It's the little things...
 

Anybody else have trouble doing small projects?

This year I've made 3 bed sized quilts, one crib sized and I'm working on a throw sized quilt.

The big projects are turning out okay, but I'm having trouble with potholders of all things!

They ought to be the simplest things in the world to do. There's always something wrong with it. It's crooked or points aren't perfect and oh my goodness-the binding! I have no problem binding a quilt but the potholders are a disaster.

I think it's just hard to do little stuff and I need to slow way down and just pin heavily.

What little things are hard for you guys to do?

Don't be so hard on yourself! You might try glue basting the binding on the pot holders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErffI5sWovI
Try these. They are cute and super easy. I love making them, they are addictive!!!! Takes about 5 minutes to make!!

People often make the mistake of thinking small equals easy. I've made a lot of sewn items, and still feel one of the hardest is stuffed animals and doll clothing. You've got so little room for fudging with smaller items, and even one small mistake (like one point off on a potholder) is noticed because it's only one of 8 points, not one of 800 points in the piece.

My husband was making mug rugs and putting the binding on. He ended up measureing the binding and sewing it in a loop first, then sewing it on. It was just too small an area to try seaming the binding after sewing most of it on the mug rug.

this is interesting! how does he get the exact right size before sewing? I know you said he measured, but I always have variance with the corner miters, if the two pieces don't feed evenly, etc. it may be just a little, but that would look bad at the end

Potholders and other small things just really magnify any irregularities that would not be obvious on quilt sized pieces. When I make quilts, I sew the binding on the top with my machine, then turn the binding to the back and machine stitch in the ditch on the front side to catch the binding on the backside. It always looks fine, but when I do pot holders I always end up hand stitching the backside of the binding, muttering all the while since I really don't like to sew by hand LOL! So why oh why did I decide to do potholders and table protectors for Christmas presents this year!!!!!!!!

Guess what I'm doing right now and probably for the rest of the day????

Rob (mutter mutter)

I'm going to keep on making little stuff after a break.

But yeah, there just isn't enough wiggle room. :)

I don't know how I made that quilt for my daughter look like anything decent. (1.5" squares) Must have been all that decorative stitching!

I really have major binding issues though. I tried putting some of the stuff away for a while to see if it would be so noticeable after a few weeks. Nope, still there.

On a brighter note, I think I might be getting the hang of FMQ.

But I still haven't figured out the tension enough to use two different colors for front and back unless I'm quilting something really thick.

I just did a quilt top using paper piecing. I thought I would hate it, but it's really grown on me due to all points matching up nicely. (Morning Stars from Quilters Cache in scrappy blues and whites) Looking forward to the next one already after I get this one done.

Made couple potholders for gifts. Kept them hated how they looked to give. Now I just use them at home. DH likes them because they're so big.

Mind is binding. I still try to do it by hand.

Instead of binding, why don't you sew and turn right side out (I think with quilts, they call it "birthing"). Whip stitch the opening that you use to turn them, do a little quilting, then sew 1/4" from the edge all around. Make a loop and sew it in before you sew the front and back together.