Binding the "No Name" Quilt

I'm absolutely delighted about finishing my 65" X 71"minimalist quilt - the one that's certainly not minimalist, and I've called by several names.... none of which are keepers. So, my No Name quilt is done and currently lies across the guest room bed, awaiting its outdoor, styled photo shoot with better pictures to come.

For binding, I used my favorite binding method. First, I marked the quilt perimeter.

Then, measured it and a strip of binding, to make both the same length. I sewed binding, separately, to four side.

Corner are left free, for machine-sewing.

After sewing corners together...

... ⅜" from the sewing line, I rotary cut to trim batting and backing.

I have a 2009 tutorial for this "No Tails Binding: Mitered Corners by Machine method here, but I'm wondering if it's time to write a new one... though I wouldn't be telling blog-readers anything different. 

Here's an honest picture of my sewing room today! Since finishing the quilt (It still needs a name; did I mention that?) I've continued to make a few Bibliography selvedge quilt blocks (royal blue blocks on the far right and bottom left). Yes, that's a heaping, messy pile of selvedges on the table.  I'm keeping up with my 100 Days of Quilt Your Life - 42 days into 100 days. I have made 63 blocks, and am only (at the moment) four blocks behind. 

I'm also hand-quilting the second of four wedges for the modern potholder quilt. See the last picture of Pot  Luck here. 

Book Recommendations

Nothing Else But Miracles by Kate Albus takes place in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (a place I've never been), where 12 year-old Dory and her brothers - one older and one younger - are trying to get by on their own. Their mother has died, and their father has been called-up to WWII service. 

Head-strong Dory often does things her elders tell her not to do. They're getting along fine with their father's monthly paycheck and people in the neighborhood who offer baked goods or a weekly meal. Their landlord is kind and understanding. But when he suddenly dies, the children find themselves in difficult circumstances, in the watchful eye of a new, unyeilding landlord. It's through Dory's tenacity that they find a place to hide, beyond the prying eyes of the landlord and the authorities to whom he's reported them. 

I found this is a deliciously charming tale about plucky children, fending for themselves as best they can in unfortunate circumstances. This story is unlike any you've read before. 

Linda's score: 4.3/5.0

Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro was a reflective story about families growing up on the same street, and how neighborhoods turn over and change through the years, yet how people remain the same. 

Dr. Ben Wilf and his wife have raised two children on Division Street. Ben unexpectedly meets his new neighbors, the Shenkmans, as Mrs. Shenkman goes into premature labor. The son who's born, Waldo, is one of the main characters, an 11 year-old who's noticeably quiet, unusual, and has a fascination for star-gazing. Though Waldo's father loves him, he's doesn't "get" him, so when Waldo encounters Ben with whom he finds understanding, an unlikely relationship forms. The same night they meet, another encounter changes Waldo's and Ben's lives forever. 

Woven throughout the story is the Wilf family's terrible experience - a tragedy they never talk about, but haunts all their lives. 

Linda's score: 3.8/5.0

The Clinic by Cate Quinn is a somewhat far-fetched, yet engaging story that will draw you in.

Readers go with Megan to a remote, coastal part of the Pacific Northwest to The Clinic, where celebrities stay in a plush, exclusive facility for rehabilitation from alcohol and drug abuse. Meg's going, under cover, because her sister, the famous singer, Haley Banks died while in The Clinic. Though Haley's death is ruled a suicide, local police investigate to learn that more is going on than a suicide. 

While Meg promises her partner, Harry, that she'll give up her alcohol and drug habit while she's in The Clinic, she will also find her sister's killer. Meg comes to know the other guests - three women and two men - as she receives threatening letters warning her to leave. Then her life is in danger too. It comes to light that everyone in The Clinic is involved in rehabilitation using a new, experimental treatment that dredge's up painful, traumatic memories. 

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0

I've been playing Wordle for a while now. You too? In fact, I've played 891 times, but I've lost several times. My longest streak was 164. No doubt you've got longer streaks than me! 

Anyway, it doesn't often happen that I can guess the word in two guesses, so I had to document it.

I've been following Debbie J aquilterstable as she's been making pieced chairs. Her project brought to mind an old pattern I kept (one of a few) of a set of pieced chairs. The pattern, called "Come Have a Seat," was published by Four Corners in 1994 (!), and when I recently opened the pattern sleeve, I found an extra chair I'd made in 1995 when I made and gifted this quilt to a co-worker at Drake University. One of these days (ha!) I'd like to make this little quilt again. 

Linda