Finished - Esme's Flying Kites Quilt

It didn't take too long to sew binding to this 44" X 54" quilt. In case you're interested, here's the back of the quilt, and two of the bound corners. Of course, I used my own favorite method of sewing binding with machine-sewn mitered corners.If my great-niece, Esme, arrives as expected, she'll get this quilt around September 1.

Friday Flaunt - Finished Quilt...Almost!

On Tuesday this week I put together a quilt top, "Flying Kites for Esme."

I pin-basted it.

Now it's quilted!

When I began free-motion quilting in 2000, I wore expensive quilting gloves, and later, garden gloves with rubber fingertip grips. After wearing out several pair, I tried Diane Gaudynski's recommendation: Neutrogena hand cream. Now I use it exclusively. It not only lets me feel the quilt and move it easily, but an added benefit is that it's good for my dry hands.

I also lessen the pressure of the presser foot, for more ease of motion under the quilting foot, and I change the zig-zag throat plate to a single hole throat plate.

Most often, my first quilting is to stabilize the layers. Here, I stitched along the valley side of the horizontal and vertical sashing strips.

Even with white thread, it's almost invisible.

With hot pink-colored thread, in each of the triangles of the Flying Kite blocks I eyed stitching convex curves. Using white thread, I also stitched curves outside the triangles, in the white background.

The trick to stitching curves (without drawing them) is not to look at your needle as you stitch. Rather, look ahead of the needle and visualize the curve you're trying to follow. It took me a few tries to get it right, but I managed to get my eyes, brain, and hands to synchronize.
In each of the cornerstones I stitched a five-petal flower that's similar to the flower in the pink sashing print.
Now for the binding, which is ready to go. That's because when I cut out a quilt, at the same time I also cut and sew together the binding. It's ready when I am, and I won't accidentally use that fabric in another project!

I'll sew binding to this quilt with a sewn mitered corner. You can try this method yourself by following my binding tutorial.

I have written a binding article that is now available in the Australian on-line magazine SEWN. Click on "Tips & Tools," then "Articles" and you'll see "Binding."

If you give this method a try, please let me know what you think. I hope you'll agree that it's a great way to bind a quilt.

Visit Cinzia's blog for a complete list of bloggers participating in "Friday Flaunt."

Flying Kites for Esme

Just like a wood carver takes a chunk of wood and removes everything except the shape of a duck, or an ice sculptor takes a block of ice and removes everything except a swan, I took lots of different bright fabrics and removed everything except a baby girl quilt.

This Flying Kite block was revealed.

And this 44" X 54" quilt top for a great-niece, Esme, who's expected at the end of August.

It's such fun to work with girl-y colors!