Day: April 18, 2017

I finished the quilt top I am making for one of our spare bedrooms. This will be a queen sized bedspread when I finish it. The second picture is the backing I am going to use. I really wanted a blue or gray backing, but none of the extra wide backings I found were the right shade. This white and gray will work fine, and I think it will hide the tiny dots of dark colored thread better than some of the other options. I think I will be using a very light gray on the “white” sections and a much darker gray on the rest. The bobbin thread will be either the pale gray or a white. Even though I am good at adjusting my thread tension, using widely different thread colors generally results in tiny dots of color showing through. It is a dreadful picture because Kevin had trouble holding it up! The fabric are all batiks, and gorgeous in person.

This is a good way to make sure your triangles are good. I don’t like the “mark down the middle and sew on each side then cut” method. I prefer cutting the triangles and then sewing them carefully. It works for me.

I am also working on some dolls for Primary Children’s Hospital. I have made a dozen or so, and I decided to experiment with some options. The dolls themselves are super simple, but the hospital gowns that go with them are much harder. The default approach is to use bias binding, but it is the devil to put on the curves correctly. I always end up having to redo at least a few inches. Another American Sewing Guild member, Paula, said she made them by just serging the gown edges. I decided to try it and see how it works.

No question that the bound one looks better, but it takes 5-6 times as long! We have an ASG charity sew meeting on Saturday to make these, so I hope the serger version is acceptable. The hospital needs hundreds of these, and even though lots of people make them, they are always running out.