Hello again, Jolly Jabber Readers, it’s Kailee! The quilt is finished, the binding is on, and now it’s time to fill you in on the final leg of this journey.
Today, I’m taking you through the process of deciding on the final layout of the blocks, piecing the top, picking the pantograph, adding the binding, and making the quilt label. Then, I have a handful of quilty confessions that I think (and hope) y’all will relate to! Now, let’s jump into today’s blog.
Piecing the Quilt Top
The instructions in the Triangles on a Roll Quilt Book, and several layouts tested on the design wall at the office, made this step a breeze. The only part that I wasn’t expecting was how slow I would need to sew the long seams. Moving that much material through the machine required more active feeding than I’m used to, but by slowing down and readjusting every foot or so, the process went pretty smoothly.
Picking the Pantograph
Picking the pantograph was pretty easy for me on this one! I knew I wanted one with a leafy/vine look to complement the backing fabric and tie in all the florals. The longarmer I used is Joanna Marsh of Kustom Kwilts, and I couldn’t be more impressed by how it turned out! After looking through her selection, I picked the Keukenhof edge-to-edge design. It’s the perfect medium-density pantograph, and I love the adorable little curls, simple leaves, and vintage floral. It reminds me a lot of the heat transfer embroidery designs from an 1886 Victorian catalogue I have!
To my surprise, my quilt came back to me with a lovely little note from Joanna and a Made in 2025 label that I added to the binding. Quilters are some of the nicest people ever!
Adding the Binding
If you read my quilty secret at the end of the last blog, you know that the idea of hand stitching on binding was the thing I claimed I would never do. Of course, because I said I would never do it, it only makes sense that it is now my favorite part of the whole process! I’ve tried machine stitching the binding on smaller projects, but I don’t love the way it looks, and I have had to go back and re-sew parts I’ve missed every time.
I’ve found that my favorite needles for stitching down binding are the John James Size 11 Gold’n Glide Milliners Needles. Since starting here, I’ve tried several brands and needles, and these are my perfect bowl of porridge. At a size 11, they’re nice and thin, making it easy to stitch through multiple layers of fabric (and sometimes batting). Kimberly really likes a shorter needle, but I like the extra length that a milliners needle gives me. Needle choice is one of those things that takes some trial and error to see what you prefer, because there truly is no wrong choice.
Making a Label
In true “(Overly) Confident Beginner” fashion, I decided to try my hand at foundation paper piecing for the label. Several months ago, I tried making this free X-Wing foundation paper piecing block designed by Quiet Play as a part of her Mini Star Wars Paper Pieced Patterns. The finished block looks much more complicated than it is in practice, and the pattern is sew easy to follow! I liked making this block so much that I had it in my mind that I was going to make one and use it as the quilt label for this quilt. Spoiler alert: it looks fantastic!
To attach it to the quilt, I used some Heat n Bond Lite fusible web to keep it in place, appliqué stitched the edges, and did a simple echo stitch around the X-Wing to secure the center of the block. If you attach your label after quilting, like I did, make sure your stitches don’t go through to the front of the quilt!
Confessions of An (Overly) Confident Beginner
As the title promises, I’m sharing some of my quilty confessions. During my first year as a quilter, I’ve certainly learned a lot, developed tons of new skills, and made many mistakes along the way. Here are a handful of my quilty confessions. Please feel free to share yours in the comments below so I don’t feel so alone!
- I do kind of judge people who hate starching… but only because it makes piecing soooooo much easier for me! When someone says they don’t like starching, I could not relate less, lol.
- I really considered entirely remaking my label when I messed up the writing because I didn’t feel like unpicking that one piece and replacing it. With some encouragement from a few stitchy staffers here, I pushed past my disdain for unpicking, and it wasn’t that bad after all.
- I did no less than ten layouts trying to decide the placement of my blocks, and I made all of my friends vote on which placement was their favorite before piecing the top. Even then, I left it on the design wall for several days, periodically going to look at it to make sure I still liked it.
- I like to think I’m good at visualizing the size of things, but when this quilt top was finished, I couldn’t believe how big an 86″ x 86″ quilt really is—it’s a monster of a quilt!
- Some quilts I finished before I finished this quilt include the Stardust Quilt sample in Muse, the On The Boardwalk Quilt, and two baby-sized Jelly Roll Jam quilts.
- I still backstitch at the beginning and end of all my seams. I know it’s not necessary, but growing up, my mom made me think that if I didn’t, all my projects would fall to pieces, and that caution is too ingrained in me to stop.
- I have a broken needle and pin graveyard that’s the result of sewing over pins, losing them on the floor, rolling over them with my sewing chair, and accidentally crushing the glass heads with my clapper.
- After the marathon quilting day that I wrote about last time, I stopped keeping up with my quilting journal. I was so good about noting what I did each day, but after that, it was a lot of the same thing, so I just came back and updated it with the finishing details at the end.
What’s Next?
For my third and final quilty secret, I want to let you know that I both do and don’t know what’s next! This quilt has been the through line of my crafting this year, and it feels weird to not have a long-term project to start on right away. I’m really considering joining the Sewcialites 3 Sew Along in 2026 as my first sew along, but that leaves me with a few months to do… what?! Maybe something scrappy? I have a pretty impressive stash of scraps growing! Any and all recommendations for your favorite scrappy quilts, blocks, and projects are much appreciated.
Happy Quilting!
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