The Saskatoon MQG gathered on May 26 for a sew day at Home Inn & Suites in Stonebridge. We started with the icebreaker asking for safety tips for quilters. Unfortunately, some lessons learned were the hard way. Check out the list and see if you can improve your sewing safety: buy a glove to protect your hands with rotary cutter, don’t put pins in your mouth, use a thimble before the needle goes through your finger, use thimble protectors on other fingers for pushing, hold onto the seat of a rolling chair before you sit down, close your rotary cutter when not in use, put your tools away, declutter your space to avoid tripping hazards, pay attention when piecing so you don’t sew your finger with the machine, always know where your pin cushion is and use it, keep a sharps container close for disposing of bent pins, use a rolling chair with 5 legs and not 4, stop sewing before your joint pain gets intolerable, wear shoes so that you don’t cut your feet if you drop a blade, consider ergonomics for the sewing machine table height and chair, stay hydrated (preferably with water and not the other w**** beverage), get up and walk to the ironing and cutting board so motions aren’t too repetitive, clean threads off floor so they don’t gum up the wheels on your chair, keep electric cords against walls so they aren’t tripping hazards or so they don’t get wound up in your chair wheels, use power bar surge protector on your equipment and replace if worn or damaged, have a tide pen on hand for blood stains on fabric, get irons with automatic shutoffs and remember to unplug them when you are done, and cover magnifying glasses so the sun doesn’t start a fire.

Next we had a discussion about workshops. Here are a few recommendation: check out Terry Rowland on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@terryrowland398) and Instagram, Jo at The Crafty Nomad (https://www.youtube.com/@TheCraftyNomad) , and Making Zen at https://www.makingzen.com/.

Roxanne led the education topic of bindings. She brought in so many different examples. We don’t need to just stick to the traditional 2.5″ double fold biding. A few tips included pressing the binding out once it is sewed on and before it is stitched in place, and don’t be afraid to use glue in addition to clips. For those there, remember the tip to sew the belt and not the crotch when matching the binding ends up. This is a link to Susie’s Magic Binding that has a 2-colour flange: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyjkleF_ciQ. Or perhaps try a Big Stitch binding such as is described at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQymPr5_Dbk, or crochet an Edge on your quilt such as is demonstrated by Elsie Gray’s at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM4_I1h81p0. There are many YouTube videos showing self binding baby blankets, and others showing tricks for binding minkee backed quilts. Finally, there are also videos of how to make Prairie Points or check out the book Happy Endings – Finishing the Edge of Your Quilt by The Patchwork Place.

Another shout-out for the Angela Walters of Quilting is My Therapy Ruler Challenge which is free and what Barb followed to quilt this panel with rulers. Or to http://www.fandominstitches.com/ for the free patterns such as for the Flinstone characters. Both sites offer free quiltalongs. Here is some of the eye candy from this month:

On June 23 and July 28, the meetings will be held in the Ashworth Holmes Park at 415 31st Street West in Saskatoon. This is weather permitting, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.. Bring your lawn chairs and projects to share for show-and-tell. The quilt show is at the same location on August 25. Enjoy the warmer weather and have a wonderful summer!