Tuesday Tutorial: Inside Corners

Remember this from "Sunday is for Scraps?"

And this?

They became this:

It's the A la Mode Placemat Table Topper -- placemats and table topper in one.  The designer is Kathy Heaverlo of Birch Bay Washington.  I found Kathy's clever item on Craftsy.com by searching for "placemats" and "charm squares."  It takes only 45 charm squares plus some fabric for backing, binding and borders.

Although I've been quilting for nearly 40 years, I never had to miter an inside corner before I made this project.  Turns out, it's not so hard -- like most things -- once you know how.

Here's a tutorial for mitering inside corners.

1.  First, trim the batting and backing even with the quilt top.

2.  Next, top stitch inside the quarter inch seam line.

3.  Then trim only the batting and backing at an angle to the corner.

4.  Nip the corner to within 1/8 inch of the top stitching.

5.  On the straight side of the quilt, attach the binding as you normally would. When you approach the corner, pull the quilt that extends to the right-hand side down toward yourself so the seam is straight and parallel to the raw edge of the binding.

6.  Fold the extra fabric up and to your left so it doesn't make a tuck in the seam.

7.  When it's sewn, the seam will look like this.  Now you can trim the seam allowance through all layers at an angle to the corner.

8.  By pulling the two sides toward each other, a miter will naturally form in the binding.  You may have to "urge" it with your fingernail to fold neatly.

Because this is a placemat and will probably be washed often, I machine-stitched the binding from the right side using Superior Threads' Mono Poly as the top thread and regular cotton in the bobbin.

You can see in this photo that practice will make the corners neater.

But Chutney approves!

From the desk of your

Another Mystery Monday

 I got behind on my Mystery BOM while I was traveling.  And I'll miss the next step -- while traveling!

Here is the step I missed last month.  Mary, you were right -- that weird piecing resulted in Flying Geese.  I trimmed mine up using Eleanor Burns' Small Flying Geese Ruler.

This strange piece uses Diagonal Corners in two colors.  These must be sashing: 

But it's a Mystery!

Have you ever tried to bind a quilt that has both "inside" and "outside" corners?  Tune in tomorrow for Tuesday's Tutorial on binding difficulties.


From the desk of your

Sunday is for Scraps (and hostess gifts!)

On my trip to Idaho, I'll be visiting one of my nieces.  I realized this morning, I don't have a hostess gift for her!

Lucky for me, I have a huge collection of 5" squares, and a new pattern for a combination table-topper/placemats.

The design is based on the "disappearing 9-patch", aka "split 9-patch."  A disappearing 9-patch starts with -- surprise! -- a simple 9-patch block:

Next, slice the block through the center both horizontally and vertically.  Then turn each of the resulting four pieces one-quarter turn and reassemble the block:

I'll show you the assembly of the table-topper for Works in Progress Wednesday. 






From the desk of your