Friday Flaunt - Second Ten in '10 Finished!

Even when one doesn't work outside the home, days can pass quickly, and so it was this past week. It was all good, just busy!

Take a look at this pavlova. Do I hear applause for this wonderful Australian dessert?

I'd hoped to make it in honor of Australia Day (January 26), but weather and a lack of appropriate ingredients delayed my effort. This is about the sixth time I've made pav, and I think it's turning out better each time. When our group of six friends - the Batting Buds - met Tuesday evening, I heard "yum" comments. I returned home with only two small pieces remaining, so I take that as positive! Here's the pavlova recipe I use. I topped mine with bananas, strawberries and blueberries.

This was the fourth week of our five-week Stitchin' Mission beginner quiltmaking series, and free time found me working on my own teaching quilt. I free-motion quilted it, but had to resort to using my old (1976) Bernina 830 since my new Bernina QE153 was being repaired (a broken knee lift cable). While I wouldn't want to regularly use an old mechanical machine for non-stop stitching - this machine overheats and then stops running - it worked fine. Free-motion quilted pinwheels were fun and easy to do - no marking.
After quilting, I used the quilt in class to demonstrate how to sew binding to a quilt. I teach a "traditional" method of binding: 1) join cross-grain cut strips 2) sew binding all the way around the quilt, and 3) join the beginning and ending tails. Then I went home and un-sewed what I demonstrated!

My preferred method is to attach binding as four separate strips. In this method, each binding strip is measured to help square-up the quilt. After I've sewn each of the four strips to the four sides of the quilt, I deal with tails at each of the four corners.

From the back, this is what the corner looks like after I've sewn binding strips to the edges.

On the front, I fold the quilt at an angle so the binding tails meet. Then, pin, draw and machine stitch the mitered corner. The best part of this method is having machine-sewn miters.

When the binding tails are trimmed away, and the batting and backing have been rotary cut from the sides, corners are ready to turn and hand-stitch to the quilt back.

A few months ago, I shared this binding method with SEWN, an Australian on-line quilting and sewing community. For step-by-step instructions, refer to my tutorial on the left sidebar.

My finished 48" X 54" Stitchin' Mission quilt will be given to a child, probably a boy, in a Monterrey, Mexico orphanage.

Much of the credit for the completion of this quilt goes to my sewing room companion, Hogan.

He loyally, and with great fervor, champions all my quiltmaking efforts.

This week I also began #2 grandson's quilt. He's due May 1. I've been calling him "Eric," since my son and DIL aren't saying what his name will be. I like the name Eric and I need to refer to him sometimes. Baby Eric's quilt is a cowboy-themed disappearing nine patch design.

Because I didn't purchase enough of the focus fabric - that blue background cowboy print - I was short two patches. So, I stitched two blocks. One is an outline of the state of Texas; the other is the Texas Longhorn logo and a good 'ole "yippie yi-yo-ki-yay."

Though baby Eric will be born in Florida, his parents were married in Austin, Texas, and dad attended the University of Texas. Mom and baby Eric are healthy and growing, and I'm looking forward to meeting him sometime in May.

For now though, it's time to saddle up, hit the trail and be moseyin' along...