Why I needed skinny little binding

 Here's my new Brochettes sample for an improved pattern cover.

Brochettes placemats and runner by Canuck Quilter Designs

I love my original sample.  I'm very happy with how it looks in person, but some quilt projects just don't work well in a small thumbnail image of a pattern cover.  This was one of those so I needed a new version.

You're probably wondering what this has to do with skinny little binding.  Well, maybe you aren't wondering, but I would be. Here's a hint:

Mini versions of a Brochette placemat and runner

Isn't it fun how the lack of context messes with our perception of the size of something?  With the mug added, you can see that these are not the full size placemats and runner you'd get if you followed the pattern. These mini versions used pieces that finish at half the size the pattern calls for, which resulted in placemats and a runner that are one quarter the size of the original. 

But why?  Why make minis?  When I looked through my stash for a new colour combo for the new sample, these fabrics jumped out.  They are Heavy Metal batiks from Island Batik's Fall/Winter 2023 collections and I only had scraps left.  There wasn't enough for a full size placemat and runner, but once I envisioned them in this colour combo I couldn't unsee them.  The rest of my stash just did not measure up!  I did some math and was thrilled to see I could manage a mini version.  As long as I kept everything to scale and photographed the set without anything else to hint at the actual size nobody would have to know!

Quilting the mini placemat, thinking it was super cute before I realized
a regular binding would be weirdly wide in comparison

That's where the skinny little binding come in.  When I came up with the grand plan to make these mini tricksters, I forgot about the binding.  The usual 1/4 inch binding sewn to these smaller versions would look  very odd.  It would either clue people in that these are actually smaller, or it would look like wierdly wide binding.  To match the scale of the placemat, the binding would have to finich at 1/8" wide.

Ha!  I could make 1/8" binding!  I thought I could just add binding with a 1/4" seam allowance as usual (because that would be easier than sewing with an 1/8" allowance right?) them I could trim off some of the seam allowance to make it skinnier before I folded the binding to the back.  Ooops, I forgot about the pesky corners.  Stitching goes all the way to the edge of the seam allowance at the coner, so trimming away the seam allowance there involved some ripping and...you know what?  You don't need the details.  It was a bad idea.

Anyhow, after much ripping and trimming and finagling, I was able to stitch the binding to the back, stitching in the ditch from the front and catching binding on the back.  

1/8" binding looking so tiny and delicate

It looks pretty good on the straight bits, but I'm not showing you a close-up of the corners.  They're a bit gnarly up close, but you can't see that at pattern cover photo size, so they'll do.

Before binding the runner I Googled a bit to see if I could find tips for making mini binding, but all I could find were tips on adding 1/4" binding to tiny quilts.  I quite definitely wanted 1/8" binding.  The one thing I took away from my search was that single fold binding would be better.  One tutorial I found added the binding fabric as though adding a border.  I thought that seemed like a good idea.  It ceratinly made trimming the seam allowance easier.  The method also didn't give a mitered corner, but I would have been OK with that.  I was looking for tidy, mitered or not.  Well, at the scale I was working with, seams were getting in the way and it didn't work.  I finally figured out a method that controlled the bullk in the corners, but the last corner was a bit of a mess no matter what I did.  So, in short, I can't share a good method with you.  I'm not sure I want to keep experimenting with this, but if I do make a mini again and experiment with super skinny binding again, and come up with some good tips, I'll let you know. 

I'm still really happy with my little minis.  I think they're super cute, and they'll dress up a small table quite nicely.  My coffee addicted hubby wants the placemat mini for a mug rug.

I'm also quite pleased with the new pattern cover.  The original one is on the left.  I think you can see the design so much more clearly on the new cover.  I feel better about submitting this to distributors now, so hopefully you may see this pattern in shops soon.  Until then you can get a PDF download version in my Etsy shop.

Original and revised pattern covers for Brochettes

Next up, I'm going back to normal scale sewing !  Patchwork Wishes now has borders and is waiting for quilting.  I have regular 2 1/4" double fold binding ready and waiting for a an easy 1/4" binding! That said, if you have tips on making mini binding, send them my way in case I lose my mind again and try another mini :)

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Shimmering Tiles

 I love an on-point quilt setting, and I love not having to fuss with long sashing strips.  Shimmering Tiles checks off both!

Shimmering Tiles by Canuck Quilter Designs made with fabrics from
Island Batik's Essence collection

I love a design that looks complex but is in fact simple to construct.  Shimmering Tiles looks like it could have Y-seams, but it doesn't.  It has triangles, but thanks to stitch-and-flip you only cut and sew squares.  Well, only squares with the exception of the setting triangles to set everything on point.  On point settings are not difficult, I promise!

Shimmering Tiles by Canuck Quilter Designs made with fabrics from
Island Batik's Essence collection

This version was made with Island Batik's pretty Essence collection, which is shipping to stores soon. 

Batiks from Island Batik's Essence collection

Though I chose only aquas for this design, the collection also includes some purples and spring greens.  There's alot of potential there!

Essence fabric collection from Island Batik

While Island Batik selected this version for their catalog, I also mocked it up in two other collections from their Fall/Winter 2024 catalog.

Shimmering Tiles by Canuck Quilter Designs mocked up in fabrics from
Island Batik's Autumn Twilight collection 

Shimmering Tiles by Canuck Quilter Designs mocked up in fabrics from
Island Batik's Radiant Burst collection 

I'd love to remake the quilt in each of these collections, but there are only so many hours in a day, so I only get to recolor them in EQ.

What colors would you choose?

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Using a Fabric Key

What's a fabric key?  It's a tool to help you sort out and keep track of which fabric to use where in a quilt design.  It's especially useful when you plan to use different fabrics than the pattern cover quilt.

For the the last several years I have included a fabric key in most of my patterns. Here's what the fabric key from Shiny Blossoms looks like.  It's sharper in the pattern. Saving parts of the pattern as pictures to insert here made them fuzzy, but you get the idea.  

Match up the fill of a component of the design in the diagram with the matching fill in the table to identify how the fabric for that component is named in the pattern. 

You can use the key in two ways.  First, it can help identify how the fabrics in the cover quilt are labelled in the pattern. Comparing the pattern fills in the diagram and the table, I see that Fabric 1 is used in the center star.  Comparing the photo to the diagram, I can figure out that the star is made with Fabric 1.

Knowing that, I can refer to the fabric requirements for the right amount of fabric for the various components of the quilt.

The second, possibly more important use of the fabric key is to keep track of my fabric choices as I work through the pattern making the quilt.

In the example above, I planned to use the floral in the star, and working back through the diagram I knew to use that wherever the pattern references Fabric1, or where the diagrams use the pattern fill for Fabric 1.

I recommend jotting down description of the actual fabric you've chosen for each fabric.  You can use the fabric name, or its color, or describe the print.  You could take it a step further and make things even clearer by snipping a small swatch of the fabric you chose and taping it to the table beside the appropriate label.

Did you notice in the photo above that I used "yellow" twice?  That's because I chose to use that fabric for two different elements instead of using two different fabrics.  It's OK.  It's allowed!

Notice also that the color value of the fabric you choose doesn't always match the value in the cover quilt or in the fabric key.  In the three versions of Shimmering Tiles below, all shown on the pattern cover, the dark, medium and light fabrics are in different places.  

It's just not feasible for the pattern to include assembly diagrams recolored for every possibility.  When you use the fabric key, the value of the pattern fill is irrelevant, as long as you know which actual fabric the fill represents. Just make sure to refer back to your fabric key often to make sure you're using the right fabric in the right place!

Finally, if the pattern doesn't include a key, I encourage you to make your own.  Grab a piece of paper and copy the fabric descriptions from the fabric requirements.  Coimpare that to the pattern cover quilt to make sure you know what is used where.  Finally, add details about your own fabric choices to replace what's in the cover quilt.

That's it!  I'm off to play with fabric :)

Happy quilting,

Joanne