From the Strawberry Patch...: This and That Thursday

I'm picking up where I left off yesterday on the subject of basting down the binding and including the quilt label as another step in the finishing process. My quilts aren't really done until they're labeled! I design my labels on the computer and print them directly onto Printed Treasures fabric sheets that I run through my printer. I heat-set the label with an iron and cut it to fit before I bind the upper and left sides of the label (to match the quilt's binding) before tucking the label under the existing binding on the quilt, in the lower right corner; finally, I baste that down into postion so that the entire process of whipping down the binding, and the label, can be done at the same time. This "framed up" label is a neat last step; be sure and include the quilt's name, your name, where you live and the date; I use the date when I finish the project!

Speaking of cookies... the grandchildren visited over the weekend and I baked M&M cookies; digging out a recipe that I hadn't used for years. The little ones loved them, naturally, and so did Mr. Goodneedle! He got his own batch after the weekend was over, he didn't have to share any of these! When was the last time you baked up a batch of FUN?

The Corn Hole boards have been completed for Mason's upcoming birthday. Once again, something beautifully crafted from the workshop; Mr. Goodneedle earned those cookies!

Do you have a button box? I have a button tin (foreground) it is ten inches in diameter and four inches deep... it holds all of these buttons, barely! It is a great resource when I need a button, as I did for the back of my khaki pants the other day. I couldn't find one that matched the one on the other side, so I needed to find a pair that would work. Any search through the button box takes time... there are so many treasures contained and I have a tendancy to become distracted by the contents. Originally I inherited my grandmother's button basket, her mother-of-pearl and antique shell buttons are a part of this collection; when I outgrew that basket all the buttons came to live together in this one place... novelty buttons, pewter buttons, ceramic buttons, hand painted buttons and so on. It's never too late to start a collection of your own if you don't have one; you'll find countless, handy uses for your buttons, but don't say you haven't been warned about how much time you'll spend poring over them.