Charm Pack Quilt

I love a great charm pack, don't you? At usually around $8 each, they are a cheap thrill for me to indulge in some material obsession , get the entire designer's line, and start a quilt project with some of the cutting already done! There are whole quilt books dedicated to clever ways to use the 5 inch squares. In Megan's simple quilt, the charms get the attention they deserve, surrounded by 2 inch strips in a "Square in a Square" pattern. There are so many fun ways that "Square in a Square" can be interpreted making it an easy quilt for the beginning quilter and a way for the expert to have a quick design challenge as well.

Last night, I finished up the binding on both of these quilts destined for  New Hope Homes.
I do love, love, love a stripy binding.  Megan's quilt is bound in an Amy Butler stripe I've had in my stash for a while.  The pink and black quilt is bound in a fun Brother and Sister stripe that I found at Hobby Lobby.  I like the way that the lime and grey in the stripe accent all the pink and black loveliness.

Have you tried pre-wound bobbins? I love them for machine quilting. You know how much thread it takes up and these pre-wound babies help relieve the annoying need to change out the bobbin so often. I was running low on my favorite brand (Admiral) and so gave these MasterPiece bobbins a try.  The sales clerk at a LQS told me that these were the cream of the crop and I went home so excited. Maybe it's just my machine, but I've never had bobbin thread shred until using these: Big disappointment. I think I will try to return the rest of the 20 bobbins I purchased. If you use pre-wound bobbins, I'd love to hear about your favorite brand.

I decided to change it up a bit yesterday  and catch up on my virtual sewing bee blocks  instead of working entirely on donation quilts. Kelly sent some fabric scraps and invited us to add in some of our own to make these 10.5 inch blocks plus a siggy block. Here's her inspiration. I may have to try one of these myself using Leaders/Enders sometime.

Last, but not least, while shopping for the bobbins I couldn't resist this cutie pie.  I'm such a sucker for birds! I'm envisioning a little summer sundress for one of my granddaughters, with scraps left over for.......whatever!!
*edited in embarrassment because due to "operator error" the real reason that the MasterPiece bobbins were such a disappointment is all my own fault!  I got to thinking about it and decided that maybe I should try just putting the entire bobbin with the cardboard sides and all into the bobbin case to see what happened.  Voila! It worked like a charm!  With the other bobbins, I have been removing the cardboard sides for the best tension. Okay, maybe these really are the "cream of the crop"!  I stand corrected.