A Finish

I have a finish; a small finish that made a big mess.

I made these two Christmas table mats to cover my end tables. They go with the runners  for the coffee table and bachelors chest and a little hexagonal mat that I made last year. I wanted something that would pull everything together.

The one below is next to Jack's chair and it will usually be covered by a water glass and/or a coffee cup.

I had my sewing room all cleaned up before I pulled out previously cut  fabric strips and some new fat quarters and from there it was all downhill. Before too long all horizontal surfaces were covered while I auditioned fabric for each strip.
I am still working on putting things away in an orderly way so I can use them again without having such a big mess. I am almost there.

A Flimsy

I finished the table runner top and I am ready to layer it up.

I trimmed back the side triangles so there would be 1/2 inch between the points of the squares and the border. I added narrow strips on the two ends which makes the whole pattern "float". This solution has accomplished the problems of making this the size that best fits the coffee table. It is a Hitchcock table and has decorative painting on the ends that I didn't want to cover. The table has a fine black line on the table top about an inch from the edge and black legs.  I needed to add the long borders to make it wide enough and I needed to add something on the ends so it didn't look like something was missing. I think the narrow strip accomplished that. Now I have to decide whether to turn it pillowcase style before I quilt it or quilt it and add a binding. Or....... I could layer it and quilt it and decide if I want a binding or a facing. Writing a post is like talking to myself which helps me think and gives me new ideas as I go along.

I finished the last set of blocks that I have been working on for the diamond background.


I am happy that I will not be replacing anything. I have to wait until I get more of the last fabric before making any more blocks. This is about the right size horizontally but I am probably going to add one more set of blocks on the top and bottom to make it the right size to fill the space where it will hang. I will finish the outside all around with half diamonds using the final fabric which  I still have to buy. I still need to buy fat quarters of several colors also, for fall leaves for the applique. I don't plan on adding a border as the darker diamonds on the outside will be enough of a frame.





This is my EQ7 version  from last October. I have changed the orientation of the blocks and I might omit the free form curvy stripes and there will be more leaves.
Last fall I gathered a bunch of leaves from the yard and scanned them. I will print them in different sizes and use them for applique patterns.

This EQ version makes the background from my actual blocks look very dull but in reality the background has a much warmer tone.

Table Runner

Last Tuesday I met with some new quilting friends to work on table runners. I came home and got mine put together as far as I could until I decide about the ends.

My original plan was to follow the pattern and leave the ends pointed. After adding the side triangles I had a change of thought. I made the triangles oversize as a cautionary
measure. Now I kind of like the way it makes the squares float. I wasn't sure I would have enough of the triangle fabric to make 4 corners. I used some of the fabric from my diamond quilt and I knew I could spare the fabric for the 4 patches and the side triangles but not sure if I had enough for the corners because I had not yet worked out how many strips I need to cut for the last 2 sets of diamond blocks..









Before I saw the table runner pattern I thought it had square corners and bought this fabric for borders. I may just use it for binding if I don't add the corner triangles. If I omit the corner triangles I will trim the side triangles back to the tip of the squares .........or maybe I will do something else. I am still thinking it over. I will have enough of the light fabric for the corner triangles but I am not sure yet about adding them.

I will have time to think about it and time to finish the top and layer it up after I finish the last diamond blocks I am working on now. I can't go any farther with that until I get another yard of fabric. The shop only had 1 precut half yard piece but more ordered. I took the half yard and she is sending the other yard when it comes in.

It feels good to get back into the swing of things quilting. It has been a while since I had more than one thing going that I was enthusiastic about. Since our move, not getting to meet very often with my quilting friends has taken it's toll. Maybe just finding some new quilting friends has put me back on track.

An Autumn Flimsy

I bought the fabrics in this table runner last month. I had a vague idea about how I wanted to use them; it was so vague I don't remember what it was. I was in Pa. helping my daughter in law after their move and we visited a quilt shop about a block or so from their apartment.

The striped border fabric caught my eye and I bought a yard of it and then picked out 4 fat quarters to go with it.

I have not shopped yet for fabric for the wall hanging I want to make and I don't have the yardage requirements figured out yet. I decided to use this fabric to make a test piece to determine how large I want the blocks. I also wanted to see how easy or difficult 9 Patch diamond blocks would be to work with. I strip pieced these and it went together easily. The flimsy is about 16 x 34. I cut my strips 2 inches wide and offset them about 1/2 inch to reduce waste. I cut 2 inch slices from the strip set by using the 60 degree line on my long 6 x 24 ruler. I did pin at the intersections when I made the 9 patch blocks and sewed the blocks together. I was really surprised that all my intersections came together with points that are as close to perfect as they can be.(I hate to say they are perfect but if they are not I can't tell.) Still this is only 7 blocks the wall hanging has about 74, although not all of them will be 9 patches. That doesn't include all the 60 degree triangles around the perimeter. That will be a lot of intersections.
Maybe I should make my strips a bit larger; I'm not sure that will save me much work. I am not going to rush into this without giving it some more thought. I don't want to come up short on the fabric if I change my mind about the size of the components.  I've been there and done that and it was troublesome enough when I could jump in the car and run over to the local quilt shop in 5 minutes.