Robots & Pluses

(...or is that Plusses?)

I couldn't bear to cut up these friendly robots (donated by Fat Quarter Shop)...

...so I just backed the whole panel with some soft dimple minky from the stash, quilted parallel lines (my walking foot takes all the pain out of working with minky!), and bound in a bright red/orange splash cotton donated by a quilting friend.

I'm pleased with the binding - entirely machine bound! Such a time saver. I cut it at 2.25", press in half, and then stitch on with 1/4" seam allowance, mitering the corners. Then I press the binding away from the quilt top, flip it, and press the binding down at the back. I got a nice crisp edge on this one because it's not very thick. I only pin the binding at the corners and stitch in the ditch from the front of the quilt. I can feel a little ridge next to the "ditch", which lets me know if the binding is going to be caught in the stitching or I need to adjust a little. On a thicker quilt this is a bit trickier as more of the binding is taken up in the fold, but same idea.

This one was fun too! A Plus Quilt, using the pattern from For The Love of George. The floral was given to me a few years ago - nearly 4 yds! It's a difficult print to work with so I'm happy to have found a use for it. Dimensions: 38" x 52".

The white is Kona Snow and the blue stars and purple foliage-y print are quilting cottons from my mother-in-law (thanks, Mom!) -- happy accident that they coordinate!

The fabric was a bit wider than normal, I think about 44", so no piecing required to use it for the backing! See what I mean about difficult to use? :/

I quilted 1/4" inside each plus with cream thread -- thankful again for my walking foot. I had barely enough fabric to do the binding so had to hand-stitch it down, too narrow for the machine.

And finally a nice stack of bibs! They are all flannel Yo Gabba Gabba print (donated by our local quilt shop, Quilt Essential Co) on the front, lime cotton chenille on the back. I did the first two with bias tape, as called for in Alisa's pattern, which she kindly donated for the sew-along.

The other six I added 3/8" seam allowance to and turned and topstitched. I quilted each very simply along the lines made by the chenille. They all close with a poly-resin snap.

All in all, another good stack to add to my pile for the Pregnancy Care Centre!