I finished quilting the quilt for the new book that I've been working on for weeks. Oh happy day! I knew I might not have enough of the right fabric for binding as I was working on the quilt. I don't know what I was thinking… maybe that the bit of fabric I did have would somehow make more of itself when I wasn't looking? It didn't.

I needed a 33" square of deep turquoise binding for this quilt. I had bits of a few fabrics that looked like they would work so I sewed them together into a square…

… and I made a 2 1/2" wide strip of continuous binding from this square. (FYI – the instructions for this are in just about all of our books.) Below is the puddle of binding that formed on the floor as I cut the continuous strip.

This worked like a charm! The binding looks great on the quilt (wish I could show you, but it's too far from our publication date) and I can move on to the next thing.

I gave my favorite blogs a quick look-see just now and this is what I found on A Cup Of Jo:

Jessi Arrington (a founder and designer at WORKSHOP) LOVES color. Her friend, Jessica Hische, suggested a color-themed party to celebrate Jessi's 31st birthday. All the guests dressed head-to-toe in a single color and Jessi, the birthday girl, decided to opt for 11
outfit changes.

Her friend and colleague, Josh Stewart,
turned the day into a website. Click here to see it. Once you're there, click on the photo and it will take you to another page where you can click on each outfit for more views.

I think it could be fun to do this when I'm on the road teaching. I would, however, need more clothes because everything I've bought for the last year is highly patterned. Speaking of which, have you every shopped BodenUSA? I can attest to the fact that the clothes are really nice.

I am often asked how I carry my projects when I travel. I have what I think is a very good system. I start with a plain sheet of paper, folded in half. I cut a piece of flannel 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" and place it inside the folded sheet of paper. I place my applique pieces on the flannel in a sloped stack – being sure to place the applique pieces in order so that #1 is on top and the last piece is on the bottom.

In the photo above you can see my paper 'folder' on the left. Once you close the folder, the applique pieces are covered by paper. The flannel keeps the pieces in place and everything stays nice and flat. The folder fits neatly inside a gallon sized zip bag, along with the block background, the overlay, a small pin cushion, bobbins, and scissors. I carry my sandpaper board separately.

I make a "folder' for each block and border in a project. You can write on the paper if you want to, labeling it with pertinent information. I save and re-use these folders as I finish one quilt and move on to another.

Happy travels!

I'm still chained to my sewing machine and getting very little else done but I did see this shower curtain on the Design Sponge blog. Grace Bonney writes that very excellent blog. This post has the directions to make the shower curtain. I thought several things when I looked at this…

1. Why didn't I think of that!?
2. It looks a lot like my DIL Lorna's living room curtains. She and her mom made them and I have always loved them.
3. This would make a nice quilt back – which may mean that there are a lot of quilt backs that would make nice shower curtains.
4. I have that bird fabric and I want more of it! And the turquoise fabric is one I need…

So, I'm going back to the sewing machine now. I have high hopes that I will have this quilt quilted today or tomorrow. Wish me luck!

I'm working on a project for the new book. This is a Christmas book that will be out in a year or so. I can't share many details (don't want to ruin any surprises) but I thought you would enjoy this tidbit.

I needed to put words on this project. Didn't want to applique them, didn't want to paint them, didn't want to use photo transfer. And then I remembered the antique Scrabble tiles I've been saving! I used a tiny little drill bit (1/16") and my husband's drill press to drill the holes. I'm sewing them down with red perle cotton. Cute!

So my advice is – if you see Scrabble tiles at a garage sale or flea market, buy them!

I'm feeling guilty for not posting but I hope you'll understand – the book deadline is looming! But I did want to share this with you…

I've been stuffing bird pin cushions. Do you remember the bird Christmas ornaments I made last year? These pin cushions are made from the same pattern with a wider base – and they will be in the new book! I'm filling my pin cushions with lizard litter, AKA crushed walnut shells.

I learned about this stuff from my friends at the Quilt Asylum in McKinney. You can buy it at some feed stores, I found mine at Petco. It's a big bag and if you don't want this much lizard litter you can buy it in small quantities from the Quilt Asylum. It's a little messy, but worth the effort. If you do use it, you need to really pack it in to make a firm pincushion.

Here are a few of the birds I'm making, perched on one of my bird baths. They don't have their eyes yet, or any other embellishments, but I'm loving them!