Sew Bittersweet Designs | Sewing and Designing in my BitterSweet World

August Bee Blocks

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Melissa Dunworth

August is a light month for bee blocks, well, July was even lighter, as I didn’t make any. This month I only have 2 blocks for Do. Good Stitches Trust Circle. We are working on another boy quilt, which is fun but hard for me, as I have WAY more girl prints than boy prints. It took me probably 3 times as long to pick out fabrics than it did to make the actual blocks. Does that ever happen to anyone else?

We were asked for primary colors in Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue, we were also told that novelty prints were fine. Thank goodness! The tutorial is from The Sometimes Crafter and the block is called {Patchwork} Square in a Square. Most of my seams matched up fairly well, but there were a couple that…well, let’s just say don’t look too closely.

That’s it for August as far as bee blocks go. I am still deciding whether or not I want to sign up for 3×6 in the fall. I need about 12 more blocks for the quilt I’ve been working on but I think I need a bit of a break since my RA medications got changed again and I am just so exhausted now. The saying goes “Better living through chemistry” but right now I’m not so sure that is true, then again, living without the chemistry wasn’t so much better than now…

Have a happy Wednesday. Shanna and I will be here tomorrow with your mid-month linky party, I hope everyone is making good progress on their goals!

Posted in Bee Blocks, Do.Good Stitches | 8 Comments

A New Friend

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Melissa Dunworth

Normally when an old friend leaves your life, the hole they leave behind is generally impossible to fill. No one is a perfect fit, no gets you quite like they did. It is just never quite the same. Well this time, I am happy to say that my new friend is a really great fit and believe it or not, an improvement to my old friend!

Wow, I bet I sound pretty callous huh? Well, don’t get offended just yet, I’m talking about my new iron! When I got my first sewing machine in 2002 I also bought my first iron. It was a Rowenta and served me quite faithfully until yesterday morning when I went to press my binding strips! She just wouldn’t turn back on. I don’t know if I was mad or sad at first, after all, we had been together for 11 long years. Anne and I rushed out, because quilting waits for no one, and I bought a new iron. I decided to go with a Rowenta again because you just can’t knock a brand that worked so well for 11 years, through tons of abuse (including being dropped on a hardwood floor more than once).

I was a tad skeptical at first if I would love my new Ro as much as my old one, but believe it or not I love her even more! And I will tell you why. It is because of that pointed extended tip you see in the picture. It is truly perfect for pressing seams open, which I always do when sewing my binding strips together. Holy moly, she works so well!

So now you have met Ro, and thanks to her my binding strips are now done. I hope you have a great Tuesday!

Posted in Tools | 7 Comments

Swap Goodies

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Melissa Dunworth

Happy Friday! I am so glad that Friday is finally here, that means Anne and I only have one more week before my hubs is home! Neither of us can wait, in fact I’m not sure who is more excited about it, me or her.

Yesterday I got a lovely fabric package in the mail – a Rainbow of Fabric Bricks!

Now, I have been participating in swaps like this for at least 2 years now, but this is the first time I have ever laid my goodies out in a circle so I could enjoy their beauty. This idea came from the wonderful Katy from The Littlest Thistle. She laid out some goodies she received last month and when I commented how I loved the idea, she told me that I really must start doing it. So here they are Katy!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Today I am taking Anne to the zoo, Saturday we have a make up ballet class and on Sunday we are going to build and grow at Lowe’s. Should be a nice full weekend!

Posted in swaps | 13 Comments

Tutorial – Using the Quilt Backing as Binding

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Melissa Dunworth

The lovely binding on the Space Quilt that I finished last month was actually serving double duty on this quilt. It was also the backing!

Now using your backing as your binding is quite simple if you follow a few simple rules. Do not quilt to the edge of your border. You always want to stop quilting at least 1 inch from the edge of the quilt top. This is because when you trim the quilt up you are going need to fold the backing onto itself as far out of the was as possible then trim the batting to the size of the top. If you haven’t done this you may accidentally cut your backing and then you are toast…ask me how I know!

The top left picture shows your quilt simply laid on the cutting table, top right shows you pulling the backing onto itself, right side together, pull it back as far as you can without stretching. The bottom left picture shows how the fabric is folded under the quilt. The bottom right picture shows that the batting is now trimmed to the size of the quilt top.

All the trimming is done using a large ruler and your rotary cutter. Remember to be extremely careful not to cut your backing!

Next you will trim down your backing. I trim mine down to 1.25″.Moving forward I will be referring to this as the binding. Next is the easiest part, press your binding in half.

Now you are ready to sew your binding on. I like to start in the middle of a section. I don’t know why, that’s just how I do it. Fold your binding over onto to the top of the quilt, find your favorite decorative or zigzag stitch and go for it. I do recommend a walking foot for this part!

When you reach the end of the side stop. We are now going to do a mitered corner!

Image top left shows you unfolding the corner, top right shows how you will fold the corner in (you don’t need the pin but it was really hard to take the picture without it!). Bottom left shows how you refold the corner (this is where you create the miter), bottom right shows how you fold it one more time over to the top of the quilt, all raw edges are now concealed and you are ready to sew the next side of the quilt!

It is that easy!

Here is a close up of a finished corner:

Let me know if you have any questions! Happy Binding!

Posted in tutorial | 11 Comments

July Winners – A Lovely Year of Finishes

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Melissa Dunworth

Well now that July has come and gone it is time to announce all the fun that came with the month. We had 84 finishes in the month of July! Woohoo! That brings the 2013 grand total up to 749 finishes! Can you believe that!

Now what does that mean in terms of prizes…so far we have given out 51 prizes! Wow! We are so blessed to have such amazing sponsors, please make sure you take some time to visit their websites and see all of the amazing things they have to offer!

Now on to the July winners.

July Prizes Include:

1. A Fat Quarter Bundle from Moda United Notions