Knitted Dishcloths

I am by no means a knitter, but I really, really love the knitted dishcloths for wiping my counters everyday.  So with a lot of help from you tube,  I learned to make them myself.  

If you haven't used them yourself, you really should.  Funny story, I was given a set when we got married, and we thought they were hot pads...my husband and I always complained that they were the worst hot pads in the world (and they are).  Then a friend told me they were dishcloths (about 12 years later)...you get them wet, ring them out, and wipe up messes... and once I used them I didn't want to use anything else.

I am in the process of replacing my old worn out ones, and I love them all over again. 

Stats:

Materials:  100% cotton yarn.  worsted weight.  I like sugar 'n cream, peaches and cream, bernat.  You can find them at JoAnn or Walmart.

Pattern/Tutorial:  Pink Knits

Pineapple Quilt

 This is another quilt I photographed in The Smoky Mountains. 

I love this quilt, one of my very favorites.  It plays with your eyes.  Almost feels like it's moving. 

Amanda-Jean posted a tutorial, a year or so ago, and I couldn't resist trying it.  I love the pineapple block and this tutorial doesn't use paper piecing!  These blocks are labor intensive, lots of sewing and lots of trimming.  I cannot remember how long each block took to make, but I could really only get one block done per sitting.

I used all scraps and stash, but went with a specific color palette, plums and teals and fuchsias and grass green and orange.  I used this image as my inspiration.

I had the hardest time deciding on a pattern for quilting.  I ended up quilting lines, so they intersected in the middle of the block, and went through every "pineapple".  I also stitched in the ditch around every block.  I'm still not certain I picked the right pattern, I feel like it might need more quilting.  On the plus side, it's a very soft quilt.

Bound in a pink stripe.  Can you see there are two pink stripes?  That was a make-do moment.  (As was the backing, I used larger pieces of orange, green, and fuchsia from my stash!)

Stats:

Pattern:  Pineapple block Tutorial by Amanda Jean (I made 20 blocks--4 x 5) 

Size:  61.5in x 77in (after washing)

Batting:  Warm and White

Fabric:  Stash and scraps.  Background is all low volume.  Binding is mostly Monokeros Stripe Candy by Sara Lawson.

scrappy strips

I finished another quilt top this week, I'm making up for lost time this summer.  It's amazing how much time I get back when my kids are in school.  

What I really need to do is baste some quilt tops, but since I do it in my garage, and it's still HOT, it's going to have to wait.

Tutorial found here.  (I used all scraps, no strips.)

Scrap Busting

I have a serious love-hate relationship with scraps.  I really love scrappy quilts, but the actual scraps kinda stress me out.  I think because they never go away.  As hard as I try, I never feel like I have them under control.  I know I should just get rid of them--give them away, sell them, but then I really don't want to part with them.  When I sew with scraps, I would rather be cutting into stash.  When I sew with stash, I feel that guilt of adding to my scraps pile.  It's really kind of ridiculous and almost embarrassing.  I have started buying smaller cuts of fabric, fat quarters or quarter yards.  That seems to help my guilt.  

Inspiration for these blocks was found here.  Modified a little.  

economy block quilt

I finished up my economy block quilt earlier this week, and it's been keeping us warm.  The weather turned COLD again this week.

I started making the blocks a year ago, and didn't want to stop (tutorial here).  They are a great scrap buster and pretty much anything goes.  I love that you can highlight those cute prints that we tend to collect.  My quilt ended up being rather large.  Each block is 5 inches square, and my quilt is 14 blocks x 16 blocks.  The quilt finishes at about 70in x 80in.

The backing was a happy surprise, it started out with various blue pieces from my stash (still trying to use my stash up), but I didn't like it.  The blues clashed and it just didn't feel light enough for this quilt top.  I almost went ahead with it anyway, but decided I didn't want to hate this quilt, I really wanted to like it because it has so many fun fabrics on it.  So, I scrapped the blues and went with Sarah Jane (can't go wrong there) and Orange.  I love the backing now and it makes me love the quilt even more.  

Using a border print on the back is a little tricky, especially when you use it on top and bottom.  You can see, I barely made it work...the selvage is pretty much showing.

chippewa

okay, I forgot about this quilt, when Allison first showed her chippewa quilt, I LOVED it so much and made one for myself (but I used larger squares, 5 inches).  I started this quilt top and finished it in less than a week.  Then we left town for summer travels and it was put away.  I need to put some borders on it and I'm debating making it bed size.  But not sure I want to hassle with such a large quilt. 

tutorial here.

ziggity-zag

I've made several more zigzag quilts, I'm kind of a broken record with these, but they are the perfect baby size, fun, and come together really quickly.  Plus, I have had many, many requests for a boy version to list in my shop.  So this is my answer, blues and greens for boy--pinks and orange for girl.

 The boy version features Tasha Noel's newest line, Country Girls, for Riley Blake.  Ducks and blueberries, mice and masks...and I LOVE this color combo.  It's a new favorite.

I backed it in green masks, but this quilt could absolutely be girled up with something more feminine on the back.

The girl version features fabrics from Sarah Jane's new line, Wee Wander for Michael Miller.  This is such a fun line, Sarah Jane is a master at story telling with her fabrics.  This quilt features bird, flowers, horses!, trees, fireflies...reminds me of summer.

 I backed it in this pretty forest scene.  This is a beautiful piece of fabric.  I already made a skirt for my daughter out of it, and I feel like it needs to be used somewhere else.  I don't think I will ever tire of it.

 the boy version is already spoken for, but the girl version is listed in my shop, and I have kits for both listed as well, instructions can be found here.

economy block

I'm probably the last person join this quiltalong, but that's okay...better late than never.

I have loved seeing all the different economy block quilts showing up around the web and instagram.  I also love that I dug deep into my scraps for these blocks and plan to use mostly scraps.  Hopefully I will see a dent.

tutorial found here (or if you want to make a bigger block, search around, I know lots of folks are making them bigger)

machine binding tutorial

I have had soooo many questions about machine binding lately, so I will share my method.  I am not a pro at this, but I have figured out what works best for me. 

Prepare your binding as you normally would.  I use this method for continuous crossgrain binding, and this method (basically) for bias binding.  (p.s.--I never roll my binding up like the above image except when I need to take a picture of it.)

I trim off my excess batting and backing fabric before attaching my binding.  I never measure anything to determine how much binding to make.  I know this isn't a good practice to admit, and I have even had to stop in the middle of attaching binding to add more.  But, usually I come out with more than I need (phew), and any extra goes into a box and gets used for bibs or binding on another quilt.  I guess I shouldn't say I don't measure at all.  I usually lay my quilt on the floor, then cut my binding strips and lay them out along the edges of my quilt until I have enough.

I use 2.5 inch strips--when I first started quilting I used 3 inches, then went down to 2.75 in, and finally down to 2.5in, and I believe I will stay with this width.  I'm happy here.  I have done 2.25, but it's just too tight for me to pull around my quilt.

Line up your binding with edge of your quilt, about a third down one side of the BACK of your quilt.  Leave about 6-10 inches of binding unstitched (I actually moved my needle down about 3 inches to leave a longer tail after I took this picture). 

This next part is the part that takes some trial and error.  I know that on my machine I set my needle at a 1, and use a stitch length of 3.5.   Every machine is different, so you will have to try it out for yourself.  I don't think the length of the stitch is as important as where your needle is.  I move mine one notch to the right toward the edge of the quilt. 

I line everything up...my quilt sandwich, my binding (both layers) and the edge of my foot.   I highly recommend a walking foot to do this, it makes it so much more enjoyable and much less frustrating.

  

 It is important to note that I do not use my quarter inch foot to do attach my binding.  I like the girth of this foot more than my quarter inch.  This foot works better for me to line everything up on the edge (as seen in the picture above this one).  The size of your foot will make a difference on needle placement.

If you like numbers and measures, this is the distance from the edge I sew my binding on, looks like a generous quarter inch. (Am I stressing this distance thing too much?  Trust me, it is important).

So, once everything is lined up and your needle is in place, start sewing.  If it makes you feel better to pin it, then pin away.  I prefer not to pin.  (this quilt happens to have rounded corners, so no mitering happened with it.)  If you need help with mitered corners, check out this tutorial, or this one.  Sew around the entire quilt (mitering if needed) until you come back to the beginning.  

Leave about 8-12 inches unstitched.

next comes the tricky part.  If I successfully close up my binding on the first try, I count it as a win!  Usually there is some unstitching going on.

Trim your binding so that both ends over lap about 6-8 inches.

I lay my quilt across my ironing board with the back facing up.  Open up the right flap and iron it into a right angle (I eyeball it) with a small amount hanging over the top.  

I didn't take a picture when I did it, but this is what the backside will look like.

The left flap will be opened and pinned down. (Be careful to keep your binding even with your quilt, don't let the quilt pucker, you will have to do some adjusting to get the bottom end pinned down, and it will appear that the quilt puckers.  Just make sure the top edges are flush.)

Next, lay the right flap over the left and pin it down.  Try not to stretch the fabric, you want it to lay as naturally as possible.

Using the folded edge as your guide, draw a line on the binding with a disappearing ink marker.

Now, line up the drawn line and the fold line from each flap of binding, and pin.  (I apologize that this image is blurry).  

Use the fold line as your guide, and sew down it.

I always pull my binding tight to see if it "fits" my quilt.  You don't want to have much slack or the binding won't attach well.

If it looks good, trim off the excess (I leave about a quarter inch).

Iron your new seam open, and then iron the binding.

Now that your binding is closed you can finish attaching it to your quilt.

Next we will wrap the binding around the quilt and stitch it down to the top of the quilt.  I still use the stitch length of 3.5 (it's about 9 stitches per inch).  

If you want to pin it or use clips, go for it.  

I straddle the foot and hold down in front and behind the foot until I have the needle in place.  

Put your foot down and start sewing.  I use my fingers to fold the binding over and guide it into my machine.  Take your time on this part, it takes practice.  I sew as close to the edge of the fold as I can.

It should fit around just perfectly and cover your seam line.  This is why measuring when you sew the binding on is important, you don't want it to be too tight, and you don't want it to be too loose. 

Continue around corners.  When mitering, I use my seam ripper to hold down the folds until they are stitched.

This is the back of the quilt.  It's not perfect, but it works.  Once the quilt gets used and washed the fabric shifts and it pretty much disappears.

Here's the top...I hope this helps.  Let me know if you have questions, or if anything is unclear.  

p.s. isn't that heart backing fabric the best?  I got it at my new local quilt shop.  It's Robert Kaufman Remix (I think).