My next table runner project - or two, or three!

First, let's be clear, I am the first to admit that I have a long list of quilty things to do start and finish but I think these are some good choices to put in the top 10 for this year. 

I really like love table runners!  I find them easy to make, quick to finish and I can quilt them myself which increases my confidence with machine quilting. They can also be made in a variety of widths and lengths. Plus, i can buy fabrics for every holiday!  Now that we have two homes, I have plenty of places to put them.  Many of the quilt shops carry these as kits with the striped fabric already cut and the backing fabric included.  

One of my favorite patterns for table runners uses striped fabrics. These are certainly the easiest projects to do since they are made with only 5 seams!  I have made several of them which can be found by using the label "runner".  

Those table runners were made with the Easy Striped Table Runner pattern designed by Karen Montgomery.  I have fabric to make several more from that pattern.  

The other table runners will be made from the Triangle Frenzy Runner pattern by Bunnie Cleland.  These are new to me.  One is called "Runner" and the other is called "Swirl".  These patterns also have instructions for left-handed cutting which is a big plus!  

In addition to the striped fabric and the pattern, the other required tool is the 60° ruler.  I have two sizes of this ruler, the Creative Grid 8" (CGRT60) and the Creative Grid (CGRT12560) 12".  I used the smaller ruler for the Easy Striped pattern.  The Frenzy pattern calls for the larger ruler.  

These rulers can also be used to make a hexagon table topper.  There are several good ones out there.  The pattern for the Triangle Frenzy indicates they have one available.  I don't have that one - yet - but I do have this one by Sew Biz.  

I know these rulers are a bit expensive so it is nice when you can use them for several purposes.  I bet this one can be altered to make a Christmas tree skirt!  

The fabrics I have on hand to make several of these table runners (or table topper) are suitable for both everyday use and holidays.  I have fabrics for fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as everyday runners.  I will most likely make the Easter table runner first, followed by the birthday runner.  

I also have these fabrics that were recently purchased from The Village Quiltery near our cabin in the Poconos.  They had such a wonderful selection of these striped fabrics.  I also purchased backing fabrics to match.  

It may sound like I have an overabundance of runner fabrics, (they now have their own bin!) but considering that the runners take about an hour to make, I can make several in a day.  They do not require binding, although that is certainly an alternative to the "pillow case" finishing technique that I use.  I finish mine off with decorative top-stitching.  They are perfect to use for any occasion but they also make wonderful gifts!  

End of 2014 - Start of 2015

So, a new year has arrived.  A clean slate.  A new beginning.  It was a very busy end of year however.  I started some new things and finished some things.  I think I built up some momentum for the next few months.  Here is what I was working on since the my last post.  My time was mostly occupied by helping the Hubs recover from cataract surgery, traveling to the Outer Banks for 2 weeks in October, my birthday, our anniversary, Thanksgiving and Christmas!  I'm lucky I found time to think about quilting, let alone get any done.  But, I did accomplish a few things. 

I saw a quilted box on one of my quilting groups on Facebook and fell in love with it.  It is a simple project made with 2 squares of fabrics of various sizes.  I chose 10" squares.  Great for using up some scraps.  I found a wonderful tutorial on seaside-stitches.blogspot.com.  The size of the box changes with the size of the squares you use and how deep you make the corners.  I had such fun buying buttons too! 

As I was going through my stash of holiday fabrics to use to make more boxes, I came across a holiday table runner kit that I remember purchasing at a NJ Shop Hop location.  It came with the fabrics for the top, backing and binding.  It took less than an hour to sew and about 2 hours to bind.  I was so glad I finally got this one done!  I wonder how many other simple-to-do kits I have hidden away!  Will know soon, but more on that later. 

This was a wonderful surprise from a quilty friend who is travelling the country in a spectacular RV and quilts on the road.  I love this and found a template to make it on the Missouri Star Quilt Company website.  It is the wacky web (periwinkle) template.  This uses the 5" template and is perfect for charm squares.  I loved this so much I made some for gifts.  I used fat quarters for these, but have plenty of charm squares that I can use to make lots more.  They were quick, easy and lots of fun!  They make great mug rugs, candle mats or table toppers.

This was the last quilt I made in 2014.  It was made for a dear friend's grandson who was born in September.  His dad is a big Yankee fan as you can tell.  I designed the quilt around the center logo square and machine quilted it with stitch-in-the-ditch and echo stitching.  The piecing was done in 2014 and the quilting and binding were completed by January 2nd. 

Now for the new stuff! 

I started a block of the month project, an event created by Pat Sloan on her Facebook group, Quilt Along with Pat Sloan.  The list of supplies was provided in late December and the first block pattern was given out on January 1.  A new block pattern will be provided each month through September.  I am using the fabrics shown here. They are from my stash.  

I finished my first block today!

 

 

The new year is off to a good start! 

2015 Pat Sloan BOM

I started a block of the month project, an event created by Pat Sloan on her Facebook group, Quilt Along with Pat Sloan.  The list of supplies was provided in late December and the first block pattern was given out on January 1.  A new block pattern will be provided each month through September.  I am using the fabrics shown here. They are from my stash.  

I finished my first block today!

 

Sweet Dreams

Now that we have two homes, we have a few more beds as well as a pull out sofa that need sheets, pillowcases and quilts.  I have a list of quilts I want to make when I have a block of time and I have purchased and/or shared sheet sets for all of the sleeping accommodations.  But we, and many of our guests, like to use more than one pillow.  Of course, standard sets come with one pillowcase for twin beds and two pillowcases for other size beds.  So, I have been totally absorbed in making pillowcases for here and there! 

I have been sorting through my fabric stash lately and have come upon a few pieces that are at least 3/4 of a yard.  Most of them had not been assigned to a project yet so I thought they would make cute pillowcases and reduce my fabric stash.  I needed 1/4 yard of coordinating fabric for the border and about an hour of time for each one. 

I have a few instruction sheets that have come in pillowcase kits or found online.  I have also found patterns that include  small accent stripe which becomes a flange just below the border.  My favorite pattern produces a pillowcase with all seams enclosed in French seams.  I like this one although it takes a few more minutes to do.  This gives a very finished appearance to the inside of the pillowcase.  Well worth the extra time. 

Here are some pillowcases I have made either for gifts or for utilitarian use.  I have several more planned.  Since they take about an hour to make, it gives me my quilting fix on what could be a busy day otherwise.  I like those kinds of projects every once in a while. 

This one was made for my husband for our cabin bedroom.  As you can see, there is a theme to the fabric which may, or may not, have anything to do with his "indoor" hobby!  I'll never tell!

This one was also made for my husband and is representative of his favorite "outdoor" hobby!

This one was made for my grandson and has all his favorite Super Heroes!  He loves to use this at our cabin.

My stepdaughter loves to trout fish and I had the perfect fabric to make her a pillowcase.  She often rents a cabin in the forests of north Jersey and I thought this was great for her to use while camping.  She loved it!

This one was a hoot to make!  It was a gift for my daughter for her birthday and is totally her!  She is still my granola girl!