over design. The ONLY reason I did it on this one was because I used a fusible batting and "iron-off" markers - so I needed to stabilize it since I wouldn't be able to re-iron it to re-fuse it without removing my marks. And NO - I don't pin baste my quilts - and NO - I didn't Free-Motion quilt it - I used my walking foot - and tried my best to follow the lines I had drawn.

I found the tutorial on "Susie's Magic Binding" - HERE -

Stitched it all to the back side of the runner -

And joined the ends by "snuggling" them inside one another to "nest" them - ;))

Left some tails on each end -

Folded the left one -

Inserted the tail on the right -

Fiddled with it a bit -

And when it was nice and neat - used some pins to keep it in place - ;))

I stitched it - folded it to the front -
Checked the join to see if I liked it - and then cut off the excess tail - ))

Pressed and folded the rest of the binding to the front -
Used clips that I get in the "Hair/Beauty" section of Walmart to hold it in place -
And stitched in the ditch between the red binding and the little print flange - ;))

Ta Dah! - ;))

It came out to be 12" x 26" -
I quilted an "orange peel" design in each block and marked it because the squares were so big that I didn't think that I could "eyeball it" and have it look half-way decent -

I messed up on the top row and did the "hokey-pokey" before I did the "1-2-3" -
(if you took the same Craftsy class - you'll know what I mean) -
But I fixed that by "just reversing it" - haha - ;))

I did the second row correctly -
Then added a couple of echo lines in the border to make it look kinda like a circle -
And I like the way it turned out - ;))

On the back - the binding "stitch-in-the-ditch" shows as a line around the edge -
You can see it - but it fits right in with all of the other "stitch-in-the-ditch" stitching going on - so it doesn't bother me - ;))

I have watched several Craftsy classes - I LOVE the format - just sign up - 24/7 access to the class - post questions and/or projects - reasonably priced and - my fave - a "30-sec repeat" feature for those times I need to "Play it again, Sam." - ;))

And it's funny - there are SO many ways to do the same thing - ;))

I started to watch Christina Cameli's "Secrets" class - got to the "tufts" and realized that it was her "Intermediate" class - so I got the "Essentials" class (Beginner level) and made the blocks and went through that whole class. Then I added the borders to my practice piece so I would have some sections to use for the "Secrets" class and the "Wild" (Advanced) one.

Then they had a sale and I got some other classes on using the walking foot - worked/working on a couple of pieces doing that. I've been watching some others - including the "I don't care" one - and have learned a LOT.

It's amazing - some teachers say to forget stitching in the ditch - some say you MUST do it - some say to start in the middle - one says to start in the bottom right hand corner but doesn't explain WHY she does that - you have to read all of the comments and her responses and she finally addresses the WHY in one of her last lessons. One talked WAAAAY too fast for me - another had good info and a very relaxed style. One was left-handed and "grabbed" the sample - one used her fingertips. Some use gloves - some don't. And they all have different names for the same designs - it's hilarious. Some say "Wishbone" for Christina's "Lazy 8"'.

I know that it sounds like I "took" a dozen classes - but the teachers that I mentioned are all the same ones - they all do stuff differently - so I watch and then pick and choose the parts that I want to try.

I'm having a blast -

If you haven't tried Craftsy classes yet -

I highly recommend them - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -