Tuesday, June 18, 2013

W.I.P. Wednesday

If you've been reading my blog this week, you already know that I've been doing some binding repair.  I've been on a roll and have finished fixing 5 quilts in the past two days.  I tackled my Sweetwater Pure quilt first, and ended up re-doing the entire hand-stitched portion of the binding, this time using hand-quilting thread, because the binding thread had broken in many places.  The rest of the quilts I have inspected (so far!) were not nearly as bad with only a couple of places needing repair, so what I ended up doing was hand-stitching the spots that needed it and then machine stitched the binding as well.  Three of these (pictured below) are bed quilts, which means they see a lot of use, so I figured the machine stitching can't hurt and honestly I don't mind how it looks in a coordinating thread colour.


The odd thing is that the dark blue quilt above is the first bed quilt I made, which means that it has been used the most, and it is the one that required zero repairs.  But I was on a roll so I zipped around that one on the machine as well!  There are at least 6 more quilts in the house that I can think of off the top of my head that I'm going to check as well, but at least I know now that the fix is relatively quick and easy.  The Sweetwater Pure quilt (not pictured) is my 'control' in this experiment, as it's the one that I fully re-stitched with hand-quilting thread and did not machine stitch.  We'll see!

Other than that, all I have in the works continues to be my Octagonal Orb quilt, using Joel Dewberry's Notting Hill line.  I have finished piecing the wedges for all 12 blocks and am on hold as I wait for my order of Kona Natural to arrive.  The two blocks I completed before I ran out of background fabric....


Tomorrow is my kids' last day of school before summer so I have a feeling that my sewing time is going to be decreasing a lot!  Not that my kids demand my attention in the same way that they did when they were little, but more that it is summer and we will be doing other things, hopefully outside!  

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

18 comments:

Adrienne said...

orb blocks - gorgeous! and congratulations on all of that binding!

Erica said...

I am thinking about machine stitching the bed quilts in my house too. Thank you for bringing this topic up, I think it is good to think about this type of things some time to make sure I am making my quilts the best they can be :)

amy said...

can't wait to see how all your orbs turn out, gorgeous!!

Debbie said...

Wow - you are a binding machine! Good for you! Really love your orbs and can't wait to see more - awesome fabric choice!

Susan said...

Yes, those orbs continue to be 'orb-some'!!!! Enjoy the summer with your kids!

Kate said...

The bindings look great! I wish I could get mine that neat and straight - and I have practice! Love your Orbs, hurry up more fabric order!

knottygnome said...

love your octagonal orb! lovely fabric choices

mle said...

The bindings look great! And it's nice to have the peace of mind that they are now secure.

Svetlana said...

your bindings look wonderful, Heather. And the orb blocks are amazing!

Paula said...

Love those orb blocks. They are going to make a stunning quilt.

Anonymous said...

What fabulous Orb blocks. Love your fabric choices and how you have used the pattern to add such interest to the blocks. Really great work.

Lucy said...

You've picked great colors for your orb blocks!

CapitolaQuilter said...

My poor stack of Notting hill just sits - you've done a wonderful job with yours. Good luck with the changes that summer brings.

Patti said...

Great fix on your bindings, Heather! I sure am loving those orbs too!

hydeeannsews said...

a big WOW on the binding fixes! good for you for including a "control" with your pure quilt. =)

the orb blocks - another WOW! they look smashing. joel really knows his stuff. great pick for the blocks.

Dorian said...

Those orb blocks are really neat! Hexagons are so much fun :)

Kristy @ Quiet Play said...

The Orbs look fantastic - great colours!

nicole said...

Lovin' those orbs! And good thinking with the binding check, i may need to do that soon.