TABLERUNNERS ARE A GOOD WAY TO........

............practice longarm machine quilting skills.

I can put together a tablerunner top in an hour or two

and load it on the longarm system.

For the center I did a 1" diagonal grid going first one way and then the other way.

Since the center fabric is so dark and busy I didn't think a lot of

detail quilting would show, so the grid was a nice option and I got to practice my straight lines.

I treated the narrow inner border and the wider outer border as one unit.

I quilted arches down the length and then added beadboard stitching between the arches.

I like how they look.

Now....I'm not sure why....I did a simple beadboard on each end border.

There must have been a reason for that but not sure what it is.

Even so....it still looks great!

For the backing I used a lovely Moda fabric.

It has holly leaves and berries and the binding matches perfectly.

So the front is autumn themed with pumpkins, acorns and fall leaves.

Turn it over and its Christmas.

Its a reversible double season tablerunner.

Ok...........now onto my next project.......hmmm....What could it be?

Here is a sneak peek.............

Happy stitching everyone!

STRIP PIECED TABLERUNNER...........

                                 ............IN AN ASSORTMENT of fall and autumn hued fabrics.

I have an awful large amount of scraps and I store them by color in bins

underneath the longarm system for easy accessibility.

Every once in a while I like to mindlessly sew strips together and

make tablerunners.

I say mindlessly because there is not a lot of thinking or measuring involved in

making simple tablerunners.

There are 25 ...1" strips across the center of this tablerunner so I used

increments of five and did some ruler work.

No rhyme or reason to the design, just some V shapes and then arches in between.

A view of the back....which is a cute candy corn pattern.

This tablerunner is reversible.

Use the candy corn side for October and Halloween and then turn it over

and use the striped side for Autumn and Thanksgiving.

My big wooden crate full of dried gourds came in handy for these photos!

Being a shop owner I always have to be a few months ahead of the seasons.

My next project is a more formal autumn tablerunner.

I'm off to the happy quilter's loft to load it

on the longarm system right now!

Until next time........

Happy stitching everyone!

HOMESPUN TABLERUNNER...........

............on and off the longarm system today.

There are 2 each of 21 different 1" fabric strips surrounded by a

blue and gray pinstripe border.

The colors a very muted and looks so old-fashioned.

The strips are assorted greens, blues, browns and tan colors.

It would look perfect in a period house.

The size is 19 x 51".

The side borders are quilted with a 3/4" beadboard pattern and

the ends are just a single row of stitching 1" apart.

I couldn't decide what to do in the center so I just did a soft, rounded zigzag

over three rows at a time.

The backing is the same pinstripe as the borders.

The quilting really shows up on the back.

Binding is a black and blue mini check.

It is all machine pieced and quilted and the binding is also machine stitched for durability.

I like to use the things I make so I make sure they are machine wash and dryable.

 

Well..........That was my project for today.

A good way to spend a rainy day in Northeast PA.

Happy Stitching everyone!!!

ORIGINALSCRAPPY FEEDSACK QUILT..........

 FINISHED.

The front of the quilt is very busy so the pattern does show very well.

The back shows the quilting pattern better.

How about that zig zag border?

The top and bottom borders were straight.

It was not fun to bind the zig zags.

I had never done it before so I found a webpage that went into detail about the process.

Not as hard as it looks, it did take a good 2 hours though.

                        I outlined each offset block and then did swirl in each "arm" of the block.

I found a reproduction fabric in the color that the client requested.

A lot of the fabrics were too cutesy with ducks and bunnies but didn't fit with the overall look of the quilt. This fabric was perfect.

I like to document the journey of a quilt if I have information about it.

My client had the information I needed so I did this awesome label on the computer.

It documents the recipients through the years and in small print

I put  my information on the bottom because, of course, they didn't do longarm quilting that long ago.

And onto my next client quilt. A very simple rail fence.

the piecing on this is perfect and each "rail" is exactly the same size.

If you've ever done a quilt where the blocks vary by 1/2 to 1".....

NOT FUN!!!!

Throws off the ruler work math terribly.......

Happy Quiltmaking everyone!

An ORIGINAL 1920'S QUILT............

........on the longarm system today.

 The blocks are in really bad shape.

I had to go over them and trim off all the torn patches and it was most of some of the blocks.

I had to trim around the hand quilting that was already done.

The quilting is like 5 stitches to an inch.

see picture below too.........

This is the back.

It is pieced with original feedsacks and they are in really good shape.

No tears or worn sections at all.

My client got this quilt from a family member so it has sentimental value to her and she wants to use the quilt for display so my solution was to cover the very worn out front

with backing and use the original back as the front.

Does that make sense?

Since the quilt was already layered and quilted (and heavy) I did not use batting when I added the new backing.

I rolled the new backing on the longarm and put the worn pieced side of the quilt face-down  and proceeded to "quilt" (see above picture).

Every 6" I quilted a little half flower across the width and then rolled down 6"

 and quilted another row.

The original maker used two tablecloths for the batting.

So my quilt sandwich consisted of

new backing

pieced blocks

tablecloth

tablecloth

original feedsack pieced backing

and my machine handled it like the queen that she is!

My next project is also an original early 1900's quilt top from a client

who inherited it from a family member.

This one is just the top so I will be able to have some fun with it.

Until next time...........

HAPPY QUILTING!!!