Happy Squishy Mail!!

I love squishy mail!!  I got my mini  all the way from Scotland sent from Lochside Quilter this weekend!  It is perfect!!!  I love, love, love it!!!   I am so thankful to my wonderful partner, Lochside Quilter, who created this beautiful mini just for me :)

I got a plethora of extra goodies along with my squishy packaged.    Lochside Quilter really spoiled me.  I love that all of the goodies continue with the purple theme!!  That purple seam ripper is my new favorite!!!  (And guaranteed, it will get lots of good use. )

And here it is on my cute little wall of mini's!!   Doesn't it just fit in perfect!!!  Lochside Quilter stalked me well!!  I can't tell you how happy these make me.  My three mini's now represent 3 countries, Scotland, Australia, and Canada.  How cool is that!!

Oh, and a quick reminder.  The Sweet Celebrations Blog Hop kicks off today.  Check it out, and then come back tomorrow when it will be hoping on over here!!

September Bee Blocks - Just Under the Wire

Well I cut it pretty close this month :)  Yesterday afternoon I finally pulled out my bee fabrics and put together my two September blocks :)

Susan asked us to make a spiderweb block using all sorts of adorable Halloween fabric she sent us.  This is going to be a cute Halloween quilt when it is all put together!!

And Colby  asked us to make a  spiderweb block (yup, 2 different bees but the same block, fun!!) using a rainbow of colors from our scrap bins.  I love playing in my scraps and especially when working in rainbows.

I had made a spiderweb block once before and forgot just how much fun they are to put together :)  I thought it was quite fitting moving into October to put together 2 spiderweb blocks in the same day.  And now they are on their way to their new owners and I can start work on my October Bee Blocks :)

Winner and Quilt-A-Long ???

Before I announce a winner, let me say Thank You!!!  I am so overjoyed by all of the sweet comments left on my Starburst Tutorial.  I am blown away by how many times it was pinned!!  And I am floored by how many hits it got it just 3 days.  You all sure know how to make a girl feel loved!!  It was even suggested to do Starburst as a quilt-a-long :)  (Would anyone be interested in that??)

And I also want to send a huge Thank You  to Pat Bravo!!!  It was so incredibly wonderful to work with her and her team on this  project!!  I look forward to doing it again!!

And thanks to Pat, one of you luck readers is about to win your own stack of Indie Fat Quarters and Pat's amazing new skirt pattern La Boheme!!!  This fabric is simply luscious and I know you will love working with it as much as I did!!

So . . . Let's announcer the Winner!!

From the 805 entries (WOW!!) Mr. Random. Org choose lucky # 5

Who happens to be . . . mtnquiltr!!!  Congrats!!!  I have sent you an email :)

Thanks again to everyone who entered!!  And remember to let me know if you want to do a Starburst Quilt-A-Long :)  Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

TNT Thursday - A Custom Binding Tutorial

So you might not have noticed, but I tried something new on my Starburst quilt.  What is it you ask??  I made a custom binding!!!

See, the points of the starburst match the binding, all the way around the quilt :)  Cool huh!!

And while I was doing it, I figured I might as well take a few pictures and whip up a little tutorial.   But, a little forewarning on this tutorial.  I only went over the details on making the binding custom.  There are no references on making a basic machine binding, so if you need you can see my video tutorial on machine binding here , then the rest of this will make a little more sense :)

Start by marking your quilt with a pin everywhere you want to change your binding.  I marked mine in the center of the sashings.

Now measure the amount of space  between the pins.  Add 4" for corners and then another 3" for wiggle room.  Make a binding strip for each measurement in the designated print.  Don't attach the strips.

Now you are ready to start attaching the binding.  Start by laying the first binding strip 1 1/4" over the first marking pin.  Begin attaching the binding another 6" away from the pin.  Remember to back-stitch at the beginning.

Stitch until you get about 7" away from your next marker pin.  (Sorry I forgot to take a picture the first time so this is actually my next binding strip.)  Back-stitch a few stitches and remove the quilt from your machine.

Measure 1 1/4" down from your marker pin and clip the excess binding.

Now it is just like making a normal binding strip. Lay your next strip onto the attached strip with right sides together at a 90 degree angle.  Sew a diagonal seam to attach the 2 strips.

Clip the excess 1/4" away from the seam.  Now put your quilt back in your machine and begin stitching once again.  Your seam change will be directly over your marker pin creating the custom binding look :)  Repeat each time you get to a marker pin.

When you get to the end of your binding measure 2 1/2" over the original strip and then trim the top strip.  Once again lay your two strips together at a 90 degree angle with right sides together and stitch a diagonal seam.  Then finish sewing the binding down.

Now simply turn your quilt over and tack down the front of the binding.

And your done!!!  One custom bound quilt!!

So that is what I have been up to this week??  Link on up!!

<a border="0" href="http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src=" https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjERmOwnuoN_yJzxwDc-0EeiilcFD1-q0nwIYFJi8QgWQomMNyUe-mWSSLzpB1MHklEHvw7R3SgK4qNy-XzyNo0-QVoY6bWsu3_ACS-uXIDSqii5EEEEgawSE6dBGJI0DWhpWddnS0yvLs/s1600/TNT-thursdays-blog-button.jpg"/></a>

Phoenix Quilts

** If you are looking for the Indie Fat Quarter Giveaway you will find it here :)

Earlier this summer I posted about donating some quilts to Operation Wood Hollow.  Operation Wood Hollow was set up to provide a quilt for those families who lost their homes in the Wood Hollow fire.  Well, it was a tremendous success.  So much so, that Julie, the project's creator, expanded the project!!  It is now called Phoenix Quilts, Rising from the Ashes, and it's goal is to provide quilts to all families in the Western United States who have lost their homes in wildfires.

Today my donation is being featured on their blog.  Please, take a second and pop on over to Phoenix Quilts and see if you can help with this tremendous project.  So far they have had 300 quilts donated and while that does put a dent in the amount of families who have lost their homes this year to fires, there is still a ways to go.  I love to think of a sweet little boy having something new to snuggle with when he has lost most of everything else.