A Little Christmas Decorating!

No, I'm not actually decorating for Christmas--yet. My nephew is getting married in two weeks, so we had a shower for his fiancé. I decided to give them some Christmas items to decorate with.

First I made them a table runner. I used a charm pack and a fat quarter of Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater for Moda.


I meandered around on the blocks.


And I used a fancy stitch on my machine to edge the strip at each end. I used white thread, so it is hard to see.


Then I decorated a little tree with some lights, ribbon, and red berries. I put it in an aged bucket and surrounded it with pine cones. And made a big ribbon to put on it.


Merry Christmas, Clint and Kayla!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Spring Table Topper

I've had this pattern since last summer, but it just hasn't been on the list until now.

I wanted a table runner that had Easter/Spring colors in it to replace my blue/white one.

So I made the Scrappy Stars table runner on the right. 

I just dug through my fabric and made a truly scrappy table runner.

(Why do I always see mistakes when I look at photos when I thought it looked fine before?)

It looks nice on the table with a dish of Easter Eggs.

I'll count this as finish #5 for my 11 in '11 challenge.  You can see my other projects here.

Blues

No, not "the blues", but Bonnie Blues by Marcus Fabrics, which is what I used for my newest table runner.

I've had a couple of charm packs of this sitting around and when I decided I needed something to go with my snowman decorations last weekend, I pulled them out.

I love all the different shades of blue alongside the white.

I backed it in navy and put white binding on it to pull out the white. Wow! The photo certainly shows my mistakes.  Remember that I am just learning to do meandering!

I like the way it looks on the table and it ties in with the snowman theme.

Another finish!

Christmas Gift

I've slowly been working on a few Christmas gifts.  This table runner is one that I showed a peek of a while ago.  It was my second free motion quilting project.   I was happy with how the quilting turned out.

I used some 5 inch charm squares from Wiccaset and Portebello Market both by Moda.  I thought the colors blended well.

If you wanted a plainer look I think you could turn it over and use it with the  other side up too.

I had it folded in my hand sewing bag waiting to get the binding finished so it wouldn't lay flat!  I hope the recipient likes it.

A Little Bit of Sewing and A Lot of Fun!

Last week I worked on a table runner for my sister.  It was hard for me to pick out the fabrics because I didn't have her exact wall color in my head, and because her color is kind of a burnt orange.  Orange is not one of my favorite colors.  I hope I chose well.

I tried to hide my stitched on the binding so she can use both sides.

I also whipped up a few of these:

More Teepee Peepees for changing little boys.

I also spent some time with Chance as they spent the night with us and then we baby-sat while they went car shopping.  He is such a happy little guy!

Saturday we all gathered to celebrate the upcoming birth of our fifth grandchild.  This baby shower was girls only to start and then the guys joined us for a late lunch later.

Trina, our Mom to Be

Mom and Dad to Be practicing with Chance!

Our three pregnant ladies posed for me.

Daughter, Trina--due March 2nd, Niece,  Brittany--due June 24th, Daughter, Tasha--due July 14th

All in all, we had a great Saturday!

GIFTS--Big and Small

We had a great gift on Christmas Day!  Tasha and Kyle gave us a photo book full of great pictures of them.  Kyle's mom took them in the fall.

That was nice, but the nicest thing was on the last page!

YUP!  That's an ultrasound picture!  They are expecting in July!  We are very happy for them and so excited.  Every new grandchild is a gift from God.

Our family is really growing.  We had ten adults and four little boys here on Christmas.  Even with the addition we didn't have any extra room.  We're talking about what we can do for next year.  I think finishing the basement is in order, so there's our next project!

I'll finish by showing you several gifts I made.

This table runner went to live with my mom in Texas.  I made it using a charm pack from Moda, Wiscasset, and some fabric for the backing and binding from JoAnne's.  

I also decorated a sweatshirt for her with a snowman on the front. 

This table runner went to live with my aunt in Texas.  I made it using ac charm pack from Moda--Portebello Market, and some fabric for the backing and binding from JoAnne's. 

I also decorated a sweatshirt for her with an embroidered snowman scene on the front.

I enjoy making gifts for others, and I hope they enjoy receiving them from me!

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.

Another Table Runner

I STILL want a fall table runner for myself and one for a gift. You may remember this table runner that I made a while back.

I wasn't sure I liked it, and I was asking for opinions. Well, that wasn't very helpful as Tanner was the only one who commented. (Thanks, Tanner) And admittedly, he doesn't know much about quilting. Although he did a great job choosing colors for his house, so I think he knows something about color. Anyway, I took it to school and got a variety of opinions. Then Mom saw it and liked it, so it found a home in Texas.

I went back to the drawing board. I still liked the browns that were in the first quilt, and I had some left, so I started with that. I added a vintage fabric with a brown background and a little orange in it.

Again I machine quilted it in straight lines. I think I can use this one as a gift, although it does look nice on my table with the fall centerpiece.

I'd sure like honest opinions from some of you. What do you think?

Fall Table Runner

I decided to try my hand at making a table runner. I am in a fall swap, so I wanted one for that, and I want one for my house. Since fall is at hand I choose fall colors (or so I thought). I have a bad habit of not wanting to spend the money on a pattern, so I just did something easy and this is what I came up with.

There are six fabrics on the runner---the browns.

And the oranges.

I pieced it on the back, so you could really use it with that side up too if you wanted to.

As it often happens, the more I sewed, the less I liked the fabric. It just wasn't "fall" enough. It seemed too bright, and I'm not sure it really goes together. But I told myself to finish it and then put it away and maybe I would like it better later.

Well, I also want to learn to do machine quilting (besides straight lines!) so I thought I would try it on this runner. First I watched a video on utube, then I practiced. OH MY!! It was waaay harder than it looked! My stitches were all sizes and I just couldn't keep any type of pattern going. So, that plan was shot. I just did some straight machine quilting. It does add a little dimension to it.

So, I took it to school to show my critics and I got a variety of responses--from some who really liked it (or so they said), to some who said it looked 70's, and some who said they couldn't see it in my house, but it would fit in others.

So, what to do with it? I can't give it as a gift when it isn't something I love. I do think I could put it on my bench in the foyer where it would just peek out from under the things on the bench. The girls will be here tonight, so I guess I'll see what they have to say.

What do you think?