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Good Night, Sewing Machine

 

"Good Night, Sewing Machine"

This has been done for a while, but you know how it goes...never enough time, good photos can be hard to come by, etc. 

So this is the paper pieced sewing machine from this post made into a little quilt to use as a cover for my sewing machine.  It is adorable and so perfectly simple and easy to use! 

Originally, I planned to make a machine cover with sides, a cut out at the top for the machine handle, etc.  I had BIG plans.  Usually my plans start out moderately ambitious, progress to completely out of control only in a non-existent perfect world type nonsense, and then get scaled back to what might realistically happen.  This was one of those things.

So I gave the fantasy machine cover a trial run, and it didn't work out. Once it was on, it was very obvious it wasn't going to be the neat and tidy cover envisioned.  Basically, it looked like a lumpy bread box, or some weird toaster cover. 

Anyway, the full cover did not look good, and after some more thought, I realized what I needed was something easy to put on and take off.  I know myself well enough to know if it is not super simple to use, I won't be using it.

This little quilt is perfect.  I just throw it over the top and call it a day. 

If you've been thinking about a cover for your own machine, I highly recommend just making a small quilt.  Rather than spending energy making a cover you may never want to take the time to actually put over your machine, make a fantastic blanket for your machine to sleep under. 

The pattern for the paper pieced machine block is from During Quiet Time and is available here. 

Quick Tip for Joining Binding Strips Perfectly

How to Join Binding Strips Perfectly

This week I'm making some skinny binding to use in a special project with the paper pieced sewing machine.  There are some fun paper pieced projects out there, but the ways you might traditionally use the finished pieces are not really my style.  I like my wall hangings to be a bit more abstract and weird, my pillows basic patchwork or mostly solid, and my tote bags on the plain side. 

But I've been thinking about other ways to incorporate paper piecing into projects and have an idea for the sewing machine.  I think it is going to be both cute and useful!  When it's done I'll share what I've made. 

In the meantime, I have a trick for sewing binding together, and thought you might like to know about it too.

I enjoy the process of cutting, sewing and pressing binding.  Which is sort of funny because unless I'm binding something large/squarish (mostly quilts) projects requiring bound edges are not my favorite.  If I see a pattern for something small with bound edges, it kills my interest.  It just takes too much time and is really hard to do well.   

But binding most definitely has a place in sewing, and even though the process of joining the strips is easy, I've had my share of sewing misadventures when stitching the pieces together. 

So here is my trick for joining the strips together perfectly (i.e. straight). 

The usual way I see binding strips being joined is to match the edges of each piece at a 90 degree angle, and then sew them together on the diagonal:

The problem with this is it can be hard to get off to a smooth start when sewing the seam because there isn't a lot of stability with just the two layers of fabric.  Most of the time I get at least a small nest of tangled thread at the start and the end.  Starching the strips can help, but starch is always a last resort for me. 

Then if you don't sew just PERFECTLY to the bottom intersection where the pieces meet, the strips end up uneven.  Either the sides where they join are uneven, or the strips are not attached in one straight, continuous piece. 

In the past, when I used this method to sew binding I'd match the edges, look underneath to make sure I knew exactly where the seam needed to end, pin the pieces well, mark the seam, etc.  And still I'd end up with wacky strips! 

What I do now is super simple...Instead of matching the edges I overlap them a bit like this:

Having those extra bits of fabric along the sides gives stability and makes it a lot easier to start and end the seam.  Then I can also see exactly where the seam must end to have the strips joined perfectly.   

Once it is time to sew, it is really easy to just line the pieces up straight and sew straight down to the corner:

After stitching, I trim the extra fabric away and press the seam open.

The pieces are in pinned in the photos here, but usually I don't pin them.  The pins were really to remind myself to take pictures, and I forgot to take them out. You can of course pin if you need some extra stability. More and more, I'm trying to skip pins for the sake of efficiency.   

So next time you are joining fabric strips, give this a try.  There is no marking, no pinning, and they turn out perfect!

The Week in Sewing

Here's a quick recap of what happened last week in my little sewing world:

1. Bonus pattern pieces for a heart shaped Ditty Bag were finished and can be found about half way down this blog post. 

2. Yesterday was the first day of a dress making class I'm taking at Donna and Toots. 

I never seem to get around to sewing clothes, even though I WANT to, and actually need some new ones.  Taking a class seemed like what I needed to get myself going.

I'm really excited to make a dress.  The last dress I made was in high school.  When I went off to college I left the dress behind and my mom adopted it.  Every once in a while I see her wearing it, and it's always surprising to see it again!

3. I made a faux envelope clutch out of this wild pink batik.  Read more about it here on flickr.

4. One more block done for the QAYG quilt...only 70 more to go!  Haha--I have 16 blocks sewn, but not quilted.  Time to pick up the pace!

Waiting...

Quilt strips waiting to be sewn into blocks.

Another Quilt As You Go Quilt

I've started working on my second QAYG quilt.  The scrap one I made is still awesome, but it is a tad small for my bed and I have a whole bed plan going on right now. 

Right after Christmas there was a night where I was awake the ENTIRE night.  It was ridiculous and so loooong, but I did get a lot of work done!  I don't generally have trouble sleeping, so I get burned out quickly if my sleeping schedule gets off.  The no sleeping was a combination of being really busy and not getting enough exercise to counteract the over-stimulation. 

So I'm working on the quilt blocks whenever I get the chance, or start getting bogged down with too many "what to work on next" type thoughts.  It is very centering to just sew the blocks and ignore everything else for a while. 

The bed plan consists of getting a new bed this spring and having a new quilt to go on top!  I need a few months to find the right bed and put aside the cash.  In the meantime, I bought latex pillows with some birthday/Christmas money.  They are SO AMAZING.  They are very rubbery feeling, but in a fantastic and super comfortable way. 

Besides the quilt, there are lots of things happening around here.  Something brand new is coming this Friday!  It is VERY practical, and to make it fun, we are going to make it beautiful too. :0]

Come back Friday to see what I'm talking about...

Quilt Binding - Pink, Brown and Turquoise

I like making binding...