braided headbands

made these headbands for my daughter and her friends.

• 3 pieces of fabric in 3 colors cut to 1"x20"
• 1 piece of elastic cut 4"

1-stack up the fabric strips, lay elastic ontop and stitch over a few times to make it sturdy

2-pull the elastic back and top stitch over the fabric, I spread out the fabric so it was less bulky under the presser foot

3-braid, keeping the printed side up

4-repeat step 1
try it on!
they are a little snug at first but stetch out over time

well I promised a picture of binding....but its not on my quilt

had to finish a birthday present, once I learned how to make little zipper bag from here, I went crazy making all sizes and shapes, once you learn the basic technique you will love to make bags of all kinds, and you really don't need patterns. Sometimes I shop around online a famous makers to see whats out, they usually give the exact dimensions of their bag. Then I sketch it out with what I want and get to cutting. You can get a stash of zippers in a variety of colors from a couple of supply sellers on etsy, then its fun to go to your fabric closet and pull out scraps then get a funky zipper to match, its cheaper this way also to buy 10 at a time. So since i discovered binding my seams on Vera Jean I have been doing it ever since, on almost every project I make.I quilted free motion around the deer and put her name in for fun

stiching and stiching and stitching......

Down to my last 18 rows of machine quilting on quilt #1 for the twins "little bits quilt". This portion of the process has taken much longer than I had anticipated, stitching rows the length of the quilt every inch, BUT...that's what will make it pretty later. The only thing keeping me going right now is that I will get to do binding VERY SOON!

I hope to have a binding picture tomorrow if I don't get too side tracked making another birthday present.

cloth napkin love.....

last summer my daughter and I decided to sew cloth napkins for our family, to see if we like using them we decided to use scraps first. So I got to cutting with the rotary, she ironed and I let her sew the hems, this is a great 1st project. There is a little corner trick if you want your napkins to look professional, look here for detailed instructions. I have used this method for napkins and table cloth corners, very nice. My next inspiration comes from good ol' purlbee because I LOVE BINDING these are great, I made a set for a birthday gift and my friend made a bunch for Christmas presents, they are fun and versatile. Here are a few of mine, I used a poly tablecloth fabric and Amy Butler Garden Maze in 4 color ways. Theese have seen a few washings.

taking a heart break

I took a BREAK from quilting because my neck was getting tired and wanted to make a few valentine things, got inspired from Rae and Katiedid, I hope my daughter loves the headband, pictures to come hopefully......