Saved by the bell

Oh, how our brains work in mysterious ways. I had a very quick conversation with Ronda just before heading out for dinner last night. She was telling me of the purchases that she had made while out on a mini shop hop with Susan. I had no desire to be along. I realized afterward that many shops had sales on because it was February 29th.

I only had to look at all the stuff in my studios to find something to do. Anyway, I had woken up with my first alarm and didn't get out of bed. Back for the last half hour of sleep and I was dreaming that I was in North Carolina at some kind of shop. I had a kit in my hand (it wasn't really a quilting kit, but it was fabric). I was just about to dig my credit card out of my pocket when the alarm went off!

I want to know why that happens? I certainly didn't need whatever I was buying, but why does the alarm go off right at that critical moment in our dreams? It's totally weird, but I was literally saved by the bell!

Speaking of stuff to do, it was a super productive day yesterday. I was beside myself with accomplishment at the end of the day. For those of you who are exhausted at the end of the blog - you'd better sit down. I don't have time to tell you all that happened but here's part of what I got done.

I started off by sewing this block together. I'll show you all the details tomorrow.

Sewing a block together

Then I looked at all the things that were sitting on the other sewing machine table. There were projects on the floor, on the small group of work tables and it literally was a mess. My brain doesn't work well with messes.

More projects to work on

So I loaded all (or almost) all the stuff that was sitting on the floor and on the small group of work tables and I put it all on the large group of work tables. Yep - it pretty much filled the six worktables. That's OK because there won't be anyone coming to use that space for almost three weeks. I can get a LOT done in three weeks. My goal is that I don't want to move any of this stuff when the UFO group comes. I want it dealt with.

Aerial view of the six work tables

 This is what it looks like from the side.

That's a LOT of stuff to work on

Here's the thing - if I could get all that mess cleaned up, then I could guilt-free pull out something else. I just don't get it how there always seems to be this gigantic "current" pile of stuff to work on. I've been struggling with that for years. So NOTHING more can be added to this pile. NOTHING - until I get some of it cleaned up.

It was nice to have a clean cutting table to work on.

The cutting table is clear of mess

 And the two sewing tables are free as well. That makes me very happy. Not happy that it isn't dealt with, but happy that I won't have to see it as I'm sewing.

Sewing tables are clear as well

There's still a bit more stuff on that third table behind the sewing machine and a few more boxes on another table in the opposite corner. I might add it all to the mix and then it's all in one place.

I managed to get a quilt quilted. Not the one I wanted, but that's OK. Rose had donated this quilt to the community projects and it's a bit too small for Quilts of Valour. It was handy and I threw it on the long arm. It's now quilted!

Community projects quilt - DONE

How's this for saving on batting. I had checked through my batting pieces and found two that were pretty much the right width. The second piece of batting bits was EXACTLY the right width. That was cutting it close.

No batting to spare on this one section

It then went into the storage room with the rest of the community projects stuff. I've got a box where I'm collecting stuff for us to do on the next community projects day. The box is filled with quilt tops that need backing and binding made, as well as a couple of kits that will be sewn on the next sew day and there are quite a few quilts that need to be bound. It's going to be a busy day!

Box of stuff to complete on the next community projects day

And after all that, it was time to buckle down and really get to work. I had a stack of quilts that needed to be bound. Matter of fact, there were TWO big stacks of quilts that needed to be bound.

The binding for the first quilt was already made so that was easy. I sat down at the sewing machine and got the first round stitched on.

Stitching the binding on a quilt for Quilts of Valour

This was one of the quilts made with the shirting fabrics and now it's completely done and ready to be delivered.

The first quilt of the day is bound

My goal was to get all three quilts for Quilts of Valour bound so they can be delivered on Monday. The second quilt had NO binding made. The quilt was made way before I instigated that rule at my house. So I dug out some fabric and made the binding for the second quilt.

Making binding for the second quilt

I can't say enough about how easy it is to stitch on binding using the built-in walking foot - the IDT system on the PFAFF sewing machines. I can use a regular presser foot and engage the IDT and well - it just doesn't get any better than that.

Using the IDT system on the PFAFF creative icon to sew on a binding

I timed myself. It took just under one hour to make the binding and sew it to both sides of the quilt. The quilt is about 60 by 72".

The binding is now on the second quilt

 I grabbed the third quilt and it also did not have any binding so I used the same dark blue and made binding for that quilt as well.

Making the binding for the third quilt

 One of the critical things when sewing on a binding is to get the right seam allowance so that when you fold the binding over (whether you're doing it by hand or by machine) that the quilt completely FILLS the binding. You should have NO loose binding edge. And if you're really good at it, then the stitching goes fast and the binding is full and life is good. I've done miles of binding so I'm pretty good at it. And don't forget to get those PERFECT mitered corners - it works every time if you stop in the right spot.

In the photo below, the red arrow shows the edge of the ¼" foot and this is where I would line up the edges of my fabric when piecing to get ¼" seam allowances. But when sewing the binding on, I use the actual width of the foot (the section behind the ¼" line) to get a much wider seam allowance that you can see where the black arrow is pointing. I use binding strips of 2 ½" and that has worked for me for years. I see people want to change the width of their binding strips and make the strips narrower, when in fact you need to change the width of that seam to get a nice secure binding.

The width of the seam for sewing on a binding

I've covered this a million times on QUILTsocial, but I thought I'd drive that point home one more time. I HATE floppy bindings and I confess that whenever I touch someone else's quilt, I test that. I know I shouldn't but I do. I NEVER say anything unless we're in a class situation.

And here's the third and final quilt for Quilts of Valour for February.

The binding is on the third quilt

So now all three quilts are bound and ready to be delivered tomorrow, along with the fourth quilt that I quilted for them but did not bind. HEY - I have to leave some of the fun for them. Besides, I WILL NOT donate a quilt to an organization unless it's completely finished. But I'll quilt for an organization and they can bind. I think that's fair.

Quilts bound for delivery to Quilts of Valour

 But I wasn't done with that darn binding. I grabbed one of my own quilts and started to sew the binding on. The binding was already made and so it wasn't a big deal.

Sewing the binding on one of my quilts

Notice how my little figure 8 of binding just sits on the table in front of the sewing machine. No muss, no fuss, no spilling on the floor. There's a video in that link above to show you how to do that. In the quilt world around here - it's called the Elaine Theriault method of winding binding. I LOVE IT.

However, when I went to find some pink thread to sew the binding to the front of the quilt, I realized that I have NO PINK THREAD in my box of colored threads. NONE. I swear that Shelly (who hates pink) has been through my thread box and stole it all.

Where's the pink thread?

I got loads of purple and red, but no pink. I could have driven to the store to get some, but that would have eaten into my productive day. I set the quilt aside and a small scrap of the fabric so I can go maybe today or sometime this week. I hate to drive for just one errand so I had better come up with another errand in that area or I won't go.

Well, the day wasn't over so I grabbed this table topper. The binding had been sewn to the back of the quilt. It just needed to be stitched in place on the front.

Yikes - what color thread to do that in? It's a striped fabric.

Stitching down the binding on a table topper

And that one got finished as well.

The binding is on this table topper

 I used a pale blue and it worked like a charm. You can barely see the thread.

You can't see the pale blue thread

And it looks as neat on the back as it does on the front.

I still had some time before going out for dinner so I wiped the slate clean (literally - I got out the whiteboard cleaner and cleaned up my whiteboard which is technically an orange board).

My white (orange) board

This is where I keep the list of quilts that are to be quilted. I wrote out the list for March and I've assigned the day of the week (using the magnets) that each will get quilted. I only assign one week at a time.

There are quilts for customers, quilts for Quilts of Valour, quilts for me and a couple for our community projects that are not large enough for Quilts of Valour. I hope to get them all done this month. And then start the process off all over again for the next month. This is really allowing me to stay on track and I'm up-to-date with everything in the quilting department and even getting a few of mine done so that's a bonus.

I did more stuff yesterday to clean up those tables, but I'll share that with you tomorrow and I've got an entire day stretching ahead of me so I know there's going to be a whole lot more tomorrow to share with you. Hopefully, I'll actually have some space cleared on those tables. There's another stack of quilts to be bound - I think there's five or six in the stack. I won't be working on those today.

On that note - it's M's birthday today. Perhaps that's why I was awake around 2 AM. Remembering all the glory of pushing her out! That was not a fun experience and well - I won't go into details. But it was painful and still is today. I love you kiddo!! Have a Happy Birthday.

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!