Category Archives: table runner

2014 Fall Fair

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This weekend was our small community’s annual Fall Fair.

The fair kicked off Friday afternoon with midway rides, some entertainment on the stage, and fireworks.  We are lucky that we are able to enjoy the fireworks from our back yard.

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View of the Midway from our backyard.

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Saturday morning was the annual parade.  As you can tell by a lot of the parade entries, the theme of this year’s fair was. “the Year of the HoneyBee”.

After the parade, it is tradition to head to the hall to look at the exhibits and see what prizes our family members have won.  This year, our daughter entered 5 items in the baking and craft sections and took home 4 first places and 1 second place which gave her $24 in prize money and a $20 gift certificate from Bernardin.  I entered 6 quilts and took home 6 first places, earning $27 in prize money.  There was quite the debate in our house over who took top honors and whether the $20 gift certificate should be included in the total tally.

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DH having a look at the exhibits.

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The Quilt and Sewing Section.

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More exhibits.

Dana with Baking

DD with her gift basket entry.

Dana's HoneyBee and Honey Theme - Cookies with honey

DD’s HoneyBee themed cookies.

Dana's HoneyBee and Honey Theme - Muffins with honey

DD’s HoneyBee themed muffins.

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DD’s cake.

Dana's Baking - Gift Basket with 4 baked items

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My quilt on the left – Mexican Tiles.

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My quilt on the left – Pumpkin Patch.

The quilt blocks for both Mexican Tiles and Pumpkin Patch are made using the technique in HD Design’s quilt pattern, 4-Patch Stacked Posies.  The setting of the blocks is my own design.  Mexican Tiles was quilted on my long arm using the Loricircles’ Swirls pattern board and Pumpkin Patch was quilted on my Bernina using vertical lines spaced about every 1/2″ or so.

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My Snowman Table Runner.

My Snowman Table Runner is made from the Designs to Share With You pattern, It’s Fast, It’s Easy.

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My Miniature Quilt – Chickens in the Farm Yard.

My Chickens in the Farm Yard quilt is made from a paper piecing pattern that was in a Miniature Quilts magazine years ago.

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My quilt – Crayon Box.

My Crayon Box quilt is one of Bonnie Hunter’s free quilt patterns by the same name.

Norma's HoneyBee and Honey Theme - Needlework Picture

HoneyBee Themed Challenge.

Norma's HoneyBee and Honey Theme - Needlework Picture - Large

My quilt – HoneyBee Themed Challenge – Home is the Best Place to Bee!

My HoneyBee challenge quilt was made from an out of print pattern that I picked up at a quilt show garage sale table for 25 cents earlier this Spring.  The pattern is called, “Bee Home Pillow – 105” from Bird Brain Designs.  My quilt measures 17.5 inches square.

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Sarge – DD and DSIL’s dog.

My husband and I were able to puppy sit for the evening on Saturday night while our daughter and son-in-law attended a wedding.

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A Deere family.

Our son-in-law is a John Deere fan so I couldn’t resist taking a “family” picture with the tractor.

By Sunday morning when we got up, almost all evidence of the fair was gone.  The Midway had packed up and moved on and all the tents and exhibits were removed from the field behind our house.  This year’s fair is now only a memory.  …looking forward to next year!

Four UFO Finishes For the Table

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2014_July 1_Group Shot of Four Finishes-Optimized

 

Yesterday, I took the last stitches in the four table toppers/runners that I quilted last weekend.  These projects have been on the UFO pile for years.  I set out this year to quilt as many of the tops that have been sitting on the flimsy pile as I could.  I had some incentive from the guild’s UFO challenge this year which I won in June.  I am on a roll and don’t plan on stopping soon!

This group shot photo of the four finished projects was taken from the deck directly above the grass where i placed the quilts.  This may be my new favorite way to take pictures of quilts.  🙂

2014_July 1_Daisy Table Runner-OptimizedThis sunflower table runner is from the pattern, Easy Striped Table Runner by Karen Montgomery of The Quilt Company.  Years ago, this was a free pattern on the Timeless Treasures website.  They have taken it down now, but the pattern is for sale on several on-line quilting sites.  The following is taken from the pattern jacket.

Pattern Back - Easy Striped Table Runner

Although the pattern jacket says that this is the easiest project you will ever make, this project has been sitting on my “to be quilted pile” for years!  I made one of these table runners for my Mom years ago and I started one for myself right after finishing my Mom’s.  Like so often happens, the project that is destined as a gift gets finished and my project sits in the flimsy pile waiting for me to have some spare time to quilt it.  The pattern says that the runner finishes at 45″ long, but my version is only 35″ long.  Once you understand how the construction works, you can vary the size of the finished runner easily.

2014_July 1_Lilac Table Topper-Optimized

This lilac table topper is from the Spirals pattern by Ursula Riegel of Designs to Share with You.  I have made this topper many times over the years. It is a great pattern to showcase a novelty fabric.

While in Oregon on a trip with my Mother and Aunt in May 2008, I picked up this cute lilac print fabric.  I made table toppers for my Mother and my Aunt.  In 2009, I made a topper for myself.  It has sat in the flimsy pile waiting to be quilted until now.

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This is another table topper made from Ursula Riegel’s pattern.  Did you know that Ursula Riegel is a Canadian designer?  She is located on Vancouver Island in Victoria, BC.  I love to promote Canadian quilt designers.  🙂

2014_July 1_St Pat's Day Table Runner-OptimizedThis table runner is from another of Ursula Riegel’s patterns called, It’s Fast, It’s Easy.  This is another pattern that I like to go to for seasonal projects as it showcases the novelty fabrics so well.

Pam sent me the St. Patrick’s Day fabric back in 2006.  Back then, it was nearly impossible to get any novelty fabrics for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and Easter in Canada.  Now because the Canadians are demanding these fabrics they are a little easier to find in Canada.  Believe it or not, I have one more table runner made from this same batch of fabrics that is still on the “flimsy pile” waiting to be quilted.  🙂

 

 

“Fast Food” Table Runner for Easter

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I have been slowly working on a stack of UFO’s that need to be quilted.  This weekend’s finish was this Easter table runner.  The pattern is a Terry Atkinson design called, Fast Food.  The pattern is very simple–making use of a stripe that does all the work.

This table topper has been sitting for at least 2 years waiting for me to have the opportunity to quilt it. The Quilt Show was broadcasting their shows for free this weekend.  So while Ricky and Alex talked; I quilted.

Fast Food Easter Table Runner_Atkinson Designs_March 23, 2014 (1)-Optimized

 

This is a close up of the fabrics and the quilting.  I quilted in the ditch around the blocks and then went up and down each yellow stripe.  I love the dense quilting!Fast Food Easter Table Runner_Atkinson Designs_March 23, 2014 (4)-Optimized

 

Finished UFO’s – Table Runner and Bed Quilt

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The table runner that I started on January 2, 2012 is finally finished.  Sometimes it is not just the larger and more complex projects that sit as UFO’s for a very long time.

2014_Feb 20_Poppy Table Runner-Optimized

Here I am at our Guild meting last night showing my completed table runner.Show and Share - February 19, 2014 (15)

We have a UFO Completion Contest at our Quilt Guild this year.  Although I took this completed table runner for show and tell last night, it doesn’t count towards the UFO Completion Contest as your UFO has to be from before 2012.  Because I started this project on January 2, 2012, I am just outside the time period for the contest.

I did show another project at Guild this month that does qualify for the UFO Completion Contest though.  I finally took “Plum Dotty” for show and tell at the Guild.  Plum Dotty was finished to the partial flimsy stage on July 5, 2011.  I say partial flimsy stage because after I had this one together, I put it on the bed and decided that it needed some more blocks to make it wider.  Adding just a few more blocks to make it wider proved to be a challenge because I had run out of the black and white and white and black dot fabrics.  After getting some help from a friend in Oregon who helped source out more fabric for me, I was able to add the extra blocks.  The quilt top then sat for a long time until I had time to quilt and bind it.  I finished Plum Dotty on September 12, 2013, just in time to show at the Fall Fair in our town on September 13 and 14, 2013.

Here is Plum Dotty on the bed.  This is a perfect quilt for winter – not only does it brighten the room at an often dreary time of year, but it is heavy with the extra foundation for the blocks and the flannel back.

2013_Sep 12_Plum Dotty_Finished-OptimizedHere I am at our Guild meeting last night talking about Plum Dotty during Show and Share.

 

Show and Share - February 19, 2014 (17)I wish I could say that finishing these two projects has caught me up to date with my UFO’s, but sadly it barely scratches the surface.

 

 

Early Birthday Gifts

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My mom’s birthday isn’t until March 14.  However, I delivered her birthday presents to her when I visited Arizona earlier this month.  Postage to mail anything is expensive, let alone mailing something internationally.  Why wait and mail it when I could deliver it in person?

In the fall of 2011, my husband and I went on a tour to Utah and New Mexico with my parents.  When we were in the gift shop at Bryce Canyon, my mom and I spotted some cute fabric postcards that depicted the early days at Bryce Canyon.  We both bought a set.  I still have mine sitting in the plastic bag that they came in, but for my Mom’s birthday, I put her’s together into this wall hanging, “Trip to Bryce Canyon”.  I included photos of the four of us that were taken on the rim of Bryce Canyon on Sept 26, 2011 as part of the label on the back.

2014_Jan9_Trip to Bryce Canyon_Birthday Gift for Mom (3)A closeup of the blocks:

2014_Jan9_Trip to Bryce Canyon_Birthday Gift for Mom (1)

 

 

The second project that I finished for my Mom’s birthday was a toilet tank topper.  (Say that really fast a few times!  LOL)  When the two of us went on a quilt shop hop a couple of years ago, we found these kits to make the cutest little table runners.  The shop was selling them as toilet tank toppers and they work perfectly for that!2014_Jan_04_Toilet Tank Topper_Mom 4 2014_Jan_04_Toilet Tank Topper_Mom 3This time, I have my project finished too.  And because I have never shown it before, here is my toilet tank topper.

2014_Jan_04_Toilet Tank Topper_Norma 3These are cute little projects that make up in a day from a few scraps left from a larger project.  I have saved the pattern so that I can make some more of these in the future.