Say What?!?!?!

Out of binding?

Today I finished up the quilting on my daughter's Tennessee Waltz Quilt, which I often have called Patisserie as that is the name of the fabric that inspired me to make the quilt.  It has been a difficult road to this point so I was thrilled to find the end of the road in sight, when a new speed bump jumped in my way.  I didn't make enough binding.  Okay I did - I made more than enough, but I also made a very special Christmas present for a friend and as my already made binding matched so well I used a piece of that to bind the Christmas Present and now I'm short binding on this.

Quilted the Love right into the Quilt

So in my stash I have a 3" x 6" leftover piece of the binding fabric.  As I have 60" more to go...  So the question becomes do I order a FQ of the fabric and hope after all these months the dye lot is the same - haha.  Do I try for something else in my stash?  I have a pinkish purple batik that doesn't match as well as some blue that I might sacrifice...  Oh the trauma!

Hearts and Stars Quilting

Now I just realized I didn't tell you how I decided to quilt this quilt.  The suggestions everyone made were wonderful and I tried to include everyone's.  I thought Sue's suggestion about shooting stars was great but I couldn't master drawing shoot stars (there was always trouble with the tails) So instead I stitched the words "Shooting Star"  In fact the quilting is mostly words, I used it like a note putting in all the things I'd want her to know about herself.  Some words that made the quilt were Sweet, Tender, Compassionate, Smart, Creative along with her name.  Sort of a moral booster from me.

Quilted in Quilt Label

This quilt is two sided and I didn't make a label so I stitched the Made by information right into the quilting.  Now while you could possibly quilt a quilt using words alone I thought it best to add a bit of filler, so I added loops, stars, and hearts.  By the time I was wrapping up the quilting the hearts were coming much more naturally.  You see I make a heart by drawing one side and then lifting the pen to draw the second side.  You don't have that option when sewing.  The heart has to be formed with a single line, period. For me that means start at the bottom come up loop around and then back down to the point.  I'd read weighting one side of the heart a tad bit heavier aka bigger, helps, but I haven't found that to be true yet.

When making stars I tried to see them either alone or in groups of three when ever possible so it's one  star for each human member of our immediate family.  I also made a few triple hearts that all connected at the base and one or two that the hearts nested within each other.  That's the challenge, because you have to keep your shapes balanced while leaving room for growth.  I'd say plain echos are easier.  

Trimming up the Quilt

How do you trim your quilts?  I trim mine to the front piece of fabric and go back and check the back to see if I need to true it up again (when the back perhaps wasn't as big as it should have been.  It works for me.  I just sit with my scissors and carefully cut.  What works for you?  Any particular way?  Perhaps your big and brave and use a rotary cutter?  Perhaps you know some showmanship tip?

If your wanting a closer look at any of my pictures remember you can always click the image to see it larger.

 While I think about my binding issue I'm going to tuck all the little threads you just saw into the quilt, until next time, Happy Stitching!