Mostly Manor Table Runner

Here's a table runner I made to give to my cousin who will be getting married this July.  My mom and I also gave her a Big Star quilt with matching fabric, similar to this one I made for another cousin. 

I just love the floral fabric with this collection, the colors are gorgeous.  I used a large hexagon template and this fabric is just perfect for fussy cutting.  The stripe is another great fabric.  It's wonderful how the different directions are printed into the pattern so you don't have to piece it to get variety.  And look at this backing fabric, another winner.  Just can't get enough of this line. 

Made a few bowl potholders to give as well.  Used a Cotton + Steel print for these.  I always stick a little tag on these explaining what they are in case they haven't seen these before.  I was happy that I had one that matched the fabric so well!  You can find the free pattern here. 

I really enjoy making these handmade gifts.  The process is fun and it's nice to give something unique.  What's your go-to handmade gift? 

Fun Stuff

My mom comes from a big family, she is one of seven, which means that I am one of 21 first cousins on her side.  In the past year, I've had four of my cousins get engaged.  Since my mom also quilts, we decided to team up and get some handmade gifts going.  My Big Star Quilt recently went to my goddaughter, and my mom's version of the same quilt was given away this week at another bridal shower.  We're each working on another quilt for the next two cousins who are getting married next year.  Since we're splitting the work on a big quilt, we each also made some smaller gifts.

These were fun to make, especially the potholder, which is a total throwback. I highly recommend the Harrisville brand for their metal looms and cotton loops.  They even have a potholder pattern wizard, which is super fun.  Buyer beware...you will get addicted to looming!  The table runner is a cute brick pattern, called Two By Four's, that you can make with a charm pack, it's by Pieced Tree Patterns. And lastly, these microwaveable bowl potholders are super cute and useful.  

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts.  

Holiday Runner

It's getting close...we're in the home stretch of getting ready for the holidays!  I've had so much going on at home these past few months.  We've been fixing bathrooms and getting floors refinished.  That means the house is in disarray, along with the sewing room.  We are getting back to normal and finally have our tree up today, so things are improving for sure.

I have managed to get a bit of sewing in, so here's a cute runner for my son's dresser.  Last year I made him this cute tree skirt for his mini tree.  This runner used a great fabric that I was able to cut to add to the two ends.  I was just able to get Santa in on one side!

I added some waves of quilting in red thread to make it look like a windy trail.  I also added some cute red rick rack.  The runner uses just two fat quarters, one for the two ends and one for the middle, along with two one and a half inch wide white strips.  It's 18 inches across.

I love the black, red, and white colors on this fabric, along with the fun Christmas motifs.

I can't wait to see what you've all sewn, I'm sure there will be a lot of reveals in the next few weeks! Good luck with your finishes!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Finished or Not Friday.

LIMOD Improv Scrap Swap

My guild had a secret swap this summer where we all brought a bag of scraps, picked one and had to make anything we choose as long as it used improvisation.  The scraps I received were all Kaffe Fassett which I had never worked with before.  It was a real challenge not having a project in mind to start with.  I 'made' fabric using the scraps and sliced and re-sliced the fabric as I went.  Another challenge was that the scraps varied between warm and cool colors.  Once I had a few improv blocks put together I found a fabric that had the same color in all the blocks.  I decided on a table runner for the final project.

 I made a template in a straight line spiral and quilted each block in a different coordinating thread.

I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I love the improv blocks.  I'd like to go further next time on the layout/design of the project.  I think the blocks and runner make the project more traditional and it would be good to keep the improv style with the whole project, not just the block parts.

And here are my scraps in a totally improv design by Kim of Leland Ave Studios....my scraps never looked go good!

Look at this amazing piecing!

Thank you Kim!

Linking up with crazy mom quilts.

Botanique Table Runner

This was a quick project for a friend from work who just bought a new house. Her house is very pretty and I knew that she purchased a blue couch for the living room which is open to the dining/kitchen.  This runner matched perfectly and she later told me it was Syracuse University colors, so that was a bonus!

I used Joel Dewberry's Botanique collection and cut five inch squares.  I quilted it on either side of the seams to make a grid.  For the binding I used a Lotta Jansdotter print from Joann. I like how it made a nice pattern on the edges.  I went for an ordered layout instead of random patchwork which really helped the design because the prints are bold.  Check out this post to see the other colorway from this fabric collection. 

Hope everyone who went back to school/work had a great week!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.

Fresh Air Table Runners

These are table runners I made from one charm pack and one mini-charm pack of Fresh Air by American Jane for Moda Fabrics.  There are two colorways in this collection, one set of primary colors and one set of pastel colors.  Some of the prints have a retro feel.  I split them up and then made four patches and two patches with them.  I trimmed the two patches to 4.5 inch squares, then I trimmed the 5 inch charms down to 4.5 inch square.  I think they make nice spring and summer table decorations.

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday.