Yo-Yo Coverlet

While I was sitting surfing on the internet (the worst thing in the world for me to do) I found a tutorial on purl-bee for this wall hanging. Hm, I think that it would make a really cute blanket for the end of my bed, or a great scrappy quilt. I am going to have to make this I think. It would be a great take to work type quilt.

Now to figure out what fabric I am going to use....

Can't Live Without it- part 10

Today I am surprised to find that I am posting about something that I already posted about...again. However, it is the newest addition to my house and seriously I have missed having one of these for a while.

YEP, here is my new ironing board. I love it. I bought one that was a little wider this time. I love that it is almost the same height as the counter so that I can actually push it onto the counter as I sew. So, cool. yep, i know that this is probably so far from everyone else's excitement in life. However, for me to be able to iron a whole section in on sweep and not have to bend over on my table top one and then only get to do one side then adjust to the other side...etc. is wonderful!!!
That's all for today. Hope that you enjoyed.

My 1st purple quilt

I have been collecting purple fabric forever. It has always been in the back of my mind to find a pattern that I really liked for it. So, it did take me by surprise when i was frantically looking for a pattern the other day and I re-found this pattern that I had bought. Yep, I am still in love with it. (I did change and add an extra flower on the large flower applique and I like it a lot better with the buttons that I chose.)That is when I realized that all I needed to be able to make this quilt was a lighter fabric with sparce print. yep, I went over to my favorite quilting store and asked them to help me find a white fabric with a small sparce purple print and this was the only one that they had in stock. The pattern called for 1 5/8 yd of fabric and that was EXACTLY what they had left on the bolt. (which of course meant that I got it off 10% for finishing the bolt.) Then I went to Abby's house for a sewing day and after a while of trying to decided what purple fabrics I was going to use, here is what I chose and how the top turned out.
It took me forever to decide on the inner border fabric. I had all sorts of shades and hues of fabrics, but I think that the light purple helps draw away from the darker colors in the middle and get ready for the really pretty border. So the reason that I finally decided to start working on this quilt is kind of interesting. I was looking at my blog stats the other day. My most viewed post is my post on Back Porch Bouquet fabric. I thought that was interesting because it has been a while since that line of fabric has been in the stores and yet I still have at least one search for that on my blog a day. So, I was looking at the pattern and had remembered the purple pattern I posted and went and looked at it. It is simply too modern for me.

I am waiting for a new book to arrive. I finally ordered 501 Quilting Motifs. I really hope that it is all that the reviews say it is. When I get it this week I will certainly have to do my own review. It is supposed to have great diagrams and instructions on some different quilting designs. I am waiting to decide how to quilt this quilt so I can try something new and interesting. We will see how it goes.

I have been making quilts and wall hangings to put up on my ladder that I can change out monthly. I am going to be making a hexagon purple quilt here in a little bit. So I am deciding the month that I would put purple up in. I have though about maybe Sept or April or May. April usually has Easter so I think I would put up spring colors then. I will put up fall colors in Nov and so I am not sure yet what to do with Sept. Back to school colors? That would just be weird. Fun random quilts, that might be likely. Ah...I just love creating things and so it won't really matter, but it is fun to think about.

Hope that you enjoyed my new project.

4th of July Stripes, Stars and Stiples

Well, while I have not posted in a good week or so, it does not mean that I have not been working on finishing projects. When it got to be July and I didn't have anything to put up as decorations I decided that this was the summer to do something about it. I have been collecting 4th of July fabric for almost 5 years now and I have quite the little stash. I was hoping that by working on all these projects i might reduce my stash....and sadly, the small quilts that I have been making require almost no fabric and so my stash still feels about the same size. However, I love love love what I now have.

So, as a side note, I know that none of my projects really match together, but I really like that. I really like that everyone of them is varying shades, hues and colors. They all tie together because of their theme, but I don't have too many of the same thing.

All of these projects, except the first one, I made from scratch with no pattern to follow. Certainly they are not hard to figure out and you will see that on the last two, but they were fun regardless. I decided that I would post pictures in order of my work and a final picture of their resting place. Unfortuately I can't show you the whole picture because my favorite picture of George Washington kneeling down next to a horse praying, fell off the ledge the other day and I still need to replace the frame. Russ felt really bad when he knocked it over, but it happens. It was an accident.

So, here is the count down. I think I will start with my most recent and go to my very first, which I have posted before.

1. The table runner. I cut my fabric in 13in wide sections and then cut them at various points to make varying sized strips. As I was cutting the strips I had my calculator out and just added up the widths until I got to 59inches, the length of my piano table runners. I sewed them together, added a few white stars for a cute applique, quilted it and bound it. Yep, super easy and only a couple hours of work. Here are a couple pictures to show the finished product and finished resting place.2. This is my 4th of July coin quilt. I simply decided on a size for each one of my coins (6 inches by 4 inches) and sewed them together. Then I measured the length of the rows, cut white stripes equal widths to go between the rows and on the top and bottom. I love the bright reds and blues in this quilt. I looked at a lot of finished coin quilts online before I decided that I was just going to quilt it with stiples in the colored sections and leave the rest just plain. It took me a long time to decide whether I wanted to do a border quilting in the white, but I decided against it. I guess I can always go add that later if I want and redo the binding. Maybe next year...hm.3. Here are the rest in their final resting spot. I have my quilting ladder that Russ made me in the corner behind his recliner so Madalynn can't play with it. We live in a basement right now where they left the edge of the concrete foundation as a ledge in the rooms. It is great. I don't have to hang any of my picture up and can move them wherever I want to in the room. So, it is a great place to place my little quilts. Behind the picture is my flag, below it is my connecting threads kit wall hanging I made a couple years ago. Then I had to place my most intricate on on the top of the ladder...it was only fitting. And then below my coins quilt, you can see my levi quilt. I had it sitting on the couch arm, but Madalynn started throwing it all over and I decided to leave it on the ladder this year and teach her not to play with it next year.So, there we are for this year. I have to admit I have one more project to add to the bunch before I put it all away in August, but it is not a quilt. I still had some blocks left from the English paper piecing project and I am going to sew them together and make a small pillow with them. I think that will be a great addition to my other decorations and the most common use of English paper piecing I have seen out there.

Hope that you enjoyed. Wait until my next post. I can't believe how my current purple quilt is turning out. Ah....

Can't Live Without it- part 9

So, it has been a few days. Life simply gets busy and fun. Wait until you see my next project post. I finally got pictures of a project that I worked on for a couple years. I am just waiting for one more picture to be emailed to me and I can post it :)

So this is going to be a quick post. I have posted this toy before, but I thought that I would post it again in this series. Seriously I could not live without it. When making binding I really like to have it pressed like the double fold binding you can buy at the store. Ironing each side of the fabric takes forever, esp. when you are making small binding for children's clothes or doll clothes. So I bought these to help:

They are called bias tape makers. All you do is put the fabric through the tool and iron. As you iron you pull the fabric through. It sometimes get a little stuck at the seams of your binding, but it takes like maybe 3 minutes to iron a binding for a large quilt. Here is what it looks like when it is done.I have done everything from thick canvas home decor fabric to levi's to thin cotton fabric in this tool. While the heavier fabrics take slightly more time they work just fine. If you are going to be making your own binding this is the greatest way to go: it is cheaper than buying it, it takes very little time and the tool is very cheap for a onetime cost. Here is a link to search of the bias tape makers on JoAnn's website. I waited and bought mine on a notions sale when everything was 30% off. I use a clover bias tape maker, but I know that their are several brands online to choose from.

So give it a try the next time that you need a binding. Just follow the instructions included in the packaging for cutting widths for the heaviness of your fabrics and off you go.

Hope that you enjoyed.

Serendipitous Snowman Wall Hanging

Around Christmas last year I was in Gracie Lou's a quilt store in Salem, Utah. They had the most awesome Christmas quilt patterns. It was a bit hard to shop and really look at everything because I didn't have my stoller and so my 7 month old was trying to crawl around and cried a lot. However, the pattern I made my sister's purse out of was at the store. I had been looking for that pattern for a while. Then I found this pattern. And it is 5 feet tall, it is so fun.
I had been looking for a cute Jan quilt pattern for a while. I think that in Dec you can decorate with Santas and that in Jan you can decorate with Snowmen. I had not previously been able to find something that I really liked. So, Abby's birthday is in Feb and I knew that we needed to make it. So I looked through all my fabric and found everything that I needed except the orange for the nose. (Which who keeps that bright a plain orange fabric lying around. Well, apparently not me.)

Ya, the pattern is killer. It is call Serendipitous Snowman by Geralyn Powers and put out by Thanksfully Sew. The shear amount of parts and little parts just to cut first out of the pattern, second out of the fabric, third out of the steam a seam 2 i used....took FOREVER!!!! Ya, Abby finally got it in May nearly four months after her birthday and I started it in Dec. After cutting out several parts, I just couldn't keep working on it. I got so burned out. And of course if I don't finish projects during my breaks then they don't get done until the next break. It is just how my crafting life goes.

I used left over blue flannel for the background, muslin for the body, scrap fabric for the rest and red flannel for the binding. Ok ok. I am looking at the pattern right now for the first time in months and I forgot to attach the buttons!!!! Oh my goodness. I am still not finished!!! Ugh. Oh well, I am posting the pictures that I took today. Of course this is one of those projects I gave away and then had to go back and take pictures. Ya, I need to just take pictures first. It is so much easier.

And her a few pictures close up of the various parts.Here is a picture of the backing.Hope that you enjoyed.

Christmas Cheer

Well, as I was going through my old blog posts I never took a picture of this quilt finished. I gave this to my mom for Christmas two years ago and it now sits on the piano in her "Christmas piano room." Literally if you have ever been in my mom's house there is not a question of whether my mom likes Christmas or not. She has such a love for Christmas and for really deep Christmas colors. This is how it turned out and I thought that I would share a finished picture.

Here is a look at the back.

Hope that you enjoy.
Amalie

Can't live without it- part 8

So anyone that sews will tell you that the following item is a necessity in a sewing room.

Yep, I love my iron. When i first got married I was using my husbands extremely small iron that I had to fill up with water like every half hour. It smelled and it never turned off without being unplugged. I can't tell you the number of times that I went home to unplug it when I left the house. On top of that, I had my parents old ironing board that didn't stand up straight. How annoying. So, at a sale at Bed, Bath and Beyond one day I bought a small travel ironing board for $2. I am all about nice but as cheap as I can find and that was the perfect price. I thought that maybe I could just use a small table top ironing board for a while and it would work and I wouldn't have to replace my ironing board.

Oh, I was soooooooooooo wrong. It is just toooooo small. It is great when I am piecing something small and just don't want to get up to iron. However, for my big quilts, it sucks. So one day I just broke down and went to Walmart to buy a new iron and ironing board.

I decided that if I was spending money on an iron that I would buy something reasonable but with the features I wanted. I wanted something that I could press the steam button to get some extra steam, a good sprayer so I didn't need a spray bottle with me anymore, an iron that had the safety feature of turning itself off, and a retractable cord. So this is what I chose. I don't remember spending more than $30 for it, but I don't remember the exact price. Everyone just needs a good iron that can either steam or iron dry...and if you are going to take it anywhere with you, a retractable cord is soooooo nice.

I now take my iron everywhere with me. I really can't handle using a basic regular iron anymore without my extra steam press. And seriously why would you own an iron without an automatic shut off. So much safer, you don't have to remember to turn off the iron everytime you run out of the room and it doesn't sit there completely hot the entire time that you are sewing.

Now I have to quickly tell you why I no longer have a large ironing board and am waiting to buy a new one. The day I bought my iron I bought an awesome ironing board and then posted about it. I was sooooo excited to have one that didn't rock everytime i touched it. Well, somewhere in our last move the latch that helps it collapse fell out! Russ who is very handy with fixing things, could not get it to go down again. So, much to my mother's frustration it is sitting out on our patio holding all my wood for my wood crafts. I really can't wait until I can reasonably afford a new one. I am going to buy a nice cover for this one too, one that can withstand really high temperatures so it doesn't warp the board when I am ironing for a while, or burn. The cover on my table top board smell each time that I iron. I hate that.
Well, hope that you enjoyed my ramblings.
Amalie

Can't live without it- part 7

So, at this point I have now posted a weeks worth of posts in my Can't live without it series. I know that to some of you it may seem like the things that I am posting are pretty random. I mean, why am I not posting pictures of things like my sewing machine and basic things like that. I actually will be getting a post like that later this week. Every day when I decide what I want to write about it is the thing that I am the most grateful for that day. Most of the things that I am posting are things that save me time while I am trying to find those few spare moments to sew and craft.

If you haven't noticed by now, I am an obsessed crafter. I wrote down the list of projects that I want to finish in August while I am not working one of my jobs. The list was full of over 50 things I want to get done. Yikes! I think, well how am I going to be a mom, a wife, housekeeper, good employee and employer and still manage everything that I want to do on the side. It is because I have a lists of things that help me do what I want in either a short amount of time or quicker than I would have got it done without it.

Today's post is on: my thread.

Thread is probably the most basic part of sewing. For me for quick and on-the-go sewing it is a necessity to have a small stash. While I was sewing blanket for the farmers market two summers ago I decided that I would invest in buying a large quantity of colors so that I could match all the colors of fabric I was sewing on. At first I would buy the small spools of colored thread at JoAnn's. However, those small spools cost about $1.50 for 125 yards. I would go through my thread so fast. Then I decided to buy the white serger spools for $1.99 for my bobbin thread. That was nice. I didn't go through white thread nearly as fast.

But then the problem came...I bought about 5 spools of white thread one day and with every spool of thread it started unraveling as I would sew and break. I thought maybe my tension was off and I adjusted that. Then I though something was wrong with my bobbin casing, but nothing was wrong. After three spools of thread...I had had it!! I was re-threading my thread on my machine almost every five minutes as it would break. If it had been one spool that would have been ok I think. But three spools was rediculous. I know that I probably got a bad batch of thread, but I was determined to find something else that fit my needs better.

That was when I got my connecting threads catalogue. I knew that I had seen thread in there before so I thought I would check out the price and shipping to see if it was worth it to have it shipped and still not cost me more than going somewhere in person. Well, i was totally in luck. They were having a 30% off sale (which they are having right now too by the way). Each spool was around $1.80 and there were 1200 yards of thread on a spool not just 125 yards. Just by the shear amount of thread that I was going to get per spool I knew that it would be worth it. I read some reviews online and decided that I would just take a stab at it, invest in the thread and get what I wanted. I ordered each of their color sets and a set of 5 white spools. (Around 50 spools). Totally worth it. Two years later I still have not bought any thread. I have almost finish the white spools, but seriously with the amount of sewing I was going before I would go through a spool almost every week. Now with my white spools I go through like one every other month.

The best part of connecting threads is if you order $50 worth it is free shipping. So, you are paying slightly more than a spool at your local fabric store, for almost 9 1/2% more thread and not paying shipping if you are ordering in a larger quantity. All of the cotton is grown in the USA too for the thread. So, you are supporting American farmers (if you live in the USA and care too know about that). ya, I was hooked.

The biggest problem with my thread has been: figuring out how to store it.

Originally I stored it in the box it came in.

Then on this rack on my table (which then moved to the dresser, the couch the floor and simply all over). Eventually when I own my own home with a permanent craft area I am going to use this again for my most common threads to have close easy access. I bought this at JoAnn's with a 50% off coupon so I couldn't tell you how much a spent on it at the time.

Then I put it all in a drawer in this storage container.

Then I put it all in my tool box because I needed it on the go.

Then I finally recently invested in this container my by ArtBin. While I can't use every spot in the container because the spools are too large I finally have a container of good quality with great clips to keep it closed. I love it. I can take it on the go and it is really so nice. I like that it is clear too so I can see each of the colors inside without having to open the lid.
Here is Madalynn the day that I got it, sitting on it. She thought it was her new seat and loved it of course :)
So in short, I really can't tell you enough how much I can't live without my thread. I know that I can start any project at anytime of the day or night and I have what I need to finish the project without having to run to the store. I joined Quilter's Club of America a couple years ago and in the forums several ladies have asked other quilters what thread they use. Most have said that they have switched to this thread and have never had any problems with it and they love it. I will say that i do have other kinds of thread like: invisible thread and elastic thread and such, but for basic sewing, piecing a quilting I used this.

Hope that you enjoyed.

Can't live without it- part 6

Organization is key to my crafting obsession. While I may not be "organized" in the sense of everything put in order, clean or even having a craft space in one area of my house, I know where everything is. One of the hardest parts about organization is the fact that we have moved 4 times this last year and a half. I will be forever grateful to my best-friend Abby who came by my house the first time I moved and helped me pack up my fabric. Much to Russ's irritation I went and bought some moving boxes for my craft stuff. We had plenty of boxes, but I told him that I wanted all my fabric in matching boxes that were different from everything else so they were easy to separate. Abby folded each and every piece of fabric to fit in the boxes and then we labeled them. I still know where everything is because we labeled each box so specifically.

Over time I have bought clear boxes to put everything in. It just makes it easier to find things. Right now I have craft stuff in my daughter's closet, the coat closet, the kitchen, on our storage racks in the kitchen, in a filing cabinet, piled on the filing cabinet, on top of the deep freezer (that is my ironing board), stashed in a corner behind our deep freezer, on my old ironing board on our patio, in my car (the projects that I take to work) and last but not least in our storage unit. I can honestly say I am impressed everytime I think about what I want and I know just where it all is. When we first moved into this place in Feb I had everything packed into Madalynn's closet. Lol, it lasted in that closet I think two weeks before it got strewn across the house. I am grateful for a husband who seems to be ok with things spreading themselves out. It is insane.

So, last year I was carrying around this box.

It was my tool box and small supply box. It is a Christmas decorations storage box. I love the tray. It fit all of my scissors and little stuff great. However, I started to not be able to handle the fact that the lid would pop off because it didn't lock into place and I only had most of my tools in the top because they would not all fit. So I would just carry around what I needed for just that specific project and nothing else. So I started looking for a new tool box.

I bought the following tool box at home depot. It was on clearance at the time and only cost $6. I thought that that was a great price for a tool box. When I was looking for this box I decided that I needed something with:
1. A tray
2. Locking lid with a place for an actual lock so I could keep my daughter out.
3. Area's that were separate for my notions and my projects and preferably removable.
4. Sturdy but not too big or heavy

I love this tool box.
I have all my bobbins in a removable container on the top that I can either simply open or remove. While it does not have specific slots for bobbins, I just tape the ends of my bobbins so the thread does not unravel and it works great.
I have another removable container for all the other notions that I use for projects and simply never know when I am going to need them.

I have a small opening for my needles, chap stick, and other small square items.I love my tray. I have all my necessities on this tray.And...the space inside the tool box is just perfect..big but not too big that I can't fit it on the front seat of my car for on-the-go crafting or too heavy when it is full that I can't pick it up.

As part of my post I thought I would make a list of the items that I keep in my tool box. I do pull them out to use, but every night when I am finished working I try to take 5 minutes and put everything back where it goes. Here is my tool box at a glance:

Scissors: my two pair of nice ones, a pair of paper ones, rag quilt scissors, rotary cutter and replacement blades
all my bobbins,
all my sewing machine feet,
pencil, pen, fabric marking pen, chap stick pad of paper,
all my needles (hand stitching, machine needles),
my two small acrylic square rulers, hemming ruler,
my 505, my quilting gloves,
two boxes of pins, my magnetic pin holder,
white thread, elastic thread, invisible thread,
my sewing machine oil and other cleaning supplies,
my clover binding makers, magnetic snaps for making purses,
thread wax, seam ripper, measuring tape,
my gypsy (cricut designing tool) and it's power/charging cord,
projects that I am finishing,
lint brush, safety pins,
click and stick scrapbook adhesive, scotch tape,
crochet hook
bandades (for when i cut myself with my scissors :( or poke myself with a needle)
elastic, steam a seam 2
a lighter and fray check for finishing items
paint brushes and sponges
various keys (to things that I am not going to mention :) haha)
and magnets.

The only item that I wish fit in my tool box that doesn't is my acrylic cutter ruler. It would be nice if it fit, but it is ok that it doesn't.

Now, I know that everyone has their own style and way of organizing things. I probably wouldnt' have a tool box if I didn't craft on-the-go. However, most of my craft days during the summer are spent at a friends house, my in-laws cabin or simply moving rooms in my house to be with my daughter and watching her, but crafting at the same time. I would suggest to all that are looking for a tool box...don't buy the ones in the crafting stores. They are just sooooo expensive. While it is true that is the only place you can buy ones that are 12" by 12" and there are some great sales on those, find a hardware store to buy your toolboxes.

I bought these at Harbor Freight for $4.50.I have two of these and use them for my buttons and scrapbooking brads, eyelets and other small items. After buying this tool box I saw the exact same one a year later at Archiver's for almost $20. Sure the ones at Archiver's put out by Creative Options are a cute green and purple, they were exactly the same in size and function. Just do your research on what you think is the best for what you need to store and then go and buy. Check Craigslist, KSL or whatever your local online used market is first. It pays off to be patient and find what you want.

Hope that you enjoyed.

Can't live without it- part 5

Every quilter needs an acrylic ruler. They vary in size and dimension, but inevitably you will buy one. Welll...maybe not. My mom used a angle arm used for construction or a yard stick. They work, they are cheap, but I simply can't live without my ruler.

So I am going to list things that people use with their rulers to cut and measure fabric and then I am going to post my seriously amazing ruler. Once you have a ruler you will want a rotary cutter. Scissors work fine, but man a rotary cutter just saves soooooooooooo much time. Many people buy one of those hand grips to keep the ruler in place so it doesn't slip on the ruler. Many people buy several sized rulers for various projects. I can honestly say that I do have two other rulers besides this one but this is I think the best size for having just one if you want just one.

Here is my Fiskars 6 1/2" by 24" cutter/ruler
The things that I like about my ruler are
1. It has a rotary cutter attached.
2. It used the same size blade as most rotary cutters
3. The edge with the cutter attached is heavy, unbending and easy to grab
4. The size.

Because of the heavy and easy to grab side I would never need a hand grabbing attachment. It makes it so it won't bend. I have seen people brake their acrylic rulers just because it bent too much. I don't have to carry around my rotary cutter with me, just my ruler which is really nice.

ya, I simply can't live without it. I bought it at Walmart in the craft section. I have not seen it anywhere else..ie JoAnn's, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Robert's Arts and Crafts... I looked every where for one when i was looking for it. My friend introduced me to hers about 4 years ago and I knew that that was the ruler for me. The first few times that I used it, there was a sticky pad on the bottom part of the cutting side that is no longer sticky but made it even more firm at the time. After doing a quick internet search I couldn't find it anywhere. Hm..when I find a link to somewhere you can buy it, I will post a link.

Besides this ruler I also have two other acrylic rulers- a 6 1/2" square and a 2 1/2" square. I bought those because I make a lot of small block things and it is nice to just have a square esp. the smallest one. I am currently considering buying a circle acrylic set for my newest projects and that would be more of a template ruler than an everyday functioning ruler.

Well hope that you enjoyed my ramblings on one of my favorite tools.

Stars and levi's and the sensation of being done

So each time I have moved in the last year I have determined that I would finish those UFO's that I created at the last home or the previous homes. Last August I made this quilt and posted picture of the unfinished top. I made it on a weekend away at my in-laws cabin. I used used-levi's, some plaid fabric I had in a bag and white fabric for the applique stars.
For a pattern..hm.. I just sort of made it up as I went along. I had the fabric, I created an idea and went with it. I am sure that I got some inspiration somewhere for the appliqued stars and put it in the recesses of my brain. It took me forever to finish this quilt because of those stars. I kept wanting to get it done, but I was either out of white fabric, didn't want to take the time to find the right star shape, or didn't want to take the time that it takes to stitch on the applique.Well, I sort of cheated, but not really. I didn't want to do a blanket stitch or a zigzag stitch on the edge of the stars. I decided just to do a basic outline in the middle of the star and leave the edges exposed. Raw edge applique is pretty common these days and I really think that it will add character to the quilt as the edges fray.
Now for the biggest part of this quilt...it is the biggest quilt that I have quilted on my own machine. I was terrified!!!! Not only was it big, but levi is incredibly heavy and very hard to handle because of the weight. I broke a few needles, got mad at the thread when the quilt would slip and the thread would brake. But, it got done. It is not the most perfect quilting job by any means, but I think for a first time on such a large project it is pretty decent. I knew that it would take a while because of the size, bulk and heaviness, but it took me almost 5-6 hours to quilt it. It was worth it to save money from having a longarm quilter do it, but it is time consuming.

So, I had to post of picture of me actually quilting it. It is a big moment in my quilting experiences and thus needed to have a picture moment. (I think that Russ thought I was weird when I asked him to take a picture.)
Here is a close up of some of the stars and how I quilted around them.
After starting I realized that I probably would have liked it a little better if the thread color had been a little bit darker. I can't really see too much of the quilting on the front unless I look close, so I took a picture of the back to show you what it looks like. Because of the fluffiness of the fleece the pattern shows up well.For the binding I decided to use some levi fabric. I cut up a pair of my brothers old pants and used the back of the pant legs. I thought that for sure it would not be enough fabric, but wow!!! men's levi's have A LOT of fabric. I probably made enough binding for two of these quilts and I only cut 6 strips out of the pants. (And my brother is not terribly tall either). The biggest problem with sewing on the binding was the thickness of the backing.
I decided that I wanted to have fleece on the back side of this quilt. I thought that after I pull it down as a July decoration in my family room I would put it as a quilt that could be used to watch a movie. So, I wanted something soft and warm. Little did I know that the fleece would be terribly thick to sew a binding onto. Between the weight of the levi and the thickness of the fleece, it was all I could do to keep the quilt in my hands as I worked. My hands were totally cramped up when I was finished sewing on the binding.

Well, hope that you enjoyed.

Can't live without it- part 4

One day in the mail I received a promotional video for a club that sent out quilting videos every month. I watched the video and liked it, but I don't have time to spend on a club like that anymore. That is when I really learned about English paper piecing. It was a great video and the had a segment that inspired me to make my English Paper piecing 4th of July quilt. English paper piecing is sooooo easy! Anyways, so as I was watching her she used this thread wax thing to make her thread easier to use.

I immediately went over to the computer to research the exact wax line that she mentioned and couldn't find it anywhere online. However, on JoAnn's website I found this beeswax thread waxer. I researched beeswax a little bit more and lots of blogs had mentioned it in their English Paper Piecing posts. So $3.50 later I had the following!
I can't live without it now! I wax all my thread whenever I am just sewing on a button, or whip stitching a binding, or esp. on cross stitch or English paper piecing. The thread just slides through whatever you are trying to sew wish such ease! If you have ever got one of those annoying knots in your thread while you are trying to hand sew something you know that you can get frustrated really easily trying to get it out. I started using my beeswax back in Feb and since then I think that I have had one, only one knot in my thread and that was because it got tangled up while my daughter was grabbing my project. It is a time saver and stress reliever. I keep it in my purse with me for while I am working at work and am considering buying two more just to have one permanently in my tool box and one on my work table at all times. Buying the one at JoAnn's, they have refills that are cheaper than the original purchase with the case and that makes it even cheaper for further use.

Hope that you enjoyed.