Legally binding

One of the best motivations for me to get a quilt to the finish line is to enter it into my quilt guild's annual show.   I spent a good number of evenings over the past month or so hand sewing the bindings on some quilts that have been patiently waiting for a while.

The first one I finished was my Michigan quilt, which I previously blogged about here and here.

I had this quilt professionally longarmed about 2 years ago, by a local quilter named Laurena who used to quilt for many of the members of our guild before she retired.  Coincidentally,  Laurena happened to come to our show  and she was pleased to see that some of her handiwork was still on display when she saw this quilt hanging there.

Another quilt I finished for the show was my La Vie En Rose quilt which I blogged about here.

 I didn't get a good photo of it hanging in the show, but trust me, it was finished.

It's kind of embarrassing that both Michigan and La Vie En Rose both date back to 2013!  (Sometimes having a blog can expose truths that you just don't want to admit. 😏 )

A third quilt that I finally finished was this one from 2018, which I blogged about here.

I had three other quilts that needed binding to get them ready for the show, but at least they were created in 2019.   The first of the three was  Fierce Ladies,   

The second was my guild's Block of the Month, the  Half Square Triangle Sampler

And the third was a quilt I created for my guild's member's challenge which will get it's own blog post in the near future.

Six quilts may sound like a lot, but these are all fairly small. On the other hand, that was 24 corners of binding that needed to be coached into submission. 

Feels good to get them finished.  Thank goodness for quilt shows! 😁

Michigan rules

Today I finished the quilt top for my Michigan (aka Labyrinth)  quilt.

The inspiration for choosing this pattern came from a design that was on the elevator floor of the hotel where we stayed in Michigan.

As I worked on making this quilt, I realized just how many different rulers I used to create it.  I know I'm not alone in buying the occasional specialty ruler, but there are a few handy ones that I use over and over again.

First is the 6 X 24" long ruler for cutting strips:

Next is the 6 X 12" ruler for subcutting the strips into smaller units:

The one real specialty ruler I used was the "Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star" ruler that is used to make perfectly pointed Lemoyne Star blocks. (more about that ruler in this post)

Another handy ruler I use often is the "Tucker Trimmer" which comes in handy when you make a purposely oversize block, and then trim it down to size.  I used the large size Tucker Trimmer to trim the center star:

What's handy about the Tucker Trimmer is the diagonal lines, and the center square that help you find the exact center of the block you are trimming so that you trim it evenly all around.

I also used the small version of the Tucker Trimmer to square up all the 3" half square triangles:

You can use the large Tucker Trimmer to trim small blocks, but it gets kind of unwieldy to work so far away from your body.

Lastly, I used the Quick Trim and Circle ruler (more about that ruler in this post) to make the triangles that I needed to add to the Lemoyne star in the center:

A girl collects a lot of rulers when she's been quilting for almost 20 years!  Yikes! That's still a lot of rulers!

Other than the Lemoyne Star ruler, the cuts using the trimmer rulers could all be done using the markings on the average rulers, but being lazy, and since I happen to have them in my sewing room, I prefer the trimmer rulers.

I'm not advertising any particular ruler, just thought I'd share a couple that I find myself using most often and that are versatile enough to be used in a variety of projects.

Triple threat

I've been anxious to get started on my Michigan quilt.  The pattern I am using is called "Labyrinth" .

The central star is made up of 16 half square triangles.

I made the central star, put it up on my design wall and lived with it for a little while.  After a couple of days,  I decided I would prefer a  more traditional LeMoyne star made up of diamonds, so I redesigned the block.

All was going well, until I started to add the purple half square triangles to the four corners. That's when I realized I had made the new block too small!

Oops!

Back to the drawing board, or in this case, the cutting table to start it over.

"Third time's a charm", as the saying goes, and I finally got my center star made the way I wanted it.

The one on the left just looks more like a star  to me, where the one on the right looks more like an "X".  

The rest of the pattern should be a breeze after all this!

The Friendly Skies....

Once upon a time, which was really just last week, I was afraid to fly in an airplane.  It had been 14 years since I last crossed the threshold from walkway to jet.  A lot has changed about air travel since then.



A not-to-miss family celebration in Ann Arbor, Michigan was coming up, and I really wanted to go.  I knew the time had come to break the travel dryspell and get myself on an airplane, so we made reservations.  As an added incentive to fly, my husband told me to find a quilt shop in Ann Arbor where I could  treat myself to some fabric as a reward when we got there.

Friday morning came, and I found myself boarding the plane and climbing into the skies.  All the doubts I had about whether I could do it or not were put to rest at last.  (Okay, so a little medication helped!)

We got to the hotel and headed for the elevator.

A quilt block on the elevator floor was one of the first things to greet me!  I joked with my husband that I should use the design as an inspiration for a Michigan quilt.

On Saturday afternoon, we had a bit of free time and I had an opportunity to visit the quilt shop.  I looked through the patterns and what did I find?  This:

How perfect!  It was almost the same pattern as the design in the elevator floor!  Now I just knew it was meant to be.  My daughter was with me, and together we had fun pulling together the following fabric combination to use with the pattern.

The rest of the weekend was a wonderful, and the weather was perfect.  The return trip on the airplane was easy now that I had one trip under my belt.  I didn't even need the medication this time.

I can't wait to get started on my Michigan quilt which will represent so much more to me than just a serendipitous chain of events during a celebratory weekend.  It will remind me of all the encouragement I got from family and friends to make the trip,  my wonderful and understanding husband who came up with the perfect incentive,  a new found confidence that I can travel outside my comfort zone, and a fun and fabulous afternoon spent with my daughter.

Can't ask a quilt to do more than that!