Be honest, don’t many quilters say that they don’t enjoy binding their quilts? In my experience, many don’t.

If binding makes you crazy, I found something that I think you’re going to like.

One possible reason for the negative reactions

One reason why some dislike binding a quilt could be the obvious, because it can be difficult to do, even confusing. Instructions designed to help, are often more confusing than helpful.

Well, take heart fellow quilters. I stumbled on a video on U Tube. It was a tutorial about how to use a particular binding tool.

I’m sure many quilters have seen it, but are unaware of how useful and easy to use this one is.

The video I saw was made by the Minnesota Quilting Company. With so many binding tools to chose from, how do you decide?

This video gave a live demonstration of how easy this is to use & what a beautiful job it does. The two ends are joined with a perfect miter.

Seeing is believing.

I hope you watch the video demonstration and decide for yourself . You might just begin to like quilt binding. It’s called The Binding Tool. made by the Tom company. It’s available everywhere, I liked the Missouri Quilt Company best, they have lots of great instructional  tutorials videos and other products..

I’m celebrating, and singing the praises of The Binding Tool. One word of

The link has stopped working apparently. You can always do it the old fashioned way; google the Minnesota Quilting Company. Then look for their tutorial section. It’s worth the extra steps to get there. Or cut and past the UTube link above

Blue and Pink A cherry blossom art quilt, it is a big size and all those cherry blossoms took a long  Time to make. I took the inspiration photos last spring and I have finally finished my art quilt. That’s a while.

I’ve had a few progress reports along the way, so I’m  sure that you have seen this quilt already.

Here’s my video of the finished art quilt.

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A Few Small Changes Can Go Far

In an earlier post I suggested that it is possible to give a room a spruce up on a limited budget. Here is a good.place to start.

Paint- It can make a huge difference for a small cost. Even if you’ve never painted a room, believe me anyone can do it. You can overcome the fear of what looks like an intimating job armed with some helpful instructions. Watch some “how to” videos on UTube, you’ll be shocked how easy it is.

  1. Before buying any paint, get some ideas from Pinterest. There are so many fun clever ways to use paint to add style & make a real design statement. Check out some of those boards and notice how many clever ideas there are.

A hint, if you’re trying to give a room a new feel and change it up,  I would advise against choosing white. It is a safe choice, but not likely to bring a noticeable change. Often it is more of a neutral, taming an extremely busy room, giving your eyes somewhere to rest.

When choosing paint, the biggest thing you can do to increase the likelihood  of success is to  fork out the small expense of purchasing one of the small sample cans of the color you think you’re going to choose. Go home and paint a very large swath of that color, a big one and then live with it for a few days. Look at it in  different lights , at different times of the day. Do you like the color in different lighting?

My kitchen is yellow and blue kitchen. I love the buttery yellow next to the country white of my old cupboards. The blue tile countertops ( not visible) have a country feel.

Pink living room walls, a little different perhaps,  but if it is the exact perfect shade of pink paired with the furnishings and style that harmonize it can be great. The look I was going for was English Country. 

  1. A few great books to read if that style interests you are inspiring, “Nina Campbell’s Decorating Secrets”, “Henrietta-Churchill’s  Classic Design Styles” and for classic English “Colefax and Fowler The Best In English Interior Design” by Chester Jones”. Color and fabric pattern are crucial to create that look. Paint plays a role as well .I’ve seen a lot of yellow walls as well as pink. The wall paints and colors like butter yellow and pink as well as others are integral.

Paint, it can define a room. Maybe it can work for you,