I am determined to get back into quilting and sewing this quarter. I need to work on my list, but I am excited to play this round!
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Second Quarter Goal List:
-Turn my January star block into a pillow or wall quilt for Ada
-Cut out pot holder kits for QAYG class at Allerton
-Make quilted tote bags for Ada’s teacher gifts
-Make pair of quilted tote bags as friend surprises
-Make a new library book bag (possibly using up a swag tote)
-Make two BOMs
-Start making Mason Jar quilt blocks using stash fruit fabrics from MareMare.
-Use up yellow herb fabric from mom in a donation quilt.
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Today marks the start of our first Bingo call of the quarter!
Today’s Bingo call is:
Use a wideback fabric
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When you do machine binding, the stitches are always visible on the binding, on the front and/or the back, depending how precise you are sewing. There’s nothing particularly wrong with that, but not everyone likes that look. When you do it by hand you can make the stitches completely invisible if you want to, and the binding lies completely flat. Because you’re going so extremely slow it’s also much easier to keep things neat and even.
I’ve chosen to do blanket stitch instead of an invisible stitch, because it’s more sturdy and we’re pretty hard on binding in this house, but I’m using thread in the same colour as the fabric so it’s still barely visible.
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Second quarter goal list
Finish hand binding hexie quilt
Finish zig zag quilt top I finished in Q1
Get started on one of two quilts for me that I got fabric for
Finish BOM for March and all months in Q2
Maybe finish the used denim faux cathedral window quilt that has been lying around for a long time
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I like doing the binding in different ways depending on the project. Sometimes I use a decorative stitch. Sometimes I sew the binding to the front by machine and then hand sew it to the back. If it is a child’s quilt, I will machine bind it all.
I just love your scrappy binding. I will have to start saving strips to make some.
Working on my 2nd quarter post goals and Bingo cards.
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Clue me in, what’s a wide back fabric?
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A wideback fabric is extra wide fabric specifically intended for quilt backing so that you don’t have to piece the back. It’s typically 108" wide. Do you guys not have widebacks there?
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@Edel, It can also be called Quilt Backing.
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No, I think the closest I’ve ever seen was sheeting width, but that’s pretty uncommon these days. I could cheat and just use an actual sheet for a backing 
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It is available here and we call it “double wide” - anything from 2 to 3m wide. Maybe that’s the same as sheeting width?
My local oldfashioned fabric store still has plain white cottons and flannels in that width but they are one of the few shops that still has a good selection of sheet-type fabrics. It’s not an uncommon width for upholstery / curtain fabrics here I think. I’ve never looked for it in quilt shops, but I know longarmers sell extra wide quilting fabric.
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Since wideback fabric is not commonly available in some countries, let’s change this prompt a little bit.
Use a fabric that is wider than the typical quilting cotton width (42-44"). This fabric can be used anywhere within your project.
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Aw thanks hon. I think I’ll qualify as I dyed -am currently-dyeing a sheet for a quilt back. I’ve left it out overnight, hoping rain/bugs etc might add their signature. Or not 
but does it count if I still slice it to add a different fabric in the middle
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That sounds really neat. I hope you’ll post pics once the process is complete!
Sliced, diced, even just a 2” square will work so long as you use material that comes from a wideback/wider than normal fabric.
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I was at the local sewing machine shop, and it seems Bernina longarms have dropped in price by a lot! (They only have Bernina I think).
A few years ago they started at €10k-ish I think (which is close to $12000) and now they start at a bit over €5000.
Of course that’s still a lot of money but it’s a huge difference. Still, the purchase of a longarm machine would require me to buy a bigger house so it would effectively cost me a six-figure sum 
But I have been really interested in trying longarm quilting, and I’ve been vaguely thinking of it as a business opportunity too. As a person with a chronic illness I have a list of work from home business opportunities in the back of my mind, for when the day comes I can’t do my current job anymore, and offering longarm quilt services is one of them. It seems like that’s the only sewing-related service that has reasonable hourly rates.
@Edel didn’t you get one a while back?
I did, it was third hand. And honestly I couldn’t pass it up at the time, because they just don’t come up for sale here-i had thought when I retired today I would buy one, but it would have meant bringing it from the UK.
The one I got cost 3k and setting it up was a bitch and she’s a bit of a mare to use. But I know once I use it a bit more, I’ll get used to it. They do take a lot of space though. Obviously new would mean you would have someone to set it up, and so a lot less hassle than mine. I guess it could be lucrative, but you would have to do a lot of quilts to pay for it. Is there much of a market for longarming there?
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Not a huge market like in the US, but I’m in a fairly big city and our local longarmer is winding down her business. She always has waitlists. The going rate seems to be between 50 and 100 € an hour, of course there’s running costs, tax etc but it just seems way more lucrative than repair or alterations. My friend charges something like €7.50 + material to put in a new zipper and that just makes no financial sense at all. Stacking shelves would be more lucrative than that.
I bought a new coverlock machine in the mid-price category so I’ve spent a lot of time recently at the local sewing machine shop taking classes. Funny, I’m either the one with the cheapest or the most expensive in the group, and often it seems the low spenders are actually more experienced seamstresses!
And what I never truly noticed until recently is how big that group of customers is who are truly wealthy and willing to spend. I sat in class today with a woman who spent more than €3000 on a coverlock machine last year who admitted she bought it on a whim and said she didn’t really know what a coverstitch looked like and what you’d use it for. She brought all her machines in for maintenance and it was her cheapest machine. These are the people buying the €500 pattern and fabric kits at the quilt shop. They are definitely not going to quilt them at home.
It’s just one of maybe 10 vague ideas and I really hope I can work in my current job for years to come, but recently there were supply issues for my medication and I went without for a bit and things went downhill very quickly. So not being able to work has been on my mind recently.
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It’s really a tough one, trying to future proof yourself. Sounds like there is a market there, so it might be worth considering. Here the charge for long arming is per inch, rather than per hour. I believe a decent size quilt that would fit the top of a standard double bed, is about 100-150.
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I think that’s probably cheaper than it is here, but I’m not entirely sure since the only thing I’ve ever sent out is basting. Back then it was €15 per square meter for basting I think. Some things are charged per meter, other things per square meter or per hour. I enjoy the quilting process so I’d rather do it myself but she is much better at basting than I am.
I’m almost 3/4 done hand binding so I believe I’m going to have a finish this weekend!
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