Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to say Thank you for being here and support my trip through the Wonderful World of Quilting.
I wish everyone out there a joy filled holiday!
This is one of my recent coasters I finished just a few days before Christmas.

  Have a beautiful week, my dears!

One mini quilt = one pouch -- # 1

I made a few pouches for one of my friends. She wants to give them as Christmas presents.
Luckily the design was my choice.

I decided to make for the fronts of three of them three different mini quilts. But the fabrics from my stash have not encouraged at all my imagination, so I painted a few pieces of fabric and I started working.

Here is #1
I named it Surprise Mini quilt

I liked very much improvising this log cabin design using pieces of commercial fabrics and painted fabrics.The quilting is simple just to calm down a little the bright composition.

On the pouch back I inserted a line of zig-zag stitches, playing just a little bit with the zig-zag width.

  I have put all together and the pouch was ready in no time.

 Have a beautiful day, my dears!

Lovely Stocking Pattern for our gifts

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, but I'm sure that I'm not the only one starting the to-do sewing list for Christmas gifts.
If you are like me, you give so much attention to the gifts you are sewing, that almost always the time left for thinking about how to pack them is so limited that you end up making a last minute improvisation. Sometimes it turns out well but only sometimes, not always.
That's why this year I added on the list, next to each gift project, a very brief description of how I will pack it and I am trying to prepare ahead all I need for packaging.

Here is one project that could serve both as a gift and as a package to host a gift.

For those of you loving the folk style and wanting a fresh look for your traditional projects,  I listed again the Granny Stocking Pattern in my Etsy shop.
It will be listed for a limited time. So, if you like it and need it,  just take this opportunity.
If you want to learn more about the Granny Stocking Pattern, you might find useful this post.

Enjoy!
Have only beautiful sewing days, my dears!
Thank you for your support!

To give or not to give. About quilt giving

I have been trying to write this post for about three weeks. A lot of things interfered my blogging life and all I see now is the fact that I was out of here for about two months.
I kept working and I have a lot of projects to show you.
I will take the thread of my stories slowly, trying to get over the time gap.  

I chose for today an interesting subject from Kat's blog:
What are your thoughts on quilt giving?

If you have a little time to read or share your opinion about this subject, please follow the above link. 

The comments are as interesting as the post.

One single photo for today. The story about the project illustrated by it, in the next posts.

 Have a beautiful weekend, my dears!

Quilted and embroidered All-In-One Tablet Case

Drawing using the mouse on a daily basis is difficult for the wrist and time consuming. I know it from my own experience because I'm doing this for years.
Recently I went to the next level: using a graphic tablet. For now, my brain still believes it is a mouse pad and I tend not to go near the edges with the pencil, but it is so fun to see my doodle on the screen, that I'm sure I'll get used to it.
Because I don't need it all the time, I have to protect it from dust and scratches when standing aside. And so comes the reason to create a new sewing pattern.

All-In-One Tablet Case

I have not found in my closet fabrics to match it, so I quickly painted a piece of cloth. While it was drying, I had drawn and digitized a cat face. Don't ask me why a cat, it just came to me as I was drawing.

I embroidered...

...and quilted the front panel...

...I quilted the back panel and added my little label.

I even quilted a little ball of string for the cat. Do you see it? It's above the label.

"All-in-one" means that the case keeps inside not only the tablet but also the needed accessories, in this tricky zippered pocket.

And this is my All-In-One quilted and embroidered Tablet Case.

I hope you like it as much as I do.

Have a beautiful day, my dears!

How to finish the quilt - The Self binding method

I decided to try different methods for finishing the quilts. 

Until now, the only way I did this was sewing a folded in half strip of fabric around the outside of the quilt.

This time, I used the one known as the self-binding method.

Here are the steps I followed finishing my recent Forever Together quilt:

The quilt had the backing and batting wider than the top.

1. After I quilted it so that not overcome the edges of the quilt top,  I laid the quilt on the working table. Using the scissors, I trimmed first, the batting right to the edge of the top.

2. Then I trimmed the backing, 1" wider than the quilt top all around.

3. On one side of the quilt, I began folding the edge of the backing in half so that the raw edge lines up with the edge of the quilt top.

4. I folded it again so that overlapping the quilt top by ½ " and pinned in place.

5. At the corner, I folded the backing edge like in the photo below.

6. I continued on the next backing side, by folding it first in half ...

...and then folding it again in half, overlapping the quilt top by ½ " so that obtaining a neat mitered corner. I pinned it in place and I continued all the way around the quilt until I had the whole backing folded and pinned. 

7. I stitched close to the edge. 

And that was all.

Conclusions:

This method is good when: 

- you are sure that the quilt edges are straight because you can't square it up;  

- the backing fabric looks good next to the quilt top fabric, as it will be used for binding too; 

- you don't mind that the quilting stitches might be visible over the binding, on the back side of the quilt. In this regard, when quilting, backstitch when reaching the quilt top edges.

It is a quick and easy method to bind a quilt. You don't have to take out the quilt of the sewing machine, you don't have to join the ends of the binding.

I will use it again, for sure.

Have a beautiful sewing week, my dears!