Sunday, August 9, 2009

Something Bright...and Finished!

Are you ready for some photos? I finished a project! I started this one back in June. I intended for it to be a throw quilt but I got impatient with the piecing and decided I needed a wall hanging/table topper.

(The grass looks fake in this photo for some reason!)


This is the second project I designed myself, not that it looks all that original. I loved the challenge of the stars but I also realized that with my busy life I like the quickness of easier projects. Not every point is perfect, but I am getting better.
I rearranged the star pieces to give this last block a little more interest.

I am really happy with the quilting on this. I pin basted tighter on this (more pins) and it really made a difference. I quilted white on white with Aurifil thread. Large stippling in the larger areas and tiny stippling around the stars. That was new to me and really fun. I did a looping meander in the busy squared spaces with bright pink Aurifil. I still wonder if I should outline the stars but I didn't trust myself to free motion those straight lines.
Binding...oh my! (as my niece would say). I read on a blog post that someone was loving 2 inch binding. Well, I thought a smaller project would be perfect for it. After I cut and pressed it I realized I wasn't going to be able to hand stitch it very easily and cover the edge. I sewed it onto the quilt with about an eighth inch seam and I was fine. Then I clipped a corner of the binding as I trimmed the extra off but we just won't talk about that...
So quilters.....what size binding do you usually cut? I think I am back to 2 1/2 inch unless I realize what I am missing. :)

6 comments:

Bec said...

Alyson ~ great job & very pretty!
Sorry I cant help you out with your question, as I have no idea what you are talking about! ha!
But just had to tell you it turned out very nice! Great Job!!!

Melissa Berberena said...

All I can say is... Wow you are talented!

Adrienne said...

GORGEOUS! I just finished my first quilt and I used 2 1/2 inch strips lol.

Anonymous said...

Hi Alyson :) I just found your blog--it's lovely. I use 2.25 inch binding--not too big, not too small--it works out perfectly for me.

Stephanie

kcenya1950 said...

Hi, I will chime in. I use 2 1/2 inches because I like to do it all by machine. I just fold it over and stitch in the ditch and while this sometimes makes it not quite on the edge on the back I find that 2 1/4 means I often miss catching it with the machine stitching and have to go back and fix little spots by hand (a four letter word for sure) Great colours on the quilt. Looks super

Norah A said...

Thhis is a great blog