A Fall Table Runner For Me!!

So, I've been working on a fall table runner for myself. This time I decided to follow a pattern, something I don't do very much of. I usually just look at something and then make it the way I think it should be made. I decided I needed to learn to follow a pattern so I could move on to more complicated things. And I have joined a quilting group that meets once a month. For this group I have a pattern to follow.

Anyway, I bought the pattern and then splurged on the fabric. I used Gobble, Gobble by Sandy Gervais for Moda. I bought two charm packs and happily I have about 3/4 of one left over for another little project!

For the backing and binding I used Flowers and Berries Pumpkin from the Gobble, Gobble line.

I don't usually spend this much on fabric, but I have admired the Moda fabrics for a long time and this time I just decided to go for it!! Now, if I were to sell this no one would pay the price I'd need to have even if I didn't get paid for any time.

I learned two new things doing this project. I know it looks easy, but nevertheless I did learn! One thing that gave me some problems was the points. I just couldn't get them to seem to fit right. I had them all pinned on and repinned twice. I then decided to sew on the three at the end and then knew it wasn't right. So I went in to Willow Creek Quilting and Gifts where the Amish girl that works there(sorry, I can't remember her name) looked and looked at it. We finally decided that I should cut them down some. So back home I went to take them off again and cut them down. After sewing and pressing I still wasn't sure they were right, but I kept on going.

I machine quilted it again with just some straight stitching. I've tried the free motion quilting and I just can't get the hang of it. That's a goal for the future.

The next thing I learned was a new technique for cutting continuous bias binding. I followed directions(or so I thought), but I knew as I was cutting that it just wasn't going to work. So I went to youtube to find a video tutorial which helped tremendously. Again, back to the drawing board. Sure enough the

directions were right I just didn't follow them correctly.

Then I was ready to put the binding on. This again was a new experience. With the points I needed to stitch to each point, back stitch, clip threads, fold the binding over to make

mitered corners FOR EACH POINT!

Using bias binding works best for this because

it has some give to it.

All in all, it was a good learning experience, and I will probably use this pattern again.