Saturday, April 4, 2015

Easter Blessings............

Easter Blessings to all of you!

Not much to report this week.

I was able to get "Apple Crisp" quilted!
Thanks Bev for letting me use Miss Thang!
I LOVE the way this one turned out!

I do have a question for you all.......How many of you machine bind your quilts?  Which technique(s) do you use when machine binding your quilts?  I would love to hear some responses on this please?

"Amelia's Stars" looks right at home!
Samantha sent this photo to me!
Little Amelia was born on April 2nd!
Congrats to my friends Matt and Samantha!

And here is my latest purchase........
Hmmmmm.........Friendship Triangles..........Triangle Exchange Ideas.....
HMMMMMMMMMMM????????

I am gearing up for some QOV presentations and a lecture this coming week for the Stitch-N-Time Guild in Warrenton, Missouri.  I hope to have several photos from it and share them with you all next week!

I am heading home to spend Easter with my family.  I hope each of you have a wonderful Easter as I plan to do with my family!

See you next week!
Keep on Quilting!
Kevin the Quilter


20 comments:

  1. I love Apple Crisp. I only sew the binding on the front by machine. I've tried to do all of it by machine, but, it doesn't seem to work well for me. The exception is using faux piping binding. I also like the look of hand stitched down binding. Just my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You sure make awesome quilts, Kevin! I do bindings both ways. I like the look of hand stitched but my hands get so very sore whenever I do one that way. Also quilts that get a lot of hard wear like kids quilts I always feel are a bit more durable done on machine. I've experimented with several stitches, but actually my fav is just a straight stitch. I've used zigzag, serpentine and blanket stitches but when I use a straight stitch I can control the look on the back better. The corners are the trickiest and I don't always end up with four nice corners. I think that's why I often like to round the corners on my quilts....so ther aren't really corners.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your 'Apple Crisp' is beautiful. Great quilting. I always sew my bindings on by machine. Arthritis in hands prevents hand sewing. The way I do it is to sew it onto the back first and then pull it over to the front and sew it down. I feel that I can control the way the front of the quilt looks better that way. I always use my walking foot for better feed. Happy Easter and enjoy your family.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My hands ache for days when I finish binding by hand, so that is saved for the important quilts! The rest of the time I sew the binding on the back of the quilt and then use the blanket stitch on my sewing machine to attach it to the front. This is the best stitch I have come up with for sewing it down. To get the corners perfect, a daub of glue and a quick press with the iron works to keep them looking good! Have a blessed Easter with your family!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your Apple Crisp is yummy! I am loving the background fabrics, they are warm and cozy. I am loving the "chain" quilts I'm seeing made these days. I just bought a pattern called Boxy by the lovely Valerie Rigney from her Etsy shop the Aqua Umbrella. I think this is going to be my first quilt.

    Happy Easter Kevin.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Amelia's Stars is perfect in that room. Love that paint color too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your Apple Crisp looks delish. Nice quilting pattern too. I bind most of my quilts with machine stitching to the front and hand stitching on the back. The exceptions are kids quilts and those for donation that I don't know how they will be treated. Those I do both steps by machine, changing up the type of stitches. Amelia's Stars does look right at home in her new room. Very pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOVE that red/white quilt. I don't know that pattern but I'd sure enjoy making it.
    As for bindings, I'm interested in quick and efficient so I do mostly sew my bindings down by machine. I cut them 2-1/2" wide; I press wrong sides together and sew onto the right side of the quilt; I press it down (I have a great method of connecting the ends, by the way); then I generally use an elongated "S" stitch ON THE FRONT with thread to match the background of the binding. As I do it, I'm constantly making sure that the back part of the binding covers the area between the finished edge and the seam line. Does that make sense? They come out great! And are fast! And very durable! Can't wait to see Edyta's book...doing a swap?? Have a great Easter!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the quilting in the apple crisp.
    During the winter I machine sew to the front and hand sew on the back and the quilt keeps me warm while I sew plus I can watch TV that I normally don't watch.
    But my new favorite way is to machine sew the binding to the back and then fold and press it to the front, then measure the distance from the fold of the binding to the stitch line, flip the quilt over and machine stitch the 3/8 or whatever the measurement was and that almost keeps the stitch in the ditch and the front looks fab!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I sew my bindings on by machine. I sew it on the back and bring it to the front where I machine stitch it down. I think I get a better look on the front by making that the "final" machine stitching. My bindings are never wider than 2.25" which helps me to get a nice, tight machine stitched binding. I'm afraid that unless it's a commissioned quilt I just can't justify the hand pain of hand sewing down a binding anymore. Ah...just another one of the joys of getting older for me.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your quilts finishes look lovely. I usually sew bindings on by machine and then fold over to the backing and stitch by hand. However, I have machine bound a couple of quilts using the technique Crazy Mom Quilts uses. Machine sewing binding to the back of the quilt and then folding over to the front and machine sewing that down. Gives a good finish and super fast.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your Apple Crisp is just so darn yummy! Love the quilting. Great job! I have recently just switched over to using the machine to sew down my bindings. I haven't got it exactly to look the way I want but it improves with each quilt. I am pretty happy with how much time it saves. I will probably still handstitch certain quilts but for the most part doing it by machine works for me now.
    Happy Easter!

    ReplyDelete
  13. The best way to bind is to look pitiful and sad, and then someone says.... oh just let me do it for you!!

    The second best way is to machine bind . I apply to the back, and roll to the front. I usually use a decorative stitch on the top then.

    Love your Apple Crisp!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Belated Happy Easter to you Kevin. Love the look of the Edyta Star triangle exchange book. As I am a utilitarian quilter, and my quilts are made to be used I do all the binding by machine. For a show quilt, I would do it by hand, but I found with washing they tended to come apart.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Happy Easter Kevin. I sew my binding to the quilt by machine, then hand stitch down. Love the process

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh dear. Forgot to say how fabulous Apple Crisp is ; )

    ReplyDelete
  17. I liked Amelia's Stars before, but I love it now that it is in her room. Apple Crisp is fab, too! Like many, how I bind it depends on the quilt. For something that will be an heirloom, I use the double french fold machine stitched to the front, and hand stitched with a blind stitch to the back. For picnic blankets or quilts I really intend them to use, I machine stitch it. Depending on the binding fabric, sometimes I use bias binding, other times I use straight grain binding. If I just want one color in the binding, I stitch it to the back, then bring it around to the front and use a double needle top stitch. But if I want a tiny pop of color, I use the flange technique and Shortcut Binding Tool by The Franklin Quilt Company. (See thequiltingsquares.com for more info). I think that as long as the binding is done well, it doesn't matter whether it is hand or machine bound. Blessings for a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Your quilts are always great Kevin. I've sewn some bindings down by machine on charity quilts but have never been real happy with the result. At the Chicago show they were doing some demos up there in the front, and I sat down and watched a lady from Lake House Quilts. She sewed two pieces of contrasting fabric together and then put them on the quilt. It ended up looking like she had a flange around the binding when she sewed it down, and it gave her a line to sew on. She said there is a video on their web site lakehousequilts.com. I haven't been there, but it looked good to me, and I plan to try it (when I finish something).

    ReplyDelete
  19. Kevin,
    Your quilts have lots of coordinating and contrasting colors. As for bindings, most people have covered the subject. I do machine stitch on the front if it is a utility or kids quilt. One thing that I sometimes do for speed, is use school glue and an iron to adhere the binding before the final stitching. Sharon Schamber has a utube video showing the technique. I have also completed a two color binding--one color on the front and another on the back. Your ratio is 1/3 to 2/3 and it is done the usual way. It is quite interesting. I used it when I had a quilt for the front and a dissimilar quilt for the backing. Good luck.
    Jane in KS

    ReplyDelete
  20. LOVE! your Apple Crisp. As for machine binding, I've tried every method I could find online. The one that I think is easiest and works the best along with looking the best is Susie's Magic binding found here: http://www.52quilts.com/2012/05/tuesday-tutorial-susies-magic-binding.html Instead of using monopoly like she does in the tutorial I match my top and bottom thread to the quilt and the binding. Love, love, love this method!

    ReplyDelete