Today's Project: Binding Ayve's quilt

Back in the summer, my niece Alicia requested a quilt for her new baby Penny and toddler daughter, Ayve. The color scheme was (fortunately) one of my favorites: gray, yellow and white. The first quilt out of the gate was the baby-sized quilt for Penny. I loved making the big graphic zig zag in one of my favorite lines, Aviary2 by Joel Dewberry.

Next up was a twin-size bed quilt for Ayve. This quilt is a simple, modern square design using the same fabric line. I finished that quilt top very quickly, but since it is somewhat large - quilting it in my usual way at home just wasn't an option. I love to quilt baby and toddler sized quilts, but anything larger becomes a nightmare of shoulder-wrenching wrestling between me, the quilt, the machine and the dining room table. The quilt pattern, should you need one, is from Elizabeth Hartmann's book, The Practical Guide to Patchwork, and the quilt is called "Small Plates". I'm pretty sure I adjusted it because I always do, but that's the basis.

I had this quilt quilted by Shelley Cannon, my aunt Mary's friend who lives in Oklahoma (thus providing a necessary connection to my quilting heritage since I learned how to quilt there). It's just lovely.

Today I am binding the quilt. This is one of my favorite steps in the process because despite all the tools and progress in modern quilting, binding is still done the old fashioned way by most quilters. That is, you stitch down strips of fabric to the top of the quilt and then handstitch to the reverse side. The process is very therapeutic - all that hand stitching - and gives it a satisfying homemade finish.

More photos when the project is complete!

And - COMPLETE! mailed off today!