Done and Done-er

My friend Hattie Kate came over two days ago to personally show me how to do a binding. I've been watching the videos, etc., but a real live human is so much better! I did a mug rug for practice, and tadaaa! It looks just great.

After she left, I cut a binding for my Alpine Wonder quilt. But I didn't have enough courage to try it~~until yesterday. I just sat down and sewed it right on. Hattie Kate loves hand-work, and I don't so I carefully pressed the binding down and stitched in the ditch. The back looks a little wonky, but who's gunna see that? Nosy quilters? I'm soooo happy!! This really does open a whole new thing for me. Not intimidated by binding any more. Yea! This pattern is by Mary Lou Hallenbeck and is available at many quilt shops. The reason this 'works' is the special material and then a very interesting fussy cut. If you can't find it, try Corner Quilts in Wauseon, OH. That's where I had this one quilted, too.

I'm also winding yarn for BadAmy. I'm using the warping board to go from 'factory' skein, to 30 foot loops for dying. I put the yarn on my brand new umbrella swift, then wind to the warping board. Takes me about 32 minutes from very start to very finish. The swift needs a tiny bit of paraffin or something, or just plain use, to make it a bit smoother, but other than that the system works. It's not as fast as we hoped, but I can sit in the crafty corner with the boob tube on and wind away. Speaking of which, she needs to get this batch done, so she can dye it for her next sock club shipment. She hasn't dreamed up a colorway yet, but when she does, it's like magic watching her make it happen!