I am on a mission to work through my Christmas scraps by making some placemats.
These string blocks were pieced and trimmed to 7.5 inches square before sewing 6 of them together to make a placemat.
I like my place mats on the larger size so there is room for the plate, cutlery, and glass without the glass having to sit on the edge of the placemat. This placemat finished at 14.5″ x 21 inches.
Ready for Christmas dinner!
Our quilt guild’s bi-annual show was this past Friday night and Saturday (October 17 and 18, 2014). I was once again on the committee that hung the quilts. We were very organized this year and had the quilts hung in record time.
I was also doing demos again this year. Unlike some other quilt shows, our guild does not just do demos at specific times during the show. Our demos are on-going through the whole show. This means that the people that are doing the demos are doing lots and lots of talking. 🙂 There were four of us doing demos this year. We had the most perfect spot with perfect lighting against this bank of windows.
This was my home for a day and a half while I demonstrated how to make string/crumb blocks using a stabilizer. I use used color catchers as my foundation, but any other stabilizer product such as muslin or paper could be used. If you use paper, you will have to remove the paper before quilting your quilt. This is one reason why I use the color catchers–there is nothing to remove; the color catcher is not removed and stays in the quilt. Granted the quilt is a bit heavier because of the additional layer.
The woman doing demos beside me was demonstrating another technique for using up scraps–making those fabric wrapped bowls that are so popular now. We were very complimentary to one another with our demos as we were both showing how to use up scraps that some people put would put in the trash.
The quilts that I entered in this year’s show were:
And lastly, my entry into the challenge for this year’s show; Roses are Red, Violets are Blue.
I was very tired by the time I got home after quilt show take down last night. …but ask me in two years if I am ready to do this again and my response will be a definite, Yes!!!
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. 🙂
This 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.
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.
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.
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. 🙂
This 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. 🙂
The Valentine’s Day table toppers that I started after coming home from AZ are finished and ready for delivery.
The first one is 30″ across and is going to my daughter.
The second one is a bit smaller, measuring only 25″ across and is going to my daughter-in-law.
Happy Valentine’s Day girls!
While I was in AZ on my vacation, I picked up a few Valentine’s Day fabrics from Joann to add to my stash. I find Joann fabrics are not the same quality as the quilt shop fabric, but for a seasonal project that won’t get much wear they are perfect. When you go into the stores now all you see are Valentine-themed chocolates and decorations so I decided to dig out the Valentine fabric and work on some projects.
These projects are still flimsies and they are remaining on my design wall until I get them quilted. The smaller octagon is made from 5 x 3″ strips of fabric (finished topper: 25″ across) and the larger octagon is made from 6 x 3″ strips of fabric(finished topper: 30″ across). Because the smaller table topper took less fabric, I had quite a bit of the leftover strata. I decided to piece the leftovers together into the rectangle you see in the picture. I am not sure if I will just quilt this the way it is or if I will add something more to it.
