First, I need to apologize to Deana Steel for misspelling her name in my last post. I added an extra “n”. Sorry about that Deana!

Last month for the Thimble Pleasures quilt guild the yearly challenge was due. The theme was Black and White with one color. I had a project I’ve had hanging around for MANY years. I decided it needed to be done and it fit the theme perfectly! I started this in a class I took in NH. Those of you in New England know this show has not happened for MANY years! Here is my little piece. It measures 19″ x 21 1/2″

As I got further into finishing this, the lines from “The Night Before Christmas” kept being repeated in my head. “The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow, gave luster of midday to objects below.” I love snow and the beauty of the moon on a snowy night! I’m calling my piece “Winter Trees on a Moonlit Night”. A bit about one of the fun fabrics that I used….can you see the Zebra’s eyes?

I used one of my favorite binding techniques, “Faux Piped Binding“. Some call it a flange binding. I like “faux piped” since it looks like it has piping but doesn’t. Both fabrics are a part of the binding. It is added to the back and turned to the front. All by machine, stitching in the ditch between the faux piping seam and the binding.

This is the binding I added to my Twirl-A-Tool pattern. That binding was extra wide to give the edge some substance. The key is cutting the “faux piping” fabric 1/2″ wider than the binding fabric. My Twirl-A-Tool binding fabric was cut 2″ wide and the faux piping fabric at 2 1/2″ wide. This gave the wide 4″ double fold binding. I love how it worked on the edge of Twirl-A-Tool! The pop of color on the edge is part of the binding!! Now, the Winter trees binding was cut 1 1/4″ wide and the faux piping was cut at 1 3/4″ wide. When you sew the two of them together the total binding width will be 2 1/2″ for a double fold binding. I usually make a 2 1/4″ binding but the extra width will allow for a slightly wider binding edge. Plus with all my bindings, I get the perfect finish with Brilliant Bindings tool and instructions.

#1- Challenges are a great way to get UFOs finished! I believe the “Winter Trees on a Moonlit Night” was 10 years in the making yikes! But, now it is DONE!

#2 – Play with your binding! I love how a “faux piped binding” can add a highlight of color to the edge of a quilt without a lot of work or adding a narrow border that can be tricky to keep even.

in quilting,

Debbie