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.

Hot August Days

On Saturday, DH and I drove 16 miles west of Des Moines to Adel, Iowa, for that city's Sweet Corn Festival.

The temperature was a roasty 94 degrees F (34C).

A strong southerly wind, and shade are the only things that made it slightly tolerable.

Naturally, the big attraction was free sweet corn.

Here, bins of unroasted corn are ready to roll into the corn steamer.

We didn't miss the chance to enjoy it. Pass the butter, please!

Nothing beats this summertime taste treat. Delicious!

The Adel courthouse in the downtown square . . .

. . . was recreated as a cake, honoring the festival's 30th anniversary. Free slices of cake too.

No day is complete without something quilt-y,

so Adel Quilting and Dry Goods was a must-stop.

It was a busy place. Selected bolts of fabric were sale-priced at $1 a yard!

Only six yards made its way home with me, the definition of self-restraint.

Just another hot August day in Iowa. Ya gotta love it.

Clunker Kaput

Our US government's "Cash for Clunkers" buy-out program was an unanticipated opportunity for DH to say good-bye to his trusty 1994 Nissan pick-up truck. Rusted and well-worn, with nearly 167,000 miles on the odometer, and getting only 17 miles per gallon mileage, it has now gone to "the happy hunting ground." Liquid glass will be poured into the engine, and then the whole thing will be flattened. A gas-guzzler off the highway, but it's a bit sad to think about.

Here is DH looking very sad. He says, "It was my favorite truck, ever."

So many memories in a vehicle...kids learning to drive, moving kids to college, bringing home decking, a repaired lawn mower, hauling brush, loaned to the neighbor...

However, it's nice having a new Nissan Rogue in the garage. I've been put to task making a few accessories for it.

The first was this console cover made from a print featuring DH's alma mater, the University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls, Iowa). Since the console is upholstered, we agreed that it wouldn't take long for resting elbows to make it smudgy. The fabric cover is elasticized, so it will be easy to remove for washing.

This accessory took a bit more time, but was worth the effort. The Nissan version of a cargo cover was $170. Mine cost $22. It's made with a spring tension rod (behind the rear seat), a wooden dowel (fits in the grooves near the hatch), and two pieces of fabric.

Denim is on the top, and a Timeless Treasures cotton print with "Ride the Trail" and cowboys on horses is the hang-down or flip-up curtain.

Still to come...a cover for the back when the dog travels with us.

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!

Pin Cushion Tutorial

The polyester fiberfill bag is now empty since making several

pin cushions.

They take more stuffing than you might expect.

Fill the circle tightly with fiberfill,

so the finished pin cushion looks full and robust!

Isn't this a cute fabric print?

Try making a pin cushion in a smaller size (3" diameter), and hand-sewing elastic to the bottom so you can slip it over your wrist.

Here's my pin cushion tutorial, if you'd like to make some of your own.