Please join me in welcoming today’s guest blogger Patti Lessell as she shares some insights into her own quilting journey.

Well I’m a trier that’s for sure. I never used to be but boy how times have changed. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis some 20 years ago and found I could no longer work and I hated boredom to the nth degree. So for the next six years I went to University here in England (where I have lived for most of my life) and then finished that and I was bored again.

I found a cross stitch kit in a well known store here in England (John Lewis) and so started my crafting journey. At first I would make things and use fabric for backing or to make a pincushion. Here are a couple of things I made:

This is the front of a Blackbird Designs kit from a few years ago that I stitched as an exchange piece.

And this is the back. Isn't the fabric just gorgeous?

I got really disillusioned with stitching and the stitching community in general here in England as it is dying a death. My favorite, and only real local stitching shop, closed and there are no more great charts to be had locally.

Well anyway I became ill again a couple of years ago and decided that quilting was really the way I wanted to move forward. There is a quilting store about 10 miles from where I live and easy to get to and I signed up for a course. I went and bought what I thought I needed including a sewing machine from the quilt show in Birmingham the previous August (this was now October).

The class had 12 pupils in it but after attending a couple of the lessons I wasn’t well again and found it impossible to stand, and as one had to do this in order to see what the teacher was demonstrating, I had to quit. By this time, I had a load of stash and nothing to do with it. It could join my cross stitching stash which was quite large to say the least, ok it’s legendary as is now my quilting stash! I never do things by halves that’s for sure.

Then I found YouTube and all the things I could learn on there. There were loads of different videos on there for quilting but everything was quite short and there I discovered that I was really good at the theory of all this stuff but not that great in actually cutting and completing anything. The ultimate I found was Craftsy where there are more lessons as well as longer classes where a project went from start to finish in a single lesson. The major thing really is in the cutting, so I have a zillion different rulers and I’m still trying, as all the photos will attest, to but I am finally finding out what kind of quilting I prefer and am reasonably good at, not great but I can only get better.

The front of this pincushion which was strip pieced

The Back of it (obviously)

So I thought I’d cracked it. Had I heck!! The next thing I decided to make was a cushion for my 9 year old granddaughter Lily and this is it so far:

I was very proud of myself here. I managed to make the cording and do everything as instructed. All I’m waiting for now is the cushion to fill it. It’s kinda cute and I really like it.

Well my last effort was today, after I managed (with help) to get my machine working again. It failed on me yesterday and all I had to do was rethread it and put in the bobbin again and voila this is what I started:

This is a 9-patch that I am going to make a load more of and make into a disappearing 9 patch quilt for my (ok our) latest grandchild Chloe (4 months).

For somebody (me) who has never been a trier in her whole entire life I am really proud of me for sticking at this so doggedly. Today I learned that I really ought to walk before I try running.

I did try paper piecing, not just any paper piecing but that little (and I mean little) apple that Charise has made a paper pieced pattern for. In the garbage again. See I told you – I have to learn to walk first, and as we are having a lesson on paper piecing on Sunday at the London Modern Quilting Guild, I figured before I ruined yet more fabric that maybe I ought to leave it until I am shown how to do it properly.

I have a few blogs and on my quilting blog (I think) I grabbed a British guy’s attention who is living in the States. I always sign my emails and blogs with American by birth and MOUTH but British in every other way, and this caught his attention.

Anyway to cut a long story sideways, the guy’s name is Giles and through having diabetes and not taking care of himself over the years (he is only 40 now), amongst other disabilities, he has lost most of his eyesight and is legally blind but wanted to quilt in the worst way. He has made one quilt and won third prize for it (I would love his third prize – it is a box full of Aurifil Threads). And this is it with the reverse showing as well:

But Giles (he has a blog too here) was finding it really difficult to quilt and I had a brainwave (look these don’t happen to me very often – in fact never before) and suddenly remembered about a ruler set I had seen that I thought would be perfect for him. So I wrote to the company, which is called Guidelines4Quilting, at both their email addresses they had listed and John wrote back asking for Giles’ snail mail address, which I gave him of course, and he sent Giles the ruler and one of the add-ons and then emailed Giles to find out if it worked out okay, which it most certainly did, and then sent him the rest of the kit.

You can buy any combination including their ruler or not. I purchased the smaller of their sets because I figured if it could help a blind man than surely it could help me. But I really should have bought the larger set and really regret that now but shall rectify it in the near future.

I do hope you have enjoyed my stint as a Guest Blogger here and here’s hoping I get much better at this quilting because I am definitely not giving up so watch this space for hopefully more, and better, adventures in my foray into quilting.

Love
Patti xxx
American by birth and MOUTH but
British in every other way

It’s voting time!! The theme for this week’s contest is Springtime Renewal quilts. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and a pencil to make note of your faves. You can vote for THREE favourites this weekend.

Our sponsor is Ebony Love from LoveBug Studios and she has a new product to share, Quiltspirations! One quilter will win two Original Card Packs, plus two sets of the Fabulous Fibers Assortments.

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourites!

• Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.
• One vote per person (based on IP address NOT email address), so have your family and friends cast a ballot for their favourite quilt (from home if you send it to coworkers)
• Winner announced Monday!

How to Vote:

• Review the photos and stories below… there are several, so you’ll need to scroll down to see them all. You can also click the link to the slider version to review the quilts in the large format and then return to this page to vote.
• Underneath the photos, scroll down, you’ll see the names of all the quilts with a square button** beside each one. Select the buttons for the quilts you want to vote for. You can select up to THREE quilts this week.
• Then scroll down, all the way, until you get to the bottom of the names of the quilts. Press the vote button.

** Note: If you don’t see the square buttons to vote, but instead see the voting results, that means someone on your IP Address already voted, or that the voting period has ended, or that you need to refresh the page to see the voting options. Shared IP Addresses are very common in home or work networks.

Slider version: To view the large photos of all the quilts and descriptions, CLICK HERE. You’ll need to return to this page to cast your votes.

Please Note: If you are not seeing all of the photos, check your browser settings. Go to view, and text size. Make sure it’s set at medium. If you need web sites to be larger so you can read them more easily, then use the browser’s Zoom function, not the text resize. You can also use the scroll bar above, beside the photos, to scroll and see the hidden ones.

 Loading ...

Next Week’s Quilt Contest

The theme for next week’s contest is Easter. You can enter finished quilts of any size and other fabric-made projects for this contest. Get your cameras out!

To enter the weekly contest, read the rules and guidelines, then submit your quilt photo by Thursday evening (EDT). Voting will start on Friday and last until Sunday night.

Weekly Quilt Contest Links

• Guidelines
• Submit your photo
• 2012 Themes, Winners & Sponsors
• Sponsor a contest

The Learning Center

In the Learning Center this week, Pat Sloan shares her favourite method of attaching quilt binding by machine. She’s also invited guest Dana Bolyard of Old Red Barn Co. to share her hand binding method. Read the Binding Tutorials here.

Michele and I are having an exciting time building this new Learning Center here at the Quilting Gallery!

One of the most asked for items we both hear is ‘how to do better binding’. I thought this would be a terrific day to share two binding techniques.

Let me share what I do first. I decided a few years ago to ‘time’ how long it took me to hand stitch my binding. WOW! What an eye opener that was. I do enjoy hand work, I do enjoy that relaxing stitch stitch stitch… but I’d much rather appliqué than bind. So I went on a search for a binding technique that was pretty much ALL machine. I have fine-tuned it to a blanket stitch that I pull to the front… mitred corners and all… then stitch on the machine. I finish my bindings in a fraction of the time it took me before.

And the bonus is, they are much sturdier than a hand stitched binding. After 12 years of hauling my quilts around to presentations and workshops, I’m having to repair my bindings… and these quilts are really not ‘used’ that much! Take a look at my online binding tutorial… give it a try… let me know if you like it! P.S. there is a printable version at the end of the page.

Then I asked my friend Dana Bolyard of Old Red Barn Co. to guest post about binding… she makes it sound so simple! Also listen to my interview with Dana at the recorded show from Feb 13, 2012.

Quilt Binding – A Primer by Dana Bolyard

Ah! Binding a quilt is the last step towards completion of a quilt and it’s no secret that it’s my absolute most favorite part of the process. I love everything from choosing the fabric for binding, making the binding, attaching it and then hand sewing it to the back. I think it has something to do with being able to sit under the quilt while I work and slowly sewing.

And admiring the nearly completed project as I go.

Of course, the binding is the narrow strip of fabric at the outer most edge of the quilt that finishes off the quilt and covers the raw edges. But really it’s more than that to me. It’s the frame around the picture.

The binding is that last finishing touch. It’s like a picture frame to a photograph or a gold gilded frame to a fine art masterpiece. It literally frames your quilt … especially if the quilt is borderless.

You take time choosing just the right frame for a prized photograph and the same should be true for choosing the binding fabric. Start with quality 100% quilters’ cotton. The binding will be handled and pulled and tugged on much during its service and must be strong and durable.

You’ll notice in all of the pictures above that each of the bindings are a bold hued color marking the outer edge of the quilt. Walk into any quilt shop and study the quilts on display throughout the store. Do the same at any quilt exhibit. You will notice that 95% of the time the color of the binding picks up on the darker hues within the quilt top itself. I like to think of it as the final punctuation on the quilt top.

Or, as I’ve said repeatedly, the outer most beautiful frame of your masterpiece. By picking up on the darker hues in the quilt itself, the binding serves it’s framing function perfectly.

Making the binding, machine sewing it to the front, mitering the corners and then hand sewing it to the back may seem intimidating but I’ve provided a step-by-step tutorial with photos.

You can access it here: How to Bind a Quilt.

Don’t panic! Binding a quilt is relaxing, enjoyable and the finishing touch your quilt is begging for!

Dana Bolyard
Old Red Barn Co.

Here are a few additional resources for binding your quilts:

• Award winning quilter, Sharon Schamber, shares video tutorials of her binding technique using Elmer’s school glue
• More video tutorials from Sharon Schamber on curved binding
• Julie Herman from Jaybird Quilts has a great series of posts on binding basics

What’s your favourite binding method? Do you have any binding tips or tools you like to use? Share in the comments below.

Michele will be doing next week’s Learning Center post, Beyond the Basics … More Tools, featuring favourite tools from our readers and some great give-aways too.

Pat Sloan is owner and founder of the quilting design and publishing company Pat Sloan & Co. She has published over 25 books, more than 100 patterns, nearly 10 fabric lines, and has had her work featured in all the major Quilt magazines. In January 2010, Pat started hosting her weekly Internet Radio show called Creative Talk Radio.

Find Pat here:

Web Site | Blog | Radio Show | Facebook | Twitter
Quilt Forum | Pinterest | Newsletter