Squaring Up a Quilt With Binding

I don't know if I do this different from other quilters, but I have a method for squaring up my quilts after they are quilted.



I don't have much of a problem with out-of-square tops after I put them together, but things can change after I wash the quilt.



I like to wash my quilts after I quilt them. I love the look of a crinkled up quilt. Sometimes, though, after I quilt an all-over meandering stitch, the top can get a little longer or shorter on a side or two. In the shrinking process, one side might shrink up more than the other, because of a little more quilting, or who knows what. Anyway, I don't put binding on until after I wash the quilt. Then I use the binding as an evener-upper. If one side is a tiny bit longer than the other, I just ease the quilt to the binding. It doesn't take much, just a little stretching of the binding before sewing it down.

Even though I almost always wash my fabric first before cutting, I like to put the binding fabric in the wash, again, along with the quilt, so I am sure that most of the fabric shrinkage has taken place before I sew it on the quilt.

Snowball Corners Equal a Bunch of Triangles

Here's what I am working on.
Super simple, super fast.
But made simpler and faster with my Stitching Lines.


Just a bunch of large snowball corners.




I think I have become addicted!

Pressing Half-Square Triangles

To answer Joyful Quilter's question in my last blog: With the pink and green baby quilt, I laid out all the blocks,and then sewed the half-square triangles into four patches, removed the last few stitches in the second seam within the seam-allowance and then pressed in a spiral fashion. That really helps to eliminate bulk. I do this with a lot of blocks. Not only does it reduce bulk, but it lets me turn the block in whatever direction I think looks best.




And then I wanted to make the whole thing a little wider and a little longer, so I sewed the extra rows together, pressing in whatever direction I needed to to make them nestle up with the first section.

In the Blue and Green baby quilt, I skipped all that, and sewed the half-square triangles into rows, pressing all in the same direction. I struggled with the pressing!

It works much better the first way, although, it takes more time. But, I think it is worth the extra trouble.

Another Doll Quilt With Leftover Half Square Triangles

What can I say. Just too much fun to make!

Leftover Half Square Triangles

Looking at my blog lately, one might wonder if I have an interest in little babies.
I do.
I have the enviable job of looking after my first granddaughter four days a week. I am sooooooooooo lucky. Plus, I still find time to sew. What could be better!

This week I made a little doll quilt that would fit an 18" doll.



I had a bunch of tiny little half square triangles left over from the last baby quilt I made where I made snowball corners on rectangles. I find it hard to throw the extra triangles away!

The half square triangles were finished 1", a very hard task for me if not for my Stitching Lines.







With a couple of coordinating prints for borders, I had a very quick project.

I simply quilted it with a diagonal built-in serpentine stitch.

Slanted Stars

How many of you like to sew or make quilts just for the act of doing it, not because you need something?
Raise my hand! I do. I do. I just love the act of sewing, always have and always will.
Sometimes, what I sew never turns into a finished product.
But, I don't consider it a waste of time. I consider all my sewing constructive.

Now, this last week, I actually started and finished a new baby quilt. I had an idea and it seemed smarter to try it out on a very small project than a larger one. I used my Stitching Lines to make a small Slanted Star quilt. It went pretty fast. I chose a bunch of batik scraps, some Kona white and a cute little baby print I found somewhere.


Isn't it funny how the stars look different from various angles.



Then I got an idea to change the border, so I started another quilt.

And then I got a really smart idea.
With this quilt, I need to lay out the colors before any sewing. Each row depends on the colors used in the adjacent rows.
And my floor space was too cluttered.
I don't have wall space for a design wall.
So, I had a brilliant idea. Why not use my closet doors.
Did you know that green Frog tape (similar to blue painter's tape) does not keep batting stuck to the wall overnight?

Yep, this is what I found in the morning. All on the floor. It took me a good hour or so to figure out what I had already done. This time on a flat surface!!!

Pine Tree Mug Rugs

As promised, here is how I reworked the pine trees from my original poorly designed block.

I made a couple of mug rugs. These hardly put a dent in the available pine trees, but it's a start.



Then I had a bunch of three piece blocks left over from making the border blocks.
So I made another mug rug. It would work better if there was more contrast between the two fabrics.


Wish I had kept all the leftover pieces from the original star points. Oh well!