Sunday 10 July 2011

LANT 1 - success!


I got started on my LANT challenge at the beginning of last week.  If you don't know about my LANT challenge, basically I challenge you to learn something new in the world of craft - anything!  A new technique, a new craft, whatever.

I had been challenged by Susan to try binding.  So I did!  Now, I've shown you process photos along the way, so I wont go into the piecing and quilting.  I'll start with the binding.  I wanted it to match the grey I'd used so I decided to make my own.  Easy I thought, I've got a binding maker... 


Hmm.  Not quite what I was after!  I abandoned the gadget and just decided to sew the edges on and fold them over, much easier than trying to sew along a pre-set line.  I'd bookmarked loads of tutorials, but in the end I just wung it!


So here we are with the binding sewn on the front by machine.


And folded over and pinned to the back.  Hours and hours and hours of slip stitching later...



Ta da!!  Here's a close up of one of them...

The binding is far from perfect, but pretty good for a first attempt if I do say so myself!



And here's the back.  The quilting doesn't show up so well but I really love the effect of all those rainbow lines - each thread matched the fabric on the front.


You can see it better here...


I don't like the other one so much.  I think I should have stitched in the ditch along the seams.


See what I mean?


But we're talking about binding, so here it is close up!



And a view of the back... again the quilting isn't so successful on this one.



So there we have it.  I did another LANT yesterday which wasn't a success!  I'll blog about it in the week but for now, I'm off to a party.


14 comments:

Just-Do said...

Good for you! It's always great to learn something new and binding is not really the most easy thing there is. It took me quite a while before I got it right. Now I do it almost the same way as you show, only I have my binding-strip double. After sewing it on and folding it to the back I don't have to care about any seam. Besides that I think the binding is a little bit more firm.
Looking forward to your next LANT.

Fiona said...

Way to go... I do love how you take something new for you headon.... and personally I think those mats you have made are wonderful.....
Hugz

Sandra :) said...

They're great, Wendy - I especially love the rainbow striped ones (the first ones pictured) - I love the TOT (tone on tone) look of quilting them with the same colour - it looks great!

Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy said...

cool! the binding looks good to me. I would love it if you would link up to my Tuesday Confessional party going on now. There is a really great giveaway going on with it. I hope to see you soon! http://www.craftyconfessions.com/2011/07/tuesday-confessional-linky-party-and.html
~Macy

Cuckoo said...

Oh my! They turned out excellently. Are you chuffed??

xxx

Katie @SwimBikeQuilt said...

I love rainbows! These look great.

Jill said...

Great work with the binding! Can't believe it's your first attempt!! Your quilts are seriously gorgeous too!
Love your creativity and I'm now following your blog!

Thanks for linking to the Creating Success Worldwide blog hop!! Hope you'll come back again next week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

chris said...

I love these placemats! You did a fantastic job of piecing and quilting. The rainbow color is so bright and cheery. You may want to try a larger size bias tape maker for binding. I use a binder that takes a 2" wide piece of fabric, and it's a perfect size for binding.

Jenniffier said...

Very cute. Great quilting especially the second one :)

Jenn
jenniffier.blogspot.com

claudia becker said...

I loved your rainbow! The back looks like a maze.

Jenn said...

I Love the striped one!

Jill @ A Mom With a Lesson Plan said...

Those mats are beautiful. I love the idea of learning something new...great post;)

Jamie said...

Love the rainbow placemat! I'm a new follower from The Sunday Scoop Link party. :o)

For Love of Cupcakes

Mindie Hilton said...

Following with GFC :)
Thanks for linking up to Bacon Time. Hope to see you this week too.