Saturday, June 19, 2010

Charm Pack Quilt

I love a great charm pack, don't you? At usually around $8 each, they are a cheap thrill for me to indulge in some material obsession , get the entire designer's line, and start a quilt project with some of the cutting already done! There are whole quilt books dedicated to clever ways to use the 5 inch squares. In Megan's simple quilt, the charms get the attention they deserve, surrounded by 2 inch strips in a "Square in a Square" pattern. There are so many fun ways that "Square in a Square" can be interpreted making it an easy quilt for the beginning quilter and a way for the expert to have a quick design challenge as well.
Last night, I finished up the binding on both of these quilts destined for  New Hope Homes.
I do love, love, love a stripy binding.  Megan's quilt is bound in an Amy Butler stripe I've had in my stash for a while.  The pink and black quilt is bound in a fun Brother and Sister stripe that I found at Hobby Lobby.  I like the way that the lime and grey in the stripe accent all the pink and black loveliness.
Have you tried pre-wound bobbins? I love them for machine quilting. You know how much thread it takes up and these pre-wound babies help relieve the annoying need to change out the bobbin so often. I was running low on my favorite brand (Admiral) and so gave these MasterPiece bobbins a try.  The sales clerk at a LQS told me that these were the cream of the crop and I went home so excited. Maybe it's just my machine, but I've never had bobbin thread shred until using these: Big disappointment. I think I will try to return the rest of the 20 bobbins I purchased. If you use pre-wound bobbins, I'd love to hear about your favorite brand.










I decided to change it up a bit yesterday  and catch up on my virtual sewing bee blocks  instead of working entirely on donation quilts. Kelly sent some fabric scraps and invited us to add in some of our own to make these 10.5 inch blocks plus a siggy block. Here's her inspiration. I may have to try one of these myself using Leaders/Enders sometime.
Last, but not least, while shopping for the bobbins I couldn't resist this cutie pie.  I'm such a sucker for birds! I'm envisioning a little summer sundress for one of my granddaughters, with scraps left over for.......whatever!!
*edited in embarrassment because due to "operator error" the real reason that the MasterPiece bobbins were such a disappointment is all my own fault!  I got to thinking about it and decided that maybe I should try just putting the entire bobbin with the cardboard sides and all into the bobbin case to see what happened.  Voila! It worked like a charm!  With the other bobbins, I have been removing the cardboard sides for the best tension. Okay, maybe these really are the "cream of the crop"!  I stand corrected.

5 comments:

  1. -lovely charm pack quilts
    -striped binding: perfect.
    -I've never used prepackaged bobbins. Sorry..I'm no help there.
    - LOVE the birds!
    You've been a busy bee.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I bought a couple variety packs of prewound bobbins (superior brand) because my quilting buddies raved about it, but my machine (Janome Gem Platinum) does not like them at all. They are either too tight, or, when I pull the cardboard off one end, they rattle loose. My friends think I'm nuts, but they can see for themselves! They all use them in both their Janome 6600, 6500, Phaffs, vikings, and the little janome gems, but not in my machine.

    I do love the prewound bobbin thread for applique and for handstitching the binding since the thread is so thin, it just sinks right in and you cannot see my stitches at all!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You're getting a lot accomplished! I'm partial to striped binding too, especially when it's cut and sewn on the diagonal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just bought some to try with my Juki for machine quilting. I have not tried it yet. But I too was told how great they are....so I will let you know.

    ReplyDelete
  5. well, i did not give it much thought when i first read your post ... but low and behold, on all the projects i'm working on .... I started working on YOUR blocks and ran out of my "admiral" bobbin .. grabbed my NEW purchase (from a few mo. ago) .. and guess what ... My Pfaff does NOT care for them* ("superior") . I think they are wound too tight, i thought i also ready about removing the cardboard .. uh, NO! (not very pretty language from this lady) ... those suckers are going back ... and i am down to Navy or RED ... so, guess i'm using NAVY with gray ...
    ~ ok, i am so glad it was the SAMPLE block, glad i discovered it before i actually worked on YOURS ... ;0)

    ReplyDelete