Design Wall Monday - small finishes

I was on a roll this weekend, trying to finish up some small projects that have been cluttering up my sewing space.  I finished 3 small items, including machine quilting. Yay me!!  Check out what others are doing at Design Wall Monday http://www.patchworktimes.com 

 

 

This grey/white/yellow pillow is made from leftovers from a chevron baby quilt I made last spring. I had extra HSTs left after finishing the quilt and kept thinking they would make a great pillow.  And they did make a nice pillow, along with a strip of the flower print added to make it large enough for the 16" pillow form.  I machine quilted the chevrons by just following the shape and quilted a 1.5" grid on the flowered section.  Now there are only 2 grey and white HST remaining, and those are in the scrap bin.

 

 

The Dresden Plate block was something I started and stopped and started and stopped.  The blades and center circle are all cut from a charm pack and yes - there are still more of these blades ready to be made into something.  Sometime last month I actually sewed them into the Dresden Plate and appliqued it to the white background. Yesterday I quilted it very simply and added an envelope back. One more 16" pillow done.

 

And finally, I pulled out this little table runner to finish. This is a Pieced Tree pattern (on the little cards) and is basically just made from large flying goose units.  You can cut and stitch the top in about an hour. The original pattern is actually one "goose" longer on each end, but I've found this to be too long for many tables, so it's smaller than the pattern.  I cut this out last winter from 3 Christmas fat quarters and it's been just hanging out on a shelf ever since.  This was sewn together quickly and then I marked the grey triangle sections using a disappearing purple quilting pen and machine quilted it myself.  I have to finish the binding but that will probably happen over my lunch break today. These would possibly make good Christmas gifts.

Seasonal table runners & Halloween

 

I made over a dozen yards of binding today to use on some seasonal table runners. These are both done with the 60 degree technique.  Another 60 degree Thanksgiving runner is only half quilted so far, but there is enough brown binding for that one too when I get it quilted.

 

Working on the hand stitching will be a good activity tonight while handing out candy to the trick or treaters. We usually see 80-100 kids between about 5:00 pm (right about now) and 8:30.  There is a street about 2 blocks from us that get about 1500 kids every year - mostly due to the fact that street is decorated and lit up to look spectacular.

Easter Sunrise #1 is done

I bought the pattern for this table runner a couple of years ago at a quilt show.  The same booth was also selling the gradient fabric for the background and I bought a large enough piece to make 3 of these table runners.

And then I put it away and forgot I had it until this winter. No surprise there.  Then I stumbled across that bag and realized how easy this UFO would be to finish.  I cut and appliqued 2 of the 3 runners. And this week I got one of those quilted and bound.

I decided to keep the quilting very simple and used black thread to machine quilt just a few rays extending from the center cross. I also quilted a simple line against the black silhouettes.  Now the next step is to get the second one quilted and then decide if I'm actually going to make the 3rd one or not.

Easter sunrise table runners

There are 2 of these sunrise table runners - appliqued, pin basted the layers together, and ready to quilt. But I'm just not sure what I want to do with them in terms of quilting.  Help??

I plan to use black thread to quilt up against the edges of the black silhouettes at both ends. And I'm thinking that I'll do some simple straight line quilting radiating from the crosses to look kind of like rays of the sun. But should I use black thread for that or a rich gold/yellow thread for those rays?

Or is there some other quilting design I should use? I'm kind of stumped on this one and would welcome some ideas.

3D Pinwheel table runner

I bought the kit for this table runner over 2 years ago on a quilt shop hop bus trip to Minnesota, and I know that because it still had the shop's label on the bag. It's made completely from 5" charm squares that were already cut. 

The 3D pinwheels and the colors are what made me buy it, and I must admit that I had forgotten all about it until doing a little organizing this winter.  The actual top only took about an hour to sew together. And of course then it hung over a hanger in my sewing room closet.  Last weekend I worked on the quilting and binding while riding to/from Rapid City to visit family.  I added the buttons because it needed just a little something more, and I hand quilted around the edges. 

It's small, but it's a finish! Yay! 

Watermelon season

August means hot humid weather and the local farmers' markets are full of fresh garden produce. We live close to a major watermelon growing area and if you have a chance to taste a Forestburg melon, you will enjoy the experience.  To celebrate August I love to put out my watermelon table runner - hand quilted and appliqued.

Finish It Up Friday

I have a UFO finish this week - my 60 degree Poppy Fields table runner.  This one is hand quilted and made from fabric I bought last summer on a shop hop bus trip to Minnesota.  I have 2 more 60 degree runners in my UFO pile and I'm determined to get them finished. Check out lots of other Friday Finishes at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Favorite new sewing notion

Numbered pins have become my new favorite notion, especially when trying to keep strip sets in the right order.  These are just terrific!

The strip sets are for a Spicy Spiral table runner with a Halloween theme.  I made a patriotic version of the Spicy Spiral a couple of years ago and just knew I wanted to make another one. Too much time on Pinterest (in the middle of the night when I had insomnia) - and I've found several color schemes I liked. But my decision was easy and I just had to pull 8 fun Halloween fat quarters.  Can't wait to start cutting the wedges from these strip sets.

Snowman runner is done

I finished the binding on this table runner on Sunday before leaving for the airport for a work related trip.  It's nice to check off another UFO. This runner is made from a fat quarter set purchased a couple of years ago. I fell in love with the cute snowmen on the focus fabric. It's quilted in icy blue in a snowflake pattern all over.  No sewing take place this week as I am in Cheyenne, Wyoming for a work project. And since there may be snow when I get home I guess this runner was finished just in time.

Another UFO getting attention.

Binding another UFO.  This one is a winter-themed table topper with snowflakes quilted into it.  That will only leave 2 large quilts remaining to bind from the pile I had accumulated.  

Fall table topper

My office needed some colorful fall decor, so I brought a small 60 degree table topper to use on my office table.  I made this runner both as the original shape (long rectangular) and the hexagon shape.  These little ones just use 6 triangles and go together in about 5 minutes. This one is hand quilted around the floral and along the stripes.

Citrus 10-minute table runner

Over the weekend I had to try out the 10-minute table runners I keep seeing everywhere.  It really did only take about 10 minutes, except for the button and yo-yo I decided to add.  I made one yo-yo on my lunch break today and added it with a button on top. Now after work I need to add a matching set on the other end - only I'm going to use a green button on the other one to pick up the color in the leaves.

Scraps put to use

This short 60 degree runner was made using the scraps from the baby quilt. I will do some simple hand quilting on this and bind it with the same cheddar I used on the quilt.  Maybe it will be useful in the nursery.

Now I'll have some hand work to do when I am staying at my daughter's house after the babies come.

60 degree TREES #2

I have finished the second of two 60 degree table runners that used this same red and green Christmas tree fabric.  It is always interesting how different they look just by cutting the fabric in a different spot. 

This one has a row of "Ho-Ho-Ho" showing up around the center. The other one has a row of ornaments toward the outside area.  I put a striped candy cane binding on both.  I'm keeping this one, but giving the other one away as a gift.

60 Degree Runners

My body clock is messed up.  I am NOT a morning person and normally am perfectly happy to stay in bed until at least 7:30.  But I went to bed early last night and was wide awake at 5:00 am this morning. 

It is amazing what a person can accomplish during those hours when normally asleep.  I made my coffee, put in a load of laundry, and then headed to my sewing room.  The cat even had to come down about 7:30 to demand breakfast because I lost track of time.

These 2 new 60 degree runners are ready to quilt and bind. I still have a couple more of these cut and ready to sew together. It is really one of my favorites and make terrific gifts.

Plus I made another self-binding baby blanket, add 4 more rows of little half-square triangles to a scrappy project, and made a Christmas block that is going to become a mug rug for a gift.  And it's not quite 11:00 am. 

A Slice of Summer

I finally got the additional hand quilting added to this watermelon table runner. I've called it "A Slice of Summer". 

It is on my dining room table and I get to enjoy it now.  One more UFO is done and checked off my list.

60 degree table runner

This was my UFO goal for this week - to get the binding done on this table runner.  I can mark it DONE.

I actually made 2 of these fall leaf themed 60 degree runners.  I have this one bound, but had to go buy a little fabric to do the binding on the second one because my original scrap was only big enough for the first one.

Isn't the quilting cute? Carly put spikey flowers on these to look like the flowers in the fabric.