Sliced Charm Runner

While I was at the Great New Zealand Quilt Show in Christchurch I picked up a pattern for a quilt as you go table runner.  

I didn't really need a table runner, but I wanted to experiment with the technique because I bought some Japanese jacquard fabrics in Japan that I think I'm going to have to quilt as I go.  They look like they will fray very easily so this may be the best method for working with them.  

The pattern I bought came with a charm pack of Kaffe Fassett fabrics so I followed the instructions and sewed it up quite quickly.  I'm really pleased with the result and I learnt a few tricks along the way.  

Now I need to firm up my ideas for my Japanese fabrics. 

An early (or late) Christmas table runner- plus the Peacock Party

Is this an extremely early table runner for Christmas 2019? Or a late finish for Christmas 2018?

Either way, I made a Christmas table runner this week. I find that the pre-Christmas period gets too rushed for sewing, so I like to make Christmas things in the weeks following Christmas.  I have much more time and energy in early January.

I love Christmas fabrics when I see them in the shops in August, but I'm not feeling the Christmas spirit in August, so I put them away.  Then I get busy and Christmas comes and goes and I still haven't make anything.  This year I decided to start in the week between Christmas and New Year, and low and behold, I've made a table runner.

I couldn't find a pattern that was simple but effective, so I made up my own pattern and customised the design to fit my table perfectly. I'd purchased the Bloc Loc Half Rectangle Triangle rulers some months ago, but not used them yet.  They provided the ideal solution for my table runner design.  These rulers weren't cheap, but they worked brilliantly, and include directions for cutting any size half rectangle triangle up to 8.5" tall.

Now it's time for the Peacock Party - a chance to show off what you've made lately.  Or maybe you've already written your quilting plans for 2019 and would like to share? Feel free to link up and let others know what you've been up to (even holiday posts are fine because we're all on Summer holidays down in this part of the world).

PS - I'm planning a giveaway during the last week of January.  I've been blogging for 5 years now, so I'm planning a celebration.  Stay tuned!

Inlinkz Link Party

Pop Art Table Runner

I finished my Pop Art table runner (which was one of the WIPs I talked about last week).

I used the pattern on the cover of Christina Cameli's book, Wedge Quilt Workshop.

It was quite tricky to start with, especially because I wanted to make my blocks smaller than the ones in the book.

I used the remainder of some Alison Glass fat quarters, so I didn't have a lot of fabric to play with. I actually started by making a test block which is very unusual for me.

Wedges can easily get out of alignment, so when I finally got my three circles sitting nicely, I moved on to filling the centres with reverse applique.  I hadn't done this technique with freezer paper before, but it was easy enough to do with the good instructions and clear photos in the book.

Then I had to be very brave and cut my circles so they became squares!

Fortunately it was all good, and my three blocks matched nicely when I joined them up.  I hand quilted down the centre of each strip and quilted a couple of circles in the middle of the circles.

I finished the table runner with a facing so it would sit nice and flat on the table.  I'm really pleased with the finished result, and it goes nicely with my previous Bon Bon table runner.

(It's very hard to photograph table runners, so I decided to hang them on the clothes line.)

Too many WIPs

I feel surrounded by WIPs at the moment.  I know I should prioritise and finish one or two, but I keep dipping in and out and nothing is getting finished. 

Here's a few of the things I'm working on at the moment:

1.  My Glitter quilt - pattern by Jen Kingwell from Amitie Textitles.  I'm aiming to have all 152 blocks finished by the end of November, and then I can hand sew them together over summer. I haven't looked at them together since about April, so I hope the colours are all fine.  I don't mind if I have to sew a few replacement blocks - that's bound to happen when I haven't got a design wall to monitor progress.

 

I've got the remaining blocks cut out and bagged up, so if I can just hand sew one block each night of November, I'll achieve my goal. 

2.  Kim McLean tapestry - I've started putting a few stitches into this tapestry each night too.  I just love the vibrant colours Kim has chosen.  I can't do tapestry for too long each day or it hurts my hands, so I just do about 30 minutes each night. 

3. I'm also trying to finish my Gingerbread Needlework Shop so it can sit on my shelf at Christmas.  It will become my number one priority when the Glitter blocks are finished.

4. I stitched this sashiko table runner back in January, but I only just fused the fabric circles on this week.  I did a couple of simple rows of machine quilting on it, but now I want to apply facings to finish it. The pattern is by Indigo Niche from Australia.

5.  I also started another table runner before I put away my Alison Glass fabrics.  I've hand quilted this one, but again I want to finish it with facings. I've used a pattern by Christina Cameli. I'll post better photos when I finish it (which should be soon).

6.  And then, because I'm a sucker for quirky cute things, I bought this pattern by Elizabeth Hartman for Norm & Nanette.  I had one of those moments where you think you're just going to cut out some pieces so you can sew them together another day, but you end up just sewing a few together to see how it looks, and before you know it, you've made a gnome!

I'm not going to show my gnome yet, because he needs a few fix ups - I chose a checked fabric but it was a bit warped and the checks veer off at the sides.  I have to correct it before I show it.

So that's some of my active WIPs.  How's everyone else getting on?

Bon Bon table runner

I've finished my Bon Bon table runner and I'm very happy with it.

The colours in the Alison Glass fabrics work really well with my dining room chairs.

The three feature Bon Bon blocks are hand pieced, using acrylic templates purchased from Jen Kingwell's shop, Amitie Textiles.  You can read my earlier WIP post here for more details.

I wanted the table runner to fit nicely on the bookcase in the dining room, so I padded it out with some filler blocks.

I also wanted it to be quite flat so we could stand things on it, so I machine quilted it with a curved ribbon design from Jacquie Gering's book, Walk.  It's a great book to have on hand when you're wondering how to quilt something with your walking foot.

I used Aurifil 50wt in a mustard colour.

So, I got to use the Bon Bon templates, and I have something useful for my home. Win, win!

What's everyone else up to this weekend?

Honeycomb spin and flying geese all made with batiks!

Several months ago the lovely people at RJR Fabrics sent me some Jinny Beyer Malam batiks to play with.  I made two quilts from these batiks - Honeycomb spin and a flying geese table runner.

Firstly - Honeycomb spin.
I learnt to made this quilt in a class at Nancy's Stitch Studio in Wellington, New Zealand.  Anna Hicks was the tutor, and we had a great time using the modern hexies technique of wrapping fabric around paper templates to form the shape, and then removing the papers and gluing the hexies to the background fabric.  The spiral quilting was the final step and it secured the hexies to the background.

I deliberately staggered my hexies from dark to light to get the shading effect. The batiks worked really well for this.

the background fabric is Radiant Gradients by Hoffman

If it looks like a lot of hexies, you'd be right. I must have used about 350.

I used King Tut variegated thread for the spiral quilting and love the circles it created.

The back looks pretty good too:

This is an out of print piece by Amelia Caruso - the same artist who designed the border fabric I'm using on my la passacaglia. We turned the edges back and made facings rather than doing a normal binding.

The finished size is 25" x 40".  I'm really pleased with how this quilt turned out, and will hang it on the wall in my house.


Secondly, I made a table runner with some of the leftovers:
I've always loved blues and greens, so I decided to make a blue and green table runner for my hall table.  I didn't really have a pattern, but I knew I wanted to use flying geese.  I only have 2 Bloc-loc flying geese tools - the 1.5" x 3" finished, and the 2" x 4" finished, and I used both of them.

I did a bit of algebra, and worked out that 3 of the big flying geese would be 12" finished, and 4 of the small flying geese would be 12" finished, so I made sets of various colour combinations.

Once the mat was the right size I hand quilted it with Aurifil 28wt and big stitches.

I used some of the leftover pieces on the back, and gave it a random binding, because by then I was running out of blues and greens.

The finished size is 11.5" x 36" and it fits perfectly on my hall table.

RFR Fabrics have kindly agreed to let me give away some Malam batiks to one lucky person on Instagram.  So if you're on Instagram and follow both me and RJR Fabrics, you can enter the competition on Instagram.

I realise not everyone is on Instagram, so I'm going to do a separate giveaway just for blog readers next week.