Sorry, I've been gone for a little while.  Just trying to get caught up on life.  Getting my Christmas decorations up, my house put back together, doing mounds of laundry, making a few small gifts.  You know.  That kind of stuff. 

Well, I finally sat down last night to get the binding put on my Bloom wall hanging and then took a few minutes this morning to start hand sewing it to the back.  I know that there are lots of good tutorials out there on bindings, so I'm not going to do one at this time, but I did have a couple of thoughts on how to do a nice binding that I wanted to share. 

When I first started quilting about 11 years ago, my grandma taught me how to quilt.  She also taught me how to do bindings the correct way and it was an invaluable lesson!  Mitered corners, connecting the ends, doing one on the bias - the whole bit.  She also taught me to cut my strips at 3".  Nowadays, I've seen binding strips cut at lots of different widths.  I've been doing them at 2 1/2" for a while now, but on this project I decided to go back to my roots and try it again at 3".  You see, the goal on a binding is to make it so there is no empty space when you rub your fingers together on the finished binding. Like this:

You want it to be tight in there (if that makes any sense?!?)

So when I was cutting my strips at 2 1/2", my 1/4" seam allowance (when sewing it onto my quilt) wasn't quite making up for the difference.  I couldn't ever get it quite right.  So I tried it again at 3" and everything is working out beautifully.  Now of course some people like bigger bindings so this might not be the technique for you.  (By-the-way, I think big bindings are cute, I have just never figured out how to do them.)  But the trick for doing it this way and getting the binding void of any empty space, is:

 cut 3" strips,

sew the strips together end to end to make one long piece of binding,

iron it in half lengthwise,

sew it onto your quilt with a 1/4" seam allowance

and then when you sew it onto the back side of your quilt

you need to fold it half next to the raw edge of your quilt and then fold it over one more time over your stitched line. 

Like sew:

and like sew:

Just a couple more thoughts, that I learned after entering some quilts into a quilt show a few years back - the judges marked me down a little for not using the correct color thread when sewing my bindings on.  They informed me that it is suppose to match the color of the binding fabric.  Didn't know that.  I didn't really think anyone could see the thread that much and so I didn't think it mattered.  But, apparently it does.  So, if you are a perfectionist, make sure the thread you use to hand sew your binding on to the back of your quilt matches the color of your binding, not necessarily the color of your backing.

And, one of the other things I got marked down on during that quilt show was not pulling my binding over far enough past my stitched line.  I had been doing my stitches right on the line (from sewing the binding onto the front.)  I needed to pull the binding over just a touch more so that that line was completely hidden.  It's basically just a couple threads past that line.

**I have to use a thimble when stitching on my bindings, but I know it doesn't work for everyone.  I couldn't do a stitch without it though or I would break skin!**

Anyways, those are just a couple of my tips for getting a great looking binding.  Of course you need to know how to do mitered corners too, so if you don't know how to do that yet, then let me know.  I'll get some pictures up about that too, if you need them. 

P.S.  I know that I am a little old fashioned (me and my 31-year-old-self).  A lot of my ways, I learned from my grandma (whose been quilting since she was a little girl) and I've just stuck with them because they work for me.  But if you have any tips on how to get a great binding with 2 1/2" strips or anything else I talked about then I'd love to hear your imput.

Oh and I'll show you my finished Bloom wall hanging real soon!  Bye!

This was bound to happen...

It's Saturday.

No plans.

The house is quite.

I'm all alone.

Oh no.

I have the itch.

These fabrics have been calling my name for a while now.

I can't resist any longer.

I'm excited.

Lot's of white.

Maybe this design

or

this design.

But I'm really leaning towards this design.

(Thanks Nettie.)

I'm just using up scraps!

I know.

You see, I have this thing...

I really have finished up a couple projects.

(Kind of.)

I'll show you soon.

I promise.

Possibilities

O.K. So I was suppose to be wrapping up an exercise video right now and just hopping in the shower, but here I sit still in my pj's - just a little distracted. Don't you hate when you stop in at the computer for "one quick check of email" and then before you know it your whole morning is gone!?! Well, this is how it started. I got this link from my wonderful sister Cassie showing me this absolutely gorgeous garland. Cassie wants to make one for Christmas. I want one for both (Halloween and Christmas!) So cute huh? Look at her Fleur-de-lis stocking hangers. I love how much that adds to the whole look.

Pictures and this tutorial can be found on Candice Stringham's photography blog.

So then I started browsing Candice's blog just for fun. Lots of cute stuff, but then I fell in love! I found it. Oh my gosh. Look at this:

HER CRAFT ROOM! Agh! Oh my gosh. I'm in heaven right now.

You can go here for the rest of her pictures and a list of resources for where she got most of her cute stuff. Ohh...

**O.K. bring yourself back down to earth, Amber.**

So, I am sitting about about 12 feet from a doorway that leads to this empty room.

With this closet, with these built-ins.

This room measures about 15'x14'. It's pretty good size. Especially for a craft room. All it's waiting for is some paint and some tables (o.k. the list could go on and on here, but I could definitely have a good start if I just had some paint and a table.) It's just sitting here empty, except for the occasional mess that the kids make when they decide to play in the basement when both Mommy and Daddy are working on the computer. Oh, the possibilities...

You may remember that I made-over my upstairs laundry room into my craft room less than a year ago.
But, it's tiny! If there is a laundry basket in there, then I can hardly walk through! That make-over was when we had family living in our basement, but they moved on to bigger and better, so now the basement is empty and the master bedroom is calling my name!
It's a blank canvas. The color options are endless. Where do I begin? Hmmm....I'll be thinking about that. What about you? Any big projects now that winter is coming and a lot of us will be trapped indoors for 3 months?

Joy in the New Year Challenge - Works in Progress

I just needed a little visual reminder of what I want to accomplish for Jacquie's challenge. All of these projects below, are quilts that I want to get quilted and bound before the New Year. The only one M.I.A. is my Fig Tree quilt, which is on display over at Just Sew. So that's 6 - total. 4 of them are all ready to be quilted. I think I want to make some more blocks for the big star quilt (the tutorial for that can be found here. It's a great stash buster or would be darling in pre-planned fabrics as well.) And I think I want to add some borders to my snowball quilt. I'm looking for some border ideas for that so if you want to share any pictures of your snowball quilts, I would love for you to send me a link. I've done it in Christmas colors, so I'm thinking of incorporating some snowflakes somehow, but any ideas for borders on that would be greatly appreciated.

It's always good for me to pull my projects out of the cupboards & out from behind the curtains to take inventory of what I want to accomplish. Making a goal or a deadline helps me too. I'm not sure if this is feasible to get all of these done before Christmas, but I'll give it my best try. If you want to join in on the challenge, head on over to Tallgrass Prarie Studio to sign up!

Have a wonderful day!

While "The children were nestled all snug in their beds"

It's late. It's dark. I'm tired. But I don't know if I will be able to fall asleep quite yet. I've been thinking about doing this post today and this project I just finished had something to do with it.

(Sorry, bad picture!)

I was thinking about how I have done quite a bit of trading in the last few years. I enjoy a lot of nice things in my life, but I am definitely a girl on a strict budget. It's a little hard when you have an addiction that is somewhat expensive. I go without a lot of new, trendy clothes, the high-tech electronics, we don't eat out and go on dates every weekend because quite honestly I would rather spend my money on fabric and quilting (for some reason it makes me feel better, because I know my quilts will LAST and well, I just love doing it!) So, it's nice to take advantage of people's services when money is tight for a lot of people. A lot of times you end up getting some extra pleasures in life that you normally might have to go without. So thinking back... I've traded scrapbooking for a haircut and color. I've traded babysitting for yoga classes. Babysitting for make-up. The most recent thing I've traded is "piecing" for machine quilting. I was so excited when I told my quilter that I was having withdrawals because I wasn't working as often and therefore didn't have much money to spend in the quilting department. She told me she'd be willing to trade. I said what do you trade for? She said, "sewing for quilting." I said, "I can sew!" So this is the second project I've done for her lately. Isn't it fun? I love all the fabrics she purchased. Most of the line is Whimsy by Michael Miller. There is a little bit of Mezzanine by Michael Miller and a little bit of All-Star by Riley Blake. In return I will be having her quilt my Fig Tree quilt (I'll post pictures as soon as I get it back) and maybe another project or two. It's a good way to "make do with what you've got." Doing this for someone else was mostly fun, but a little bit nerve racking too. You want to make sure it's perfect! It was very satisfying at the end to know that everything came out swell (gosh, I'm in the Annie mode still) and that I figured out all of the measurements by myself to ensure that the entire quilt would lay flat. I had to make the quilt bigger than the pattern gave instructions for, so figuring out the 3 outside border lengths was a little daunting at first, but I feel like a pro now :) I hope that those of you that are interested in quilting (but are a little scared to try it) will just give it a whirl. It will give you a great sense of accomplishment when you are done. I guess trying anything new will do that. But anyways. Trading can be a really good thing sometimes.

So, do you trade?

Well, it's late. It's dark. I'm tired. I'm starting to ramble and not make any sense. So - I'm going to bed. Goodnight.

How can this video NOT put a smile on your face?

First, let me just add one more reason to the list of why I love my husband. Last night we (as in me, RJ, Thing 1 and Thing 2) had about a half an hour drive to a friends house ahead of us. We decided we should sing songs to make the time pass faster. [My kids don't know what a REAL road trip is. A half an hour is a long time to the 4 year old, who has absolutely no patience whatsoever.] Anyways, we're big fans of the movie Annie. We tried to sing a bunch of the songs as best we could, but they were all really choppy because we only know the key words. We had fun with them anyways. But I mentioned in passing that we should have that soundtrack in the car. Came downstairs this morning and (bam!) there was a CD he had copied for me sitting on the counter! He often does things like that. If I just mention something (I don't even have to ask him specifically) he is so good to remember and to do it. I usually don't have to remind him a bunch of times to do something and I know that he is usually listening to what I say even if I'm just thinking out loud...now me on the other hand? I wish I could say I had that quality in me. I'm a little more scatter-brained. But, I love that he's a good listener and do-er (is that a word?) It's just one more little reason...

Anyways, as I was listening to my "new" soundtrack on the way to taking my daughter to Pre-school today, I got so excited about it! Can I just say that I LOVE this movie? Whenever there is a list that you're suppose to fill out about favorite movies, books, etc. I always have to leave it blank because how could you narrow down your favorite movies and books into just one or two picks? I surely cannot. I'm not in love with anything that much to call it a "favorite". But this time - I am sure of it. Annie is my all-time favorite movie. I grew up watching it and I still (20 years later) can't get enough of it!

Now I've got the music on my Ipod so that we can all have fun in the kitchen when I'm making dinner and I've got the soundtrack in the car so we can further enhance our Annie sing-a-long talents. The movie and soundtrack are classic. The songs are catchy. They make you want to attempt to keep up with Aileen Quinn (Annie) in her rendition of "Tomorrow" (when you know you don't have a chance). The girls' voices are incredible. The group dance performances (like in "It's a Hard Knock Life") are so fun (why didn't we do an Annie theme for Dance Team one year? That would have been awesome!) And Carol Burnett? She is perfect in this movie. Who else could pull off that role during her performance in "Little Girls" like she did? And, I will admit that the last time I watched it I got a little choked up at the end, when Annie and Daddy Warbucks were dancing at the carnival. What a special, timeless movie. I could watch it over and over.