Last week I had a fun day sewing with a couple of friends. My Sweet Babboo was going to work on a car project with a friend of his, whose wife is one of my sewing buddies. She invited another quilt guild member to join us and we spent a lovely afternoon sewing and chatting while the guys worked in the garage. I had a project in mind for a charity quilt with a hard deadline, so it was the perfect time to get started. I cut a bunch of squares at home first.

I was offered one of her machines to sew, so I didn’t have to bring mine. She wound a bobbin of red thread for me, and I was off sewing squares into sets of two. Then, I sewed those into rows of four. I just sewed the squares randomly, only making sure that the same print was not side by side.

The rows of four were sewn into rows of eight, then the seams were pressed to one side. Pinning the rows together kept the seams nested.

Two rows together.

It worked out almost perfectly. I only had to remove one seam and turn a section around to keep from having the same print side by side.

Back home, on Saturday, I finished off my ruler practice, and laid out the red quilt to find batting and backing. It rained all day, so it was a great day to work on it. Rats, this batting was too narrow.

But I had two pieces of it. Here’s my tip for joining batting pieces. Use an edge joining foot that has a center flange. Sew with the widest zigzag stitch your machine has, and a longer stitch length. The flange will lift just enough extra thread to keep the pieces from puckering.

A quick press when you are done and the seam lies absolutely flat. It will not be noticeable in the finished quilt.

I pieced a backing as well, to use up more of my stash. Then I loaded it onto the longarm.

I used burgundy red Glide on top, with Bottom Line in the bobbin.

I used a favorite pantograph for the quilting, just because it was quick. I do need more practice with my rulers, but I’ll use the next table runner for that.

It took a lot longer for me to finish quilting as I just cannot stand that long now. So, more breaks to rest meant it took all day to get it done. But I did finish the quilting. I trimmed it up, and it is ready for binding.

This little quilt is destined for overseas travel. It is going to an orphanage in Ethiopia. These little quilts are not for warmth, they are cuddle comfort for children. The daughter of a local beloved quilter (Lynn Easler, the founder of our local quilt shop) is making a trip there in June. The quilt drive is supported by the current owners of Beginnings Quilt Shop, Todd and Kathy. They are providing sewing time on Sundays for four weeks April 16 through May 7, in the afternoons from 4-6 pm. Lynn has left some kits there as well. If you are local, consider taking your machine to the sew-in and sewing for the cause. See the Beginnings What’s New page for details. If you want to make one out of your stash, shoot for a size of about 40×50, give or take an inch or two. You can leave them at Beginnings Quilt Shop anytime before May 22.

Are you sewing this week? What are you working on?