Small Christmas Table Runner

Sometime last year I played with Jacob Ladder blocks.  I had 3 blocks made of Christmas fabric.  I turned these up when I cleaned my sewing room.  They never got into a table runner as I never could figure out what to use for border fabric.  I made another attempt to find coordinating fabric and came to the conclusion I just didn't have anything that really worked.  I decided to just make what I had into a table runner.

Beth's Birthday Card

After finishing a baby quilt, I cleaned my sewing room.  Really cleaned.  I even wiped baseboards.  Part of the motivation was still my fight with how to store scraps (any fabric less than 1/4 of a yard.  In my travels I acquired a 3 drawer plastic storage unit.  I dumped out the things that were in it and used it for scraps. 

• Top Drawer:  Orange, yellow and brown scraps
• Middle Drawer:  Blue and green scraps.
• Bottom Drawer:  Red, pink and purple scraps

Then I tackled the pile of things that I have stashed for cards.  A lot of it is trims.  I went through that pile and ended up with a large amount for Goodwill.  I use rick rack and ribbon in my cards.  The resale shops and the rummage sales package them in bags.  What comes along is lots of bias tape.  That is something I don't find as visually interesting.  Another item I don't use is ribbon that is shirred.  It is designed to be used on little girl dresses and make ruffled looking lace edges.  It doesn't lay flat and I have given up thinking I will use it.

One of the things I found was a ziploc bag holding a sample piece I created in an Improv Embroidary Class in Houston.  The sample is just that - practice.  I knew I would not continue that piece.  I decided to use bits of it for Beth's birthday card.

The tree is a piece of dyed cheesecloth.  The class must of come with a small set of materials.  The background piece is a moire of some kind of synthetic.

Mom's Birthday Card

Mom's birthday on Feb. 27 starts the parade of spring birthdays.  There are several in March.

Mom's card was a tri-fold card with a bird on it.  The bird makes me giggle.  The legs ended up in the wrong place and the bird looks like it is crossing it's legs!  The bird is machine appliqued on kraft paper.  The paper is two-sided and fairly thick.

2020 Mother's Day/May Day Cards

I drew and colored tulips while watching TV.  These became Mother's Day cards this year.  There was another batch with yellow fabric backgrounds that I forgot to take pictures of.

The black and white background is fabric.  So is the solid black background.  The others are paper backgrounds.

An Apron

I made an apron for my friend Beth for her birthday.  I started with a pair of jeans that had patch pockets.  I had seen an apron that used a pair of jeans and a kitchen towel.  I ended up using a piece of fabric I bought out of Joann's remnant bin that cost less than a $1.  I had picked it up thinking it would make good card backgrounds.

Since the pair of jeans I had were rather small, the apron ended up narrower than I would of liked.  It is still cute.

2020 Easter Cards

A friend gave me a bunch of drapery sample fabrics.  They just looked like Easter colors to me.  I cut a design out of black vinyl.  These cards came together really quickly.

Colored Balls

This has been on my “Want To Make” list for a while.  Probably not something to start on Thursday for a challenge that closes on Sunday at noon.  It is 60” x 60”.  A perfect size for on the couch.  I had to quite a bit of hunting for fabric.  I wanted a number of prints for the colored balls.  I don’t buy many printed fabrics.  I used several scraps that someone else sold at one of the sewing rummage sales.  I used prints that I got as free fat quarters from shop hops.    Some I have no idea where they came from.  Considering I have had several people hand me a bag of fabric over the past several years as they were all downsizing, I have way more fabric than I ever thought I would have.  Did I mention that the bags were generally stuffed to bursting with fabric?

Thursday Afternoon

Friday Afternoon

It was almost comical when I was ironing the finished top and had the thought that maybe I should of looked to see if I had batting.  I had to piece two different cotton batting pieces together that are not the same manufacturer, but I doubt anyone will ever know.  For big quilts I generally buy backing after I have the top together.  Lately I have been piecing backings.  I did come up with two 2 yard pieces of fabric to make a backing. 

I did simple line quilting.  Given more time, I may of done something a little more interesting.

Baby Quilt

Baby quilts are often opportunities to use up something.  In this case, it was just scraps.  I posted the photo on the Facebook group ScrappyGirlsClub and got over 300 likes.  That I didn't get, as the quilt is extremely simple.

Round 5 of Project Quilting

This week’s challenge was “Give It Away”.  My friend Maygie is this amazing artist and like every artist I’ve ever known, she tries all kinds of different types of art.  That means she has all kinds of different things to store.  She has been fighting some health challenges this year, so I decided I would make her a bucket.  She can use it store supplies or hold her current project or even as a waste bucket.

The outside is fabric that was probably sold to make outdoor cushions.  It just reads nautical to me, so it needed a sailboat.  It has been a while since I have made a bag, so I had to go find some directions to remember how to orient the outside and the lining to get this piece together.  Of course, that meant I had that old conversation with myself about “why I don’t use patterns to begin with -- it would make things so much easier at times…”

Graphic Houses

From someplace online I saw a sew-a-long for someone’s pattern of houses.  The basic house intrigued me, but from an improve standpoint.  I had a collection of off-white scraps to use as background.  So I tried a few and they are quick and super easy as there are no seams to match.  In fact, when I was making this, I realized it would make a great pattern for a beginner quilting class.  Some day…. 

I stopped at wall hanging size as I need to update my collection of quilts that get displayed in my living room.  I have looked at the same set for a number of years. 

The collection of fabrics in this wall hanging are all scraps.  They reflect my tendency to purchase fabrics that read as solids.  I learned to paint and draw long before I really learned to quilt.  There are days that training is readily evident in my fabric choices and my quilt designs. 

Paper Pieced Flying Geese

I don’t normally paper piece blocks.  I am well aware of the complaints for paper piecing blocks: 

• Lots of fabric waste 
• Invariably doing something wrong and having to take out tiny stitches 

So of course I have taken out and redone numerous pieces as I do all the things that don’t work.  I worked on the theory that it is just a matter of practice and then you quit trying to do it wrong.  Once I got past the “do it wrong” stage, it wasn’t too bad.  I did smile at some of the author’s notes that led me to believe she didn’t enjoy the process of paper piecing this block.  The real tell was she only did one block and this in a book where almost all of the projects are twin size or larger. 

I bought a ream of 8 1/2 x 11 inch unprinted newsprint a while back.  I do like making lots of HST triangles using paper.  I tried drafting a pattern, but I couldn’t figure out how to get the geese to  not point in a circle and still be uniform.  So I did use someone else’s pattern out of a library book. All I had to do was copy the pattern, scan my copy and print out on newsprint.  The publisher is canny.  The patterns are printed in red and don’t scan or copy easily.  I needed to copy the pattern using a ruler and a pen on tracing paper. 

Using Up Some Leftover Blocks

I honestly don't remember when I made these pinwheel blocks or why.  They were pinned on a bulletin board in my sewing room for more than a year.    The blue & white triangles on the top were left over from something I tried that didn't work and were hanging out on my design wall.

In my travels of collecting others castoff fabric, I ended up with a piece of a very neat farm print from Michael Miller fabrics.  I used this quilt as an opportunity to practice free motion quilting.  I went around the elements in the farm scene.  Since I don't do this type of quilting very often, it is never very good, but that is why you practice.

This became a baby quilt that simply went to charity.

Baby Quilts for Charity

In August, I went through scrap bins and collected leftover strips.  From this pile of strips I made two charity quilts.  They are baby quilt size.  When I was done, I realized I still have a huge pile of strips.  More charity quilts to come. 

Round 4 of Project Quilting

This week’s challenge on Project Quilting was to use the Bird in the Air block.  I decided to make a Christmas table runner. 

 The red and green are set off with a gold.  Not very long ago the fabric manufacturers developed inks that look metallic, but don’t change the hand of the fabric.  These shiny fabrics fascinate me.  I had a fat quarter of a mottled gold that looks like it has gold leaf on it.  Of course, that was not enough for the table runner.  I hunted and found another gold that blends nicely.

The backing is a simple holy print.  I didn't do a lot of quilting as it really doesn't need it.

A Red Collage

I again participated in Project Quilting’s weekly challenge.  I also incorporated the requirements for a guild challenge.  The guild challenge was to create a 20” x 20” quilt with a laundry list of 20 requirements.  Project Quilting’s theme was “hearts”.

I used two non-traditional fabrics (1) a tomato red linen look-alike fabric for the background, and (2) a piece of outdoor home dec fabric to play the part of a table cloth.  From a design standpoint, I do not often do one of something in a design.  I like the repetition of elements.  The laundry list added to the time constraint of one week means I have some things I have only done one of one, such as the button that is the head of the dragon fly.

I also did something I have never done in that I hand quilted the piece.  Not only did I hand quilt it, I used dark thread.  That is the influence of hearing Heidi Parks speak on Feb 1rst. 

What do I like?

I love the bright background and the texture the linen look-alike fabric brings to the piece.  Even with the laundry list of requirements and the time constraint, I think the piece turned out great.  It is cohesive and interesting.

What do I want to try next time?

The next time I work with brights, I need to go for broke.  I love the bright green against the red.  The blue needs to be more electric.  I will try more hand quilting.  I will do more work with non-traditional fabrics.  I need to figure out how to do machine quilting of large elements – maybe a mid-century motif??

I Can Be Influenced

I have joined a block exchange at my quilt guild which is a group of ladies who each put together the materials for a specific block.  Each month, we switch projects.  So, at the end you have sewn blocks for everyone in the group and you have a collection of blocks sewn on your project.  When I was putting together a bag for my project, I couldn’t figure out how blocks should get stored so they stay flat and nice.  Then, I saw someone’s block folder and a light bulb went off.

I went looking for a pattern and could not find one.  When has that stopped me?  I woke up on Saturday morning to more snow/rain and decided to make the block folder and submit it to Project Quilting.  The theme this week for Project Quilting is Team Colors.  I looked at fabric and determined that I had enough of a red to make a Block Folder with a University of Wisconsin theme. 

I used a piece of foam display board to give the block folder stability to keep my blocks flat.  I basically made two sleeves, quilted one end, slid the foam board into one end and attached the two pieces together.

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What do I like?

It worked!!  I had more than one doubt that my design would come together.  I like the size.  I like the handles, just not where I put them.  The foam board works really well.  It is light and gives a nice surface.  I like the letters and how quickly you can do letters if you have HTV vinyl and a cutter.  That was a 15 minute task.

What I’m not thrilled with?

The handles should be on the side so when you carry it by the handles the blocks can’t slide out.  The sides need something so it is not just open.  I don’t think Velcro would do it, maybe some kind of wing design?

For folks coming from Project Quilting:
I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the US.  In the 1970s, as a teenage girl, I decided to get a chemical engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin (don't ask me what I was thinking...).  My folder ended up being 14 3/4 inch x 14 3/4 inch without the handles.  I belong to a quilt guild and a friend there has been advertising Project Quilting Challenges and I decided to play on another snowy Saturday (3rd one in a row).

Christmas Fabric that Keeps Repeating

I have table runner #4 from a wonderful print I purchased several years ago.  Two runners were made exclusively with this fabric.  Two runners were made using coordinating fabric to offset the printed designs.  This is the second one using coordinating fabric.