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.