Timesaver Tablerunner

This tablerunner was so easy to make but I forgot to mention it! 
We have friends that purchased a shore house recently and we were invited to spend a weekend there in late July.  I wanted to make a special house warming gift for them and thought of a tablerunner.  As it turns out, we keep our boat at a marina about 10 miles from their shore home.  And, our marina is about 3 miles from a wonderful quilt shop, Quilting Possibilities.  After a day of boating, I was able to visit the shop to look for the perfect fabric for the table runner since they have a great selection of shore related fabrics.  It didn't take long to find what I wanted!  And it was blue and white, their favorite colors!  The pattern uses striped fabric to create the center motif in these tablerunners.  I loved how this one turned out so much, I purchased other striped fabrics, mostly holiday patterns, so I could make more. 

This shows the backing fabric

Completed top on my display board

My quest to quilt - January 1, 2012

As you may notice, I have not made much progress on my original attempt to get some quilting done.  Several days after I began this blog, my life took a turn that would require all my energy to be devoted to family.  In November of 2010, my sister and I brought our mother up from Florida since she was no longer able to care for herself due to failing health.  We had almost 9 months of good days and not so good days with her.  We were able to celebrate many holidays with her including her 91st birthday in March.  Unfortunately her health continued to decline and in mid-July Mom passed away peacefully in her sleep with my sister and I at her side.  The months that followed were very difficult, and made more difficult with the holidays that followed.  Throughout the years, I made quilts, pillow cases, place mats and other items for her some of which are pictured in this posting.  I now have these treasures and will use them as inspiration for my future quilting endeavors. 

So, I now begin my new quest to quilt in a new year.  One day at a time! 

Flag banner made for Mom
right after 9/11

A quillow I made for Mom

This is a quilt Mom used while watching

TV every night. She loved the "buggy" backing!

Day 4 of my quest to quilt - An oldie but a goodie!

I was out most of today letterboxing with the Hubs in the Sourland Mountain Preserve. If you could imagine heaven on earth, it's this place. We found the 3 boxes there and headed home after 6 hours of hiking for approximately 5-6 miles. Needless to say, we were a tad tired. But while the Hubs was getting our BBQ dinner going, I explored my craft closet for a particular project which has been living there for quite a while now. Actually, the top was made during a class given at the Quilter's Barn. They haven't been open for several years now so this will give you an idea of this project's "vintage". I found it!

It is a Christmas wall hanging made with 4 blocks (sampler style) and borders. So why is this project a UFO? Well, I wanted to hand quilt it. I'm not comfortable with hand quilting. But, the borders are done and one block is 50% done. Since it is a Christmas project, I would think about it every year and put it back thinking to myself "I need to get this done for next year". Never happens - until now! Maybe it will help me feel more comfortable with hand quilting. I'm working on a small hand pieced double wedding ring table runner that I hope to hand quilt as well. Practice makes perfect, right? The wall hanging quilting won't be perfect, but it will be done! Pictures will be posted soon.

Day 3 of my quest to quilt - Big and small, I'll finish them all!

I did a lot of fonding of fabric today!  With the heat we had today, handling "snowflake" fabric cooled me off a bit, believe it or not.  I have three small bins of Christmas and winter themed fabrics.  One is specifically for the lasagna laptop quilt I started a few holiday seasons ago.  I had forgotten how much I had completed on this project.  In addition, the bin revealed that I had also cut the remaining strips needed to complete the top.  Some of these strips have even been sewn into strip sets.  This will definitely go on my "first to do" list.

The second bin contains PIGS (projects in grocery sacks) or kits which contain all the fabrics and patterns needed to complete them.  Most of them are small wall hangings; one is an Advent Calendar panel.  I'll take these on one at a time.  At least I think I made good choices when I selected these - I still like them! 

The last bin contains a variety of holiday fabrics.  Most are fat quarters or half yard cuts.  These would make wonderful place mats!

The bin also contained a stack of 5 inch squares in red, green and white patterns.  I had made a ton of these into coasters several years back.  They made wonderful gifts - but I never made a set for myself.  I will make good use of these squares! 
The picture below shows the cut 5" squares next to a sample coaster which they will become. 

Now I can actually do some sewing!  Stay tuned!