In a Bind

My friend Tiffaney's birthday was today. My goal to give her a birthday quilt was met as well....thanks to another amazing online tutorial on machine binding. Tiff's quilt is called "Birthday Blush"....because it is a Birthday quilt, made with Basic Gray's "Blush" line. (I know, so much creativity went into naming this quilt!) I jokingly told my husband I should name my quilts based on the movie/tv show/music I listen to/watch as I make it. If that were the case, this would be called "Mad Men."

For this stacked coins quilt I used (roughly) 3 charm square packs and 2 1/2 yards of coordinating backing fabric using the "Blush" line, which I love, it seems so retro and girly (or as my husband called it, old lady). I also used about 1/2 yard of another coordinating fabric for the binding, not sure how much white Kona cotton I used for the sashing though as I cut from my stash.

As I posted earlier, my sewing machine was giving me major problems with the tension. I discovered it was where my thread was being fed through, somehow it was catching. Unfortuanetly I didn't notice this until I was half way through quilting. Tiffaney has promised not to show the back to people too closely, although she didn't seem to mind. I do, but if I was to give this to her after taking out those stitches and re-quilting it, she would receive it sometime around Christmas. Good thing great friends don't mind mistakes as much as this quilter does!

I pieced the back of the quilt, mainly because I was a little short on my backing fabric, but I love how it turned out, and so did Tiffaney.

 

And she made sure I put a label on this quilt, inspecting the back to find it, and commenting "I love the owl!."

 

On top of learning a bit about my sewing machine's tension problems (after taking it apart too), I also learned a new method on attaching binding by machine. I used this tutorial, from Bloomin' Workshop, which was so helpful and SO FAST! I will definately be doing my binding by machine again, although I am curious to see how it turns out after washing. With this quilt, I finished it, headed to the park with Lee and Penny to get pictures in before sunset, and headed to Tiffaney's house to deliver her gift.

We went to Pioneers Park, (my favorite place in Lincoln) to the columns where Lee and I were married. I have been meaning to photograph a quilt at this spot for a long time, I think this quilt was the perfect one to take there.

There are Lee and Penny, peaking from behind one of the columns, trying to patiently wait for me to finish.

It is time to enjoy the rest of the long weekend. I hope all of you are enjoying your Labor day weekend as well! I will leave you with a picture of my favorite block: a little bird on pink fabric peaking at you. :)