The Quilt Nobody Wanted

Once, in 2014, during my first attempt at blogging, I made this quilt.

It was fun and easy to make.  It used up a lot of odds and ends that had been sitting in my stash for a while.  I didn't have a purpose for this quilt.  It was made just for the joy of making it.  I was happy piecing it, quilting it, binding it, and adding some big stitch hand quilting.  I just knew there would be an occasion to gift this quilt to someone.

So, I tried to give this quilt away.  Twice.  Sad state of affairs when you can't give a quilt away.  The first time, I had offered it to a friend who had an acquaintence going through cancer treatments.  My friend commented that she wished she had something to give, so I suggested the quilt I had just finished.  She was supposed to pick it up, but never did, and later said she didn't think her friend would like a quilt.  OK.  To each her own, I guess.

A year or so later, another acquaintence was looking for donations for a chairity silent auction.  I offered this cute (I think!) quilt.  She looked at it, but shook her head and said, "No thanks.  It's not right for our event."   Hmmmm.

So, I briefly worried that there was something wrong with this generously lap-sized/toddler sized, pink and brown cheveron, somewhat scrappy but mostly cohesive quilt.  Why didn't anyone love it as much as I loved making it???

I folded it up and shoved it under a pile of stuff in my sewing room.  There it sat.  Poor quilt.

Until its little sister quilt whispered to me as I was putting her together.

A little while ago, I shared Emma's Owls the quilt I made for my niece's sweet new baby.  As I pieced Emma's pink and brown quilt, one of the fabrics felt happily familiar to me.  The longer I sewed, the more I thought about that scrappy chevron that was languishing in a pile.

Well, it just so happens that Emma has a big  sister.  Her daddy has a sweet daughter, Aubrey, who is 5 and lives with them some of the time.  Aubrey has come to several of our family functions, and both my girls enjoy her smart, spunky personality.  She is a joy, and a blessing to my niece, who loves her as a daughter.

Suddenly, it became clear that this quilt had not been lonely, abandoned at the bottom of the pile.  Instead, it had just been waiting patiently there, until its little sister came about, and whispered in my ear.

Now, both quilts live with two little girls who share a room part of the time.  I hope they are all happy together.  I've asked Emma's mom for a picture.  I will share it with you when I get it!

Have you ever made a quilt with no intended recipient, only to find later that it was perfect for someone or some situation?  I'd love to hear your story!

Here are a few more pictures of these two quilts playing together, before they went to live with their sweet girls.

                                                           Linking up this week to:

                                           Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts
                                            Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story
                                           Lets's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts
                                           Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
                                           Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday

Emma's Owls

There will soon be a new baby in my family!   My niece is having a baby girl this month,  making me a great aunt (uuugh)  for the third time. I really dislike that term.  Makes me feel really old.    Great  Awesome Aunt sounds better to me.   I've even put that in writing (on a quilt label)!

I'm happy to say I've finished a quilt for our new sweetie!

 The baby shower had an owl theme, and the new mom has made lots of owl decorations for the baby's room.  So, some owl fabric had to be found for the quilt.  Brown and pink were the mom-to-be's request, and they look so cute together.  The owls are grey, and I usually don't like gray and brown together, but I think this works.

I think it makes a sweet welcome gift for baby Emma. 

A look at the back, courtesy of the wind.  Whoops.  Should've cut off the orange yarn I used to hang the quilt and then moved my scissors.  Heehee.

This little quilt went together very quickly.  The small size, simple design and large blocks certainly helped with that.   Even the quilting and binding seemed to take less time than I was anticipating.  I had planned to just quilt in the ditch along each seam, but then changed my mind.  Eyeballing the diagonal lines created by the design was quick a/nd turned out really well.  And, as a pleasant surprise, I got the "joining the binding ends together" part right on the first try!  Whoo hoo!


The actual making time of this quilt may have been quick, but it is part of a special tradition.  My mom was a quilter, and taught me to quilt.  When her grandchildren started arriving, 26 years ago, she made baby quilts for each of them.  All the quilts were the same design, but were made with different fabrics.   My youngest daughter received the last one, 10 and a half years ago.  At that time, my mom was just starting to have a lot of health issues, most related to diabetes.  She was having trouble seeing, had some sores in her feet that made getting around difficult and was having some trouble making her hands do what she wanted them to do.  She finished Emily's quilt, though, with some help from her oldest grand daughter,  who was 16 at the time.  I love that - the oldest making a quilt for the youngest.

Emma will be my mom's second great grandchild.  She isn't able to quilt anymore, and hasn't, since she made Emily's quilt.  That make us both very sad.  I would absolutely love to share sewing days with her, swap blocks and raid each others stashes.  I have hope that I will be able to do that with my own daughters, some day.

I have decided that the tradition of Grandma's quilts will live on. I will make a quilt for each of my mom's great-grandchildren, in the same pattern as the quilts she made for her grandchildren.  Colors and fabrics will change, just as in the original 6 quilts.  

I made the blocks in Emma's quilt a bit larger than the ones in my daughter's quilts.  I wanted to be sure that the owls weren't too chopped, and I really didn't feel like fussy cutting to be sure I had whole owls.  My mom hand-quilted.  I'm not sure she ever machine quilted anything.  Baby quilt, table runner, wall hanging, bed quilt...didn't matter, she spread  it out over her dining room table and quilted in the morning, when the light was best.  I am not much of a hand quilter.  I find it extremely relaxing and rewarding, but I just do not have the time.   

Even with a few differences, it's pretty clear that these quilts belong together.  It makes me really happy to see them hung together like this.

   

My mom embroidered each child's name on their quilt, but didn't include a year or a label.  I thought about adding those, but decided to stick with what she did originally.

I think my niece must have done the stitching of Emily's name.  Makes my heart smile!

I had a lot of fun taking these outdoor photos.  To the great embarrassment of my pre-teen, I lugged the quilts, camera and a bag of stuff I thought I might need around the yard, the cul de sac and (gasp!) even out of the subdivision!  "Mom!  What are you doing?! You are a crazy person!  People will see you hanging quilts in trees!!!"

That's ok.  I know my neighbors, and I am fairly certain that there are much more dangerous forms of crazy living in our neighborhood.  And, if the neighbors wondered if  I was crazy, then seeing the  lunatic grin on my face as I hung these beauties up (seriously, SO MUCH FUN) surely convinced them.  I'm OK with that!

Come on, baby Emma!  We want to meet you, and your quilt is ready!

I'm linking up here this week:

Michelle's Let's make baby quilts
Monday Making at Love, Laugh, Quilt
Fabric Tuesday on Quilt Story
Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts
Let's Bee Social at Sew. Fresh Quilts

My Quilt Infatuation's Needle and Thread Thursday

Crazy Mom Quilts Finished Friday

Be sure to stop by and check out all the lovely links! 

Progress and a Win!

We are halfway through our Spring Break, and I'm happy to say I've made good progress on the goals I set here.  My daughter is proudly wearing her karate patches, the zipper pouch has been finished, and the Little Letters quilt is done, label and all!  It came out of the dryer all crinkly and soft and wonderful!  I can't wait to gift it and get a picture of its young owner enjoying it. Hopefully very soon.

Coffee and quilty goodness.  Perfect for a rainy afternoon!
Check out those vintage self threading needles.  They were in a box of sewing things
a friend gave me when her mom moved into assisted living.  They are wonderful!  They
don't shred my thread like the ones I bought recently.

The owl baby quilt has gone together with amazing speed this week!  Its quilted, and I have been spending odd, short stretches of time sinking threads.  There is a chance it will be bound before school starts on Monday!!!

The most challenging of the tasks I've accomplished has been shortening that beautiful prom gown.  What a learning experience that was!  Garment sewing is not my favorite thing, and it is VERY nerve wracking cutting into someone else's beautiful and expensive dress.  There were two layers of organza  (or something), two layers of a stiff crinoline type netting, and 4 layers of fine tulle that all needed measuring, and cutting.  The tulle and netting did not get hemmed, thank goodness, but oh my was it a challenge to cut that stuff evenly.  The other two layers were easier to cut, but time consuming to hem.  The skirt was nearly 200 inches around the bottom!  Holy cow that's a LOT of fabric! It was a challenge just to maneuver it on my sewing table!  I practiced a new technique -couching over a cord and then turning up at the couched line - for the top layer and was very pleased with the way it came out.  I spent the better part of Easter afternoon and evening in my sewing room working on this dress, but, the young lady was very pleased with it, so it's all good.  Plus, I had a steady supply of Easter candy (no chocolate near the dress!) and sewing podcasts to keep me company.

Truly, this Spring Break has been just the right combination of productivity and relaxation and fun and games with my girls, so far.  I've had opportunities to just slow down and enjoy them, and our time together.  I keep thinking, "My heart is just so FULL!"

And to top it all off, today I got an e-mail letting me know that I was chosen as the WINNER of a giveaway on Bernie's blog, Needle and Foot.  How exciting is that???  What a treat! I will be receiving four lovely fat quarters provided by BrewStitched.  

This is the photo Bernie shared.  Aren't these just so pretty and spring like???  That blue!!!

There are some really wonderful fabrics available at BrewStitched.  I'm
going to treat myself to a few things, in appreciation of the giveaway.  Can't wait to show them when they all arrive! This is the first giveaway I've won, and it's just so much fun.

I hope spring is finding you, where ever you are, and that you are finding joy in surprising places!

I'm linking up to
LET'S BE SOCIAL at Sew Fresh Quilts
CAN I GET A WHOOP WHOOP at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
FRIDAY FINISHES at Crazy Mom Quilts

Rainbow Baby Quilt

Recently I stumbled across a Facebook post about a fundraiser for a local girl who has a very rare medical condition.  She is one of just a handful of people in the world, and only two in the US with this condition. She's just 5 years old.  The fundraiser was being held to help her family purchase a specialized wheelchair so that she can continue to go to school as long as she is able, and to help them with travel expenses, as she needs to be seen frequently at a clinic out of state. I was struck by the enormity of the challenges that this little one and her parents face every day.  As it turns out, we had some personal connections to this family, as well.  They had recently joined our 4-H Club, and I have some mutual friends with the mom.

I knew we wouldn't be able to attend the fundraiser, but I wanted to help.  I've planned more than a few fundraisers and have always felt blessed to receive auction and raffle items from crafters, especially those that came unexpectedly and with no strings attached.

 I  decided that this bright and cheery baby quilt that I made last summer would be my contribution to the auction.  I had made it with no particular purpose in mind, and it's just been sitting around the sewing room since then.  This seemed like a good use for it!

I don't remember where the idea for this quilt came from.  I think I was just inspired by the fun fabrics that had been accumulating in my stash.  I simply cut squares and rectangles and pieced them into strips, alternating the strips with white.  Simple and bright!

I backed it in a pretry green print and a rainbow stripe.  The rainbow bars were qiilted with a wavy stitch set  on maximum width and length, and the white areas were quilted with non marked "straight" lines.  Straight is being a bit generous, as the lines and spacing were very wonky. Very.  But, it gave a nice casual feel to the quilt, and a really great texture.

I love the way the polka dot binding turned out, and have been on the look out for dots I can use for binding ever since!

I actually entered this in our County Fair last summer.  My girls were entering for the first time (we just joined a club last year), and I was feeling nostalgic for all of the 4-H fair entries of my youth.  I knew this quilt wasn't perfect and probably wouldn't "fare" well, but it sure was fun to go and see it displayed!  It ended up earning a red ribbon.  No matter,  I loved participating in the Fair alongside my girls.

And now it has a new home with some (hopefully) generous person who, like me, wanted to do something to help little Maggie.  I hope it brings a smile no matter where it lands!

My quilt holder for these pictures needed to give it a hug good-bye

I'm linking up!!

Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story

Michelle's Let's Make Baby Quilts

Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts

Lets's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Visit these lovely ladies and enjoy all the great quilty projects!!

Q is for Quilt

And F is for Finished!!!!!  Yay!  Finally a finish to share.  This is "AJ's Letters", a quilt for my great-nephew.

Now, I am far too young to be a Great -Aunt, but, my niece and her husband had a darling little baby boy four months ago.  His name is Alexander Jeffery, but his Mama and Daddy call him AJ.

I had started these Little Letters from Temecula Quilt Company during the summer of 2014, long before we knew there would be a sweet little boy who would need a quilt.  I just thought they looked like a fun challenge.  I pieced them, and a sister set, slowly and when I had time.  They got set aside frequently, but were a ton of fun to work on when I did find time.

When my niece told us she was expecting, I knew right away that one of the sets of letters would become a quilt for her new arrival.  She has always been an avid reader, she is a certified teacher,  and before becoming Mommy, she was managing a bookstore.  So, letters seemed appropriate!  She's also pretty special to me.  When my youngest daughter was born and diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, Jen was a college student.  She went to school about half an hour from where we lived, but for an entire school year, she came to our house on days she didn't have class, and took care of my newborn when I had to go back to work.  She learned all about administering medicine and doing breathing treatments and chest physiotherapy.   She took notes and  was the BEST of the small army of caregivers we relied on.  And she was just 19 or 20!   I will forever be grateful for her.

So, a quilt for her first baby needed to be pretty special, and I think this fits the bill.

I was so excited to learn that they were going to call him AJ!  How perfect is a letter quilt for a little boy with two letters for his name?

I machine quilted in the ditch,  and then on the diagomals, but I also did just a bit of accent hand quilting around the A and the J.  Just enough to make them stand out a bit.

I am so happy to have this quilt finished.  Its been a long process.  I had really wanted to have it done before the little man was born, but he is already 4 months old.  I have a lot of other sewing projects going on right now, or needing to be started soon.  So, I've  put extra effort into just getting it done so I can move on.   I've taken this quilt to karate class, the orthodontist and 4-H meetings to get it done.  Which has led to some interesting conversations!

The back is pieced from two flannels, so it's going to be a very snuggly quilt for the little guy.  I went with a scrappy binding, which just makes me happy.  I love everything about this quilt.  Well, except for the fact that being called a "great aunt" makes me feel really old.  Hmmm.  Maybe I will be "awesome" instead.

Two Months...What???

I honestly don't know how two months have gone by since I posted.  I was in the swing of things, enjoying summer, sewing daily and getting the hang of blogging, when...WHAMMO.  The end of August hit.  A quick and fun trip to Dubuque, back to school preparation, sending my oldest off to middle school, returning to school myself, karate, dance, dealing with garden goodies...and well, here we are.

I HAVE been getting in some sewing time.  It's an effort to carve out some time each week.  There NEVER seems to be as much time as I think there will be.  I start out almost every day thinking about when I will sew.  I plan to put in an hour right after school, or I think I will be able to get in a bit of time after all the activities are done for the evening.  But time slips away, someone needs help studying or dinner takes longer than it's supposed to or my husband gets stuck at work so I end up transporting BOTH children to their activities.  It's always something.

But anyway, I HAVE been getting in little bits and pieces of time to sew.

I finished the pink and brown chevron quilt that I posted about, oh, way back in August.  I don't have a good picture, nor have I decided what will become of it.  Taking care of both those issues is on the agenda for this month, though.

I sewed up a few zipper pouches. They were quick and fun and I learned a few new things.  They have all been given away to their intended recipients, and it made me happy to give them away.   I *think* I have a picture somewhere, but that will have to wait for a different post.

And, now for the stuff I can actually show you!  I'm starting with the (most) fun stuff in this post, and will do my best to post again before two more months go by!

I'm a bit late to the party, but I've been working on the Little Letters from Temecula Quilt Company.  I had been seeing them around the blogosphere for a few weeks and loved them.  I bookmarked the site thinking I'd make them "someday."  But, then, while folding and re-folding my growing collection of polka dot prints, I had a vision.  A vision of those adorable Little Letters, all done up in dots.  It took a week or so longer before I was organized and ready to start, but I did it!
I have finished the first 5 letters!  Twice!  Like many others participating in the Little Letters QAL, I am making them in two colorways.

Here are my dots.  I have not squared up my blocks or clipped threads.  I sew  and toss on a pile.  Well, actually, I love them so much that I  just might lay them out in order every time I pass the sewing room...

And here is my second set.  Blues, greens and teals, with gray back ground.  How perfect is this going to be with that navy/teal chevron flannel that I found in a clearance bin months ago as the back?   It's 3 yards and I paid $4.99.  LOVE it!

I am loving sewing up these little cuties.  They are fun and quick and I am really enjoying choosing the color for the next letter.  It feels so good to be able to finish two of these in about 15 minutes.  I have been trying to make a habit of cutting my strips in the evening, then, when I get back to the sewing machine, I have them all ready to go.

My blocks are certainly not perfect.  Somehow, I have managed to come up 1/4 inch or so off in one part of every block.  I am not sure if it's my measuring, my cutting or maybe my seam allowance.  It's probably some of each.  But, they are turning out so cute.  I will square them up and add sashing in the background color, and I think they'll be just fine.

When finished one of these  will be an auction item for a fundraising event my friend is planning for the spring.  The other one...we'll see, no plans as of now.  Given how much I LOVE my dots collection, it's hard to believe, but I do think I like the second set better.  There is something about those blues against that gray.  I just can't wait to see it when it's finished!

But, then, there is also something irresistible about those dots.  Especially that red "E".

 Mmmmm-mmmmm.  I could eat it with a spoon!  Just looking at it makes me want to go and buy a few yards of that fabric and make something wonderful.  Isn't it cute?

The QAL is up to "L" already, so I have some catching up to do.  But, I'm not really in a hurry.  I'm just enjoying the process.

I have missed blogging these last two months.  I really do like writing a bit about what I do on my "me" time.  Here's hoping I can make ti a more regular activity!

I'm going to link up to Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.  Hopefully next week, I'll have some finished chevron quilt pictures to share on Friday.

Happy Sewing!
Tami

Chevron Quilt Top....Finished!

Don't zoom...it needs pressing and thread clipping!

This is a pretty quick finish for me!  I posted just last week about starting a chevron quilt using Kelly's (My Quilt Infatuation) Easy Peasy tutorial.  And today, I  put the last seam in the top!  (Really, there was just ONE seam left.  It should have been done a few days ago, but... well, you know...) What a fun time it has been!  And yes, pretty easy peasy!  It's wonderful to see a quilt come together so fast, and to accomplish so much in each sitting.  The method of making 4 HST's at once makes it feel like you're flying through, and because the squares are pretty large, a row takes no time at all to sew up.

 It's really fun to watch it grow!  I loved that I could get a significant amount done in my sewing sessions.  I felt like I really got a lot accomplished each time I went into the sewing room.  And I liked doing each of the individual steps, nothing felt too tedious or frustrating.  (Yes, that's an ABC poster in the background of the picture to the left.  My sewing space is shared by my girls, and that's the "playing school corner.")

Well, there are a lot of seams to match and points to pin (I know there are some of you who never pin...but I"m not in your camp...yet.), but even that wasn't too bad.  And I found that once the points were pinned, the squares were pretty forgiving, since they were cut across the grain, and sewing was really easy.  Most of my points even came out pretty well!  Not 100% perfect, but not bad at all.  And when put all together and viewed from a distance, well, I feel pretty good about it!

I found a pretty backing, so sometime soon that will get washed, and then it's on to basting and quilting.  I think this will be quilted along the inside of each chevron.  And, just for fun, I think I might hand quilt  inside the light colored chevrons with pink pearl cotton.  We'll see.  I really hope to finish this one before the end of August.

Here are two more pictures of my Pink and Brown Chevron Quilt.  How do you like the " model pose" in the first one? (Heeheehee.  That's my MonkeyNinja!)

Yes, those neutrals are mix and matched.  This is (mostly)  a stash buster, so I went with what I had.  It doesn't bother me, but it drives my older daughter NUTS!  She is my perfectionist!

I'm linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.  I just love these two Linky Parties.  Such great sources of inspiration, and so fun to have them to look through all weekend!

Happy Sewing!

Finally Sewing Again!!!

I have finally made it back to my machine! Well, to the cutting table and ironing board anyway, but that means that I will be sitting down at the machine really soon.

I would have LOVED to be in the sewing room all last week once we got home from my daughter's hospital stay, but, while we were gone, my husband and older daughter gutted the older daughter's (SingAndDance) bedroom for a room re-do/tween update.  It was a logical (ummm, sort of) time to do it, with MonkeyNinja being out of the house.  She shouldn't be exposed to great amounts of dust, paint fumes, cleaning stuff, etc...and all of that was involved in the room re-do.  And, since I wasn't home, either, it was logical (ummmm, sort of) to move everything out of SingAndDance's bedroom and into the sewing/crafting/toy room.

So, after 12 long days in the hospital, I arrived back home to find my entire upstairs, especially MY space, filled with the belongings of a wonderful 11 year old who was making her very best effort to sort through everything and purge/donate before moving things back into her room which still wasn't quite ready yet, despite her father's very best efforts to get it done.  It was hard to be upset.  But really, seeing my space filled up like that when my nerves were already raw was unsettling.  I might have cried (a little).

It was kind of comical how they had just tossed stuff in, and piled it up, too.  I should have taken a picture to show you but, honestly, I think I might still cry, looking at it, even now.

All's well that ends well, though.  My husband finished a self-designed, custom built loft bed for SingAndDance.  They worked together to paint her room a really lovely shade of blue with orange and pink accents (she had a plan, he dutifully followed it).  And she and I sorted through her "stuff" and packed up and put away a lot of keepsakes that she just doesn't need on hand, sent a few boxes full off to be donated and are working on setting up and accessorizing her new room.

ALL THAT to say...I have my space back!  I am celebrating by starting a quilt that has been on my mind for months, since SingAndDance commented, "You should make a Pink and Brown Chevron Quilt.   That would be really pretty."  After that, chevron quilts and patterns seemed to be everywhere I looked.  And she's right, I DO love pink, brown (and cream) together.  So, I've been keeping an eye out for a few pink prints, and I pulled some pinks and browns/neutrals from my stash, and here we have:

...the start of something pretty!

I am using this tutorial from Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation.  It's her Easy Peasy Chevron pattern, and I like that sound of every single bit of that!!  Yesterday I was able to get all of my fabric pulled, decide on an order and get 9 inch squares cut from each fabric.  Kelly's tutorial involves making 4 HST's at a time from 9 inch squares.  I haven't done HST's this way before, but I love the idea!

It was a very tight squeeze getting enough 9 inch squares from some of my fabrics.  My "stash" includes really old and really random pieces that have come from garment sewing, doll making and other odds and ends so there were some pretty weird pieces.  In fact, both of my neutrals ran short, so I am mixing and matching a bit.  I'm not sure I'll like the effect, but this is supposed to be a stash buster, not a stash filler (I did buy new pinks, but only fat quarters so they are pretty much used up...) and it's a charity quilt.  We'll see how it turns out!  

I am really hopeful that I will be able to finish the top by Friday.  Because that will be August 1, and I have a DOOZY of an August to-do list!  

I am off to carve out thirty minutes of sewing time before the piano teacher gets here and before I have to start dinner...  Hopefully I will be able to post progress pictures soon!  (HEY!  The piano teacher is running late!  I think dinner will be late, too!  More time to sew!)

Happy Sewing!

Baby Quilt Finish

Trying for a pretty picture here.  Think I
have a lot to learn!

Yaaaay!  Its a finish!  Finally! 

I really had intentions of getting into this blogging thing "Big Time," as my daughter might say, but that just hasn't happened the way I planned.  I have done some sewing.  Bits and Pieces, here and there.  And I have some pictures, so I am hoping to create a few posts over the next few days.

But something always seems to happen on the way to the computer.  *sigh.

However, I do have a finish to write about, and that's pretty exciting.  This is an OLD UFO.  The top was pieced more than a decade (gasp!) ago.  The intended recipient will start middle school in the fall.  He was born just a few months after my oldest daughter.  That, not-so-coincidentally, was right around the time that my sewing came to a screeching halt. 

His nursery, if I remember correctly was done in greens with a vintage Winnie the Pooh theme.  This really would have been great in there!  Oh well.  He's grown into a fine young man without a quilt from me. 

The quilt is about 42 x42.  The print is called Winnie the Pooh's Day at the Park, according to the selvedge.  It is used on the back, too.  I machine quilted in the ditch between the pieced blocks, but then decided that the center stripe should be quilted too.  Lesson learned: Try to make those decisions BEFORE starting.  Going back and adding lines quilting between lines that had already been done added some puckers, but its really not too bad.  And once its washed and dried, I am sure it will be full of soft, crinkly goodness, and the puckers won't be so bothersome.

This was my first attempt at a binding done entirely by machine.  It went OK.  The first part was great, except that I twisted one strip and didn't double check before I stitched them together.  Thank goodness for seam rippers.  Also, I think I will stick to hand stitching the back of the binding.  Especially on a small quilt like this, it doesn't really take THAT long, and it just gives a much nicer effect, I think.  Or, maybe I will keep practicing putting them on by machine. 

Either way, I am pleased with the overall look of this one, and glad to have a UFO finished.  Part of this return to quilting is to use up or finish stuff I already have before buying or starting something new.  And I am just ITCHING to start something NEW, so I need to crank out a few more finishes, fast!

Given that I seem to be struggling with getting in to the swing of sewing and blogging consistently, I am curious....How do YOU do it?  Is there anything that helps to make sure you get to the computer to write about what you've been doing?  I'm hoping that it comes with time!

Here's one last picture of the quilt, with a buddy.  The quilt will be Project Linus donation, but the buddy is still too loved to be given away. 

I am going to try to link up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, but I admit I'm not really sure how to do that...  we'll see!
Happy Quilting!

- Tami