Monday, January 29, 2018

First Finish for 2018

I have a first finish for this year and it is not the one I thought it would be. I finished quilting the Fancy Forest but it still needs the binding.

Here it is folded in half on my table; the quilting is all in the ditch.

My camera will not take any more photos so this is the best I can do for today. I tried to use my old camera but all I can see on the viewing screen is a blur. I guess it is time for a new camera.
This is the one I finished, it is a 27 inch square "drag around" quilt. This is for our preemie great grandson; he went home from the hospital 3 days ago. I think it is about the right size for a 5 Lb. baby.  I want to send both of these with my daughter when she goes to see him this week.

I had planned to use the scraps from the Fancy Forest quilt to make crazy improv blocks but though that is easy, it is not fast. I looked around for something I could put together fast and found these wonky blocks in my "Parts Department" box. I have a bunch of colorful small blocks that I made when the Basement Divas group was planning on making Collaborative Quilts in the style of Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston. We did make one quilt but then the group took another direction, I had forgotten about these blocks and it was really by chance I opened that box. There were 8 blocks and I made the purple block using fabric from the Fancy Forest owl block. I used left over fabric from the FF backing for the border and the purple for the binding.


I sewed the binding to the front and turned it and fused it to the back. I was careful to cover the line of stitching on the back so that the stitching in the ditch on the front would catch the binding.  It takes me forever anymore to do hand stitching with my crooked arthritic fingers.
This photo shows one corner of the back folded up to show the stitching on the binding and the stitching in the ditch on the front. When I get to the corners I stitch out to the point and back to the ditch. I works well and I find it a little easier each time I gain a little more experience.


1 comment:

Annie said...

Both are adorable quilts, Ruthie! Your machine stitched binding looks great. I’m glad to know this alternative method should I ever need it. But first I need to be getting my started quilts out and work them! LOL.