I finished stitching all my patchwork strips together and thought of some times to share with you:

When stitching 1/4" seam allowances with a 1/4" foot such as Patchwork Foot #37 or Patchwork Foot with Guide #57, be sure to use the actual edge of the foot as your guide - if your fabric is peeking out from under the side, it's extending past the 1/4" guide. Instead of watching the side of the foot, watch the edge of the fabric as it goes under the toe; this is where you'll align the raw edges of your fabric pieces with the edge of the foot. Another helpful guide is the 1/4" mark on your stitch plate, just in front of the foot. By following both of these guides you'll ensure that your seams are exactly 1/4", and all of your subsequent joins should match properly.

I always buy two spools of thread, then wind one completely on bobbins. That way I know I'll have enough thread on bobbins to last until the needle thread runs out. This works for garment sewing and home dec as well as patchwork. For colors I use a lot (browns, grays, denim blues) I purchase full boxes of thread - I can usually get a bulk discount that way - and I always end up using it all. Last summer I purchased several boxes of brown thread for the My Label wardrobe I put together - 50 weight for my sewing machine, and 60 weight for my serger. I use three or four spools of 60 weight on my serger when sewing garments rather than using serger thread - it comes in lots of colors and is softer on the inside of garments.

I've been poring over Amy Butler's In Stitches for quite a while and have finally decided to do two of the projects at the same time - the Big Dot Pillow from the cover (for my new guest room) and the Decorative Hanging Towels (for the guest bath). Right now the guest room is my "ironing room" and storage area, but soon all the boxes will be empty and there will be room for a bed and some pretty pillows. Instead of using solid fabrics on my towels like Amy did, I'm making extra patchwork and using it for both the pillow and the towels.

I've decided on a color scheme - remember all those lucsious fat quarters I got in February? The Woodstock collection from Benartex has the perfect shades of blue and green for the bathroom, plus the red/pink/orange I've already started in the bedroom. No, really, it's not garish, just cheerful and sunny. I picked up a few things at IKEA and the Crate & Barrel outlet (Naperville, IL) and the Springs/Wamsutta outlet that used to be here in Asheville. The cool colors tone down the hot ones, and the warm ones perk up the cool ones.  

I just finished rotary cutting my strips and I'm ready to go! Time to get out my trusty machine and Patchwork Foot #37... More on my patchwork adventures and changes I'm making to the applique instructions in future posts. Gotta check my stash of Steam-a-Seam 2 and make sure I have enough for all those circles!

My first quilt wasn't nearly as nice as Erika's, but it's been well-loved for over 25 years. I didn't have a clue what I was doing - the fabrics range from lightweight cotton bandanas to dense cotton/poly sheeting. It's folded like this so you can't see the parts where the thinner fabrics have worn completely away!

I love scrap quilts - each piece of fabric has its own story. Some of the squares in this quilt are from my mother's and grandmother's and aunts' fabric stashes, some from garments I'd sewn. The blue & black plaid in the corner is from a pair of shorts I made, the olive green from a top my mother wore in the '60s, the sheeting from my father's aunts...it's fun to sit down and go through them all one by one.

I stitched this together the summer before I started college. I'd been sewing my own clothes for years, but I didn't know much about how to put together a quilt. I had no idea how to apply the binding - it's still attached, so I guess it's doing its job, but I'm glad you can't see it up close! Binding a quilt isn't hard; you just need to know what to do. The Binding Basics Online Class at http://www.berninausa.com/home.jsp has instructions for several binding methods. My four-patch quilt uses - sort of - the single binding technique, using purchased binding. These days I cut my own bias strips and use the double binding method; I like to repeat fabrics from the blocks around the edges, and the two layers of fabric over the edge provide more protection than a single layer. (My quilts get used and loved and laundered a lot; if they were hanging on a wall a single fold binding would be fine.)  

There are so many tools now that make assembling a quilt easier - rotary cutters/mats/rulers, 1/4" presser feet (BERNINA Patchwork Foot #37 and Patchwork Foot with Guide #57), edgestitching feet (BERNINA Edgestitch Foot #10/10C), needle stop up/down features, adjustable needle position - so much easier than scissors, cardboard templates, and a single "all-purpose" foot!

I don't think I'd even heard of machine-quilting when I made this quilt, and I knew I didn't want to stitch it by hand, so I tied it with lengths of acrylic yarn (which has tangled and pilled over the years - I'd use embroidery floss or topstitching thread today). I come from a long line of hand-quilters, and I can hand-stitch when I have to, but I much prefer machine quilting. I've always liked to draw, and machine quilting is very much like drawing a line with a sewing machine needle instead of a pencil or pen. I can machine quilt just about as quickly as I can draw, so it doesn't take me long to complete a quilt once I get it set up. And it's soooo relaxing! Next week I'll show you some of my more recent pieces - which reflect some of the things I've learned through classes and books and looking at hundreds (maybe thousands?) of quilts.