The Last Two Fall Tablerunners

My goal of 4 fall tablerunners is now complete.  Here are the last 2.

 This is my Apple Runner.  It is a pattern from the book Cider Mill Road.  I bought the pattern in Leavenworth which is in apple country.

 It is pieced with fusable applique. I did a small zigzag on the applique.  It was very easy to do.

 I just used scraps on this runner.

 This runner is an idea that I got from a woman in my quilt guild.  I just pretty much copied the pic I took of her runner.

 It has a pieced background which I quilted and then I added the leaves afterwards.

 I fused the leaves and then I just did a straight stitch around them.  There were too many turns for zigzag.

Stained Glass Nativity

I have a friend who wanted to make a stained glass nativity quilt.  I helped her get it started as far as ideas of how to do it and she got the fabrics. She also had the picture that she wanted to copy, blown up to the size that she wanted. This is quite a few papers off of her printer, so we taped them together and it was ready to go.  Then other things popped up in her life and she realized that this quilt, which was very low on her priority list was not going to get done by her, so she gave me the works.

Since I had it, I started thinking about it and looked up methods of doing stained glass.  We had already decided to use interfacing, she that was part of the works she gave me.

 I found I had an hour the next day where the project I was working on came to a sudden halt as I had no more fusable for it, so I got this one out and started tracing onto the interfacing.  It is good to get a start when ideas are running fresh in your head.

 I keep the pattern rolled up and handy.  I know I'm going to start with the sky, so those will be the first pieces of fabric I'll cut out.  Sounds pretty easy for a start.  But we'll have to see when the next block of time comes that I'll work on it.  I am looking forward to it.  I think it will be fun.

Naupaka on My Wall - Finished!

I started this wall hanging in Hawaii in May.  And then I worked on it again during our summer vacation in July.  Then I put it away with the applique all completed and forgot about it.  I found it last week and pinned it onto my quilting machine and now it is finished.

 It is all hand applique - needleturn - which makes for very relaxing work when sitting around.

 The quilting is echo quilting with veins in the pink leaves and centers quilted on the flowers.

 It is a pattern from the Pacific Rim Quilt Co.

 I did have to do some readjustment as my fabric wasn't quite large enough, but I made it work.

My husband really likes it.  That's what matters most. 

Plumerias at Night

I finished this wallhanging.  It is a repeat of one I have done before.  No 2 quilts are ever quite the same.  This one is a little larger and the flowers are probably arranged a bit differently. 

 I put extra batting behind the flowers.  It gives them more puffiness.

 The flower centers were my artistic thread work.

French Braid Tablerunner

Of the 4 tablerunners I'm doing right now, this is the first one I started but the 2nd to get finished.  Hmmmm....  You can see the second that got done first here.

 

 

The third one is almost done.  It just needs bound.

 And the fourth is just in the making.  You'll have to come back to see it.

Emma Makes a Quilt

My daughter gives sewing lessons to many young girls and also some adults.  The youngest start by sewing squares together to make a small quilt and then they move on to making clothing.  Emma (who is 6) has moved on to making clothing for herself and others but she decided she wanted to make a  quilt for her bed.  She got the top together and then she wanted to quilt it on my machine.

I gave her a sheet of paper and had her practice doing continuous line drawing with a pencil.  She got the hand of that.  We then did a practice piece on the machine.  She did quite well.  She had a handle of the machine and didn't freak out when things went on.  It was great. 

And so she did her quilt.

 It looks like a big machine for a little girl, doesn't it.  

 It was so nice spending some special time with her and conversing about different things, finding out what she likes to do, etc.  It's a way to build friendships.

Here she is with her finished quilt.

Autumn Tablerunners

I decided to make some autumn tablerunners to sell in our shop.  These are the most popular kind that sell, so I went to work.  I was going to make two, but then I found some other fabric and also came up with ideas, so when I'm done, it will be 4.  These are all made from fabrics in my stash.

Here's the first. It's a french braid, using mostly batiks.

 Enjoy the colors.

 Now it's time to quilt.  

 For this one, I saw I had this very large print that I really like.  I used large squares so that the fabric could really show.  This one is completed.

 Another day I'll show the other two.

3 Quilts Made by Vicki

She brought me 3 quilts for children.  She must be sewing for her grandchildren.

 The farming quilt. 

 I did loops and went around the pictures.

 This quilt has hearts and flowers, so I quilted hearts and flowers all over it.

 And on this one I did a large stipple with some twirls.

Progress on Part 8 - Love Entwined

It's been a beautiful summer.  I like to always take some time to sit on my porch and enjoy the fresh air, heat and activity outside.  So that is a good time for me to get some applique done and that is what I have been doing.

 I am so happy with my border.  I tried several methods on the center square and had problems coming up with a good plan.  This time I cut the pieces roughly 1/4" larger than the actual size.  I ironed one edge under and sewed that to my line on the fabric.  Then I needle turned the rest.  It worked really smoothly and I like the look.  This quilt is solely needle turn.  No freezer paper or floriani etc.  

 It does mean a lot of trimming so the points aren't too puffy, but it's well worth it.

 I'm doing the other border triangles with the same method.  Drawing the quilt on the fabric properly really helps in getting things right.  By the time I'm done with this quilt, I'll be a great appliquer.  I'll probably want to do the center over again because the outside borders will look so much better than the center.

 For the stems, I cut bias strips 7/8" wide. I press one edge and applique that down.  Then I trim the seam and also trim about an eighth inch off the other side.  This makes for a very narrow stem but easy to work with. In these borders, I will embroider the tiny stems coming off the main stem.

 I've also just learned that I can make my backside look neat.  When quilting an applique quilt with a white background, there are problems when you can see a dark thread on the inside hanging loose.  I don't know why I was so dumb as to not do this before, but now all my ends go underneath the applique itself hidden in there.  My back looks so nice and neat now.