It's finished!  I finished my Sew Lux Fabrics Holiday Hustle Quilt Along today.  I started this the beginning of August with the hopes of finishing it by the 31st, in time to be included in a random drawing for a great gift certificate from Sew Lux Fabrics.  Dangle a carrot in front of my nose if you want to get me moving!  And I managed to get it all finished, even with Oliver's sweet help.  I was trimming and squaring the quilt today when he pulled the scraps off to play with under the table. 

 

 

 

 

Here's the finished quilt.  It measures 51" x 59", a little smaller than the pattern says, but I must have taken up some fabric with my quilting.  And another use for Wonder Clips is to hold quilts up for pictures.  The photo doesn't show it, but the quilt is being held by wonder clips hooked to two hangers gripping the top of my entertainment center.  It worked well since I have no open space to place a quilt for photos.

 

 

 

 

This is my quilting pattern..... just simple, wavy lines running from top to bottom.

 

 

I tried the new (new to me, anyway) binding technique where you machine sew the binding on the back, fold it over to the front and machine sew it .... yes, machine sewn on the back and the front!  Here's how it looks on the front.  I used my stitch-in-the-ditch foot to sew between the two fabrics used in the binding.... kind of gives it a piping look.  It was very easy to do and I know that I'll be attaching most of my bindings this way in the future.  This technique is great for quilts that get a lot of use and washing.  The binding will really hold up!  Here's a link to the binding technique..... Susie's Magic Binding.  This tutorial has complete instructions so this won't be as confusing as my description.  Give it a try... you'll love it!

 

 

 

This is the back side of the quilt folded over onto the front.  By sewing the binding from the front side, you will have a narrow line of stitching below the binding on the backside.  I don't find this unattractive, but on an heirloom quilt, I would still hand sew my binding.

 

 

 

Here's the backside again, showing one of the corners.  It looks the same as any binding except for that narrow line of stitching below the binding. 

 

It only took me an hour and a half to sew the binding on this quilt!  That's the back and the top, both sides... completely finished.  It was really nice to finish a quilt binding so quickly.

 

Christmas in August!  One project done.... many more on my to do list!