I am absolutely thrilled with how this quilt turned out! This is Pumpkin Spice Gatherings, a sew along I did with Lisa Bongean (Primitive Gatherings) last summer. It was a ton of work and took yards and yards of fabric, but I love it in the end. It is a huge quilt and covers our queen-sized bed nicely with lots of overhang.
I love the clean, crisp look of it with all that white space. My quilter did an amazing job, and I love the design she chose.
I decided to do the binding by machine, which I am getting pretty confident about. Since this quilt is a monster, I decided to sew one side at a time. I pressed everything at once, but stitched one side at a time. That way, repositioning the quilt seemed less of a hassle. I could sew one side, get up from my chair, shift the fabric around, and sit back down to keep stitching. Interrupting the stitching flow wasn’t an issue at all.
Here is a link to a previous tutorial I posted on how I do machine binding. This was done back in the days when I used pins to hold the binding in place while I sewed. I do not do this any more. I might use clips or even nothing at all as long as things are pressed well.
This quilt is 100% Archie approved.
Ok, that’s enough.
I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. I am still on a vacation “high” from our wonderful few days down in Carmel at the Highlands Inn.
15 Responses
It’s absolutely gorgeous 😍 such a beautiful quilt- kudos to you for the big accomplishment! And love your bed…
It is a beautiful quilt and I love Archie!
You are so right – it does have a lovely clean and bright look to the quilt. It’s gorgeous – and Archie tested and approved – well what more do you need! Actually I think it looks like he has already claimed it! LOL!
I believe dogs take possession of every quilt. It must be in their DNA. Lol
As usual, it is a beautiful quilt. You should do a trunk show.
What a beautiful quilt! Archie is so adorable – my dogs are the same way, as soon as a quilt is down, they are on it! When you do machine binding, do you start on the front or the back? Do you use anything (glue, for example or just clips/pins) to hold the binding in place for the final stitching? I’ve used machine binding a few times, but I am struggling to get a good finish.
I used to make my bindings 2 1/4″, but now I make them 2 1/2″ to be sure I have a good over hang on the back side. When I machine-bind, I attach the binding to the quilt as usual. Then I press it outward from the seam all around. Next I fold it over and press it into its final position. I like to use those red clips, but I didn’t have enough of them for this big quilt so I just did it without anything holding the binding in place other than my thorough steam pressing. I “stitch in the ditch” on the right side of the quilt. 99% of the time, the underside is caught and held down perfectly. I can always go back and restitch if an inch or so didn’t get caught.
It is much, much easier to start with smaller projects than a full-sized quilt. I started with table toppers and worked my way up to bigger quilts. I use a 3.0 stitch length and sew really slowly. At first I pinned, then moved to red quilt clips, but if you get good at it, you might be able to skip everything except pressing.
Here is a link to a tutorial I did on machine binding. I was in my early days and using pins, which I no longer do, but you get the idea. It is all in the pressing.
https://sisterschoicequilts.blog/2025/08/machine-binding-tutorial/
Beautiful quilt! Your usual hard work and perfect stitching. And of course that Archie! I love him and miss my wires. So much personality.
This looks wonderful, beautiful work!
Nicole,
Your quilt is beautiful. Happy Fall. We had what felt like our first fall weather day here in SoCal yesterday. (Finally!)
That’s a beautiful quilt! And your ‘model’ is so handsome! I’m guessing that Archie was very happy when you got home from your vacation!
Good morning, Nicole. This a beautiful fall quilt and I love how the pattern stands out against the background. Beautiful work as usual!
Oh this is another of your beautiful fall quilts! I do love the quilting design with the pumpkins and leaves all integrated into the design. Just in the right colors that can stay through November. Hi Archie – you handsome young man!
I absolutely love this quilt….just a beautiful finish.
Your Pumpkin Spice Gatherings quilt is a delight and am so glad Archie approves! Lovely quilting, too.
I’ll soon get out the wall quilt I made for Halloween years ago when Pat had her Orange quilt-along one weekend.
This week we’ll have one day of 91*F and two nights down near freezing. Is that nuts, or what?
Hugs!