Thursday, March 15, 2018

Modern Plus Sign Book Blog Hop: Rick Rack Runner

I am no stranger to plus sign quilts. I’ve made a bunch of them, and some of my favorites were created by quilt designer Cheryl Brickey. Maybe you remember my Outlined Plus quilt or Birds in Blue project? Both of them were designed by Cheryl.

Recently, Cheryl teamed up with Paige Alexander, of Quilted Blooms, to write Modern Plus Sign Quilts: 16 Dynamic Projects, a Variety of Techniques. I knew before I opened it up that this book would offer unique designs and well-written patterns. It did not disappoint!

For the Modern Plus Sign Book Blog Hop, I decided to make the Rick Rack Runner, a project sized generously enough that it could serve as a bed runner. I opted to trim it down so I could gift it to a friend as a table runner this summer ...


I stayed true to the original—designed, pieced, and quilted by Paige—choosing a light background color (my beloved Kona Snow) that would highlight some carefully chosen fabrics for the pluses. Then I dove into my Bonnie and Camille stash to assemble a modern version of the traditional red, white, and blue Fourth of July palette. I’m delighted with how it turned out!

This is Paige’s original, from the book.
Photo courtesy of C&T Publishing.

I took the back as an opportunity to use more from my Bonnie and Camille collection, making a simple patchwork of 5-inch charm squares. It may seem like unnecessary extra work for the back of a project, but I tend to gravitate toward B&C’s more saturated prints. This back was a great way to give those lower-volume charms a life outside of my stash. (For more on that back, including how I cut corners on the pressing, click here.)


All those angles in the pieced quilt top needed some softening, so following the instructions in Jacquie Gering’s Walk book, I quilted a large, soft S-shape diagonally on the runner and then echo-quilted out from there. It was a fun break from my usual straight-line quilting and was surprisingly forgiving.


I experienced the usual pitfalls with this project—trimming threads I was supposed to bury, unpicking and resewing a binding that should have been easier to finish, scrubbing off schmutz that I managed to get on the quilt top. (Ack!) It all worked out in the end, though, and I’m excited to give this summery runner to my friend in a few months.


The blog hop for Cheryl and Paige’s book continues through March 23rd. Be sure to check out other bloggers’ plus sign finishes and visit the authors’ blogs for daily giveaways! You can purchase your own copy of Modern Plus Sign Quilts here, and both Cheryl and Paige are selling signed copies in their Etsy shops.

Enjoy the rest of the hop!

Modern Plus Sign Book Blog Hop

Monday, March 12th
Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs
Paige @ Quilted Blooms

Tuesday, March 13th
Soma @ Whims and Fancies
Ann @ Brown Paws Quilting
Kitty @ Night Quilter
Sophie @ Luna Lovequilts
Afton @ Quilting Mod
Shelley @ The Carpenter’s Daughter Who Quilts

Wednesday, March 14th
Jayne @ Twiggy and Opal
Jen @ A Dream and a Stitch
Abigail @ Cut & Alter
Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl
Sandra @ mmm! quilts
Karen @ Run Sew Fun

Thursday, March 15th
Linda @ Flourishing Palms
Bernie @ Needle and Foot
Liz @ Savor Every Stitch
Stacey @ Stacey In Stitches
Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty [That’s me!]
Patty @ Elm Street Quilts
Melanie @ A Bit of Scrap Stuff Blog

Friday, March 16th
Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts
Izzy @ Dizzy Quilts
Ruth @ Charly and Ben’s Crafty Corner
Christa @ Christa Quilts

Monday, March 19th
Jessica @ Quilty Habit
Cindy @ Hyacinth Quilt Designs
Jennifer @ The Inquiring Quilter
Julie @ The Crafty Quilter

Tuesday, March 20th
Tish @ Tish N Wonderland
Judy @ Sew Some Sunshine
Emily @ The Darling Dogwood
Wanda @ Wanda’s Life Sampler
Karen @ Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats
Katherine @ Sew Me Something Good

Wednesday, March 21st
Anja @ Anja Quilts
Kate @ Smiles from Kate
Sue @ Sevenoaks Street Quilts
Carole @ From My Carolina Home
Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts

Thursday, March 22nd
Debbie @ Esch House Quilts
Laura @ Slice of Pi Quilts
Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts
Janice @ Color Creating and Quilting
Joanne @ Quilts by Joanne

Friday, March 23rd
Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs
Paige @ Quilted Blooms

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday, Needle and Thread Thursday, and Let’s Bee Social ...

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40 comments:

  1. I love anything made in Bonnie and Camille fabric, it always looks so happy. x

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  2. Beautiful! Great fabric selection as well. With such wonderful fabric you can use the runner on each side, there is no back, hehe. Tablerunners are such a great way to decorate.

    usairdoll (at) gmail (dot) com

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  3. Michelle, I love your patriotic version with Bonnie and Camille fabrics. And, how you quilted the gentle S curve is so striking! I'm going to try that next time. Thank you so much for participating in the book hop!

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  4. This is a very beautiful runner...I love your confessions of what went wrong and I'm glad you managed to get the smutz off the quilt.

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  5. Beautiful runner! I love the prints against the Kona background and your wavy quilting compliments nicely with the straight seams. I really like the idea of using some of the lesser used B&C prints for the back, I love B&C too and I also find that I use up their bright prints and their lower volume prints stay in the stash. Thanks so much for being part of the hop!!

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  6. And your friend is just going to love it! Well done!

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  7. Your friend will love it - very pretty!

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  8. Your friend will absolutely love her new table runner. You can never go wrong with Bonnie and Camille :)

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  9. Gorgeous! I love this runner and it is on my list...like many other of the quilts in the book! Your friend is very lucky!

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  10. I love the runner and the tip for quilting with the "S" shape is something I'll have to try.

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  11. I am sure your friend is going to be thrilled with such a beautiful gift. Great colors for summer, and I’m glad all the tiny pitfalls worked out in the end.

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  12. This is so darling! What great gift. :D

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  13. Your friend will love this runner, using the s shape just makes this runner, I will be trying this with my walking foot.

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  14. This is so summery, and the large S quilting lines are perfect for the crosses. A super gift.

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  15. Very nice! I love the pieced backing because now you can flip it over and have a second runner.

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  16. This quilt turned out so cute! I love the "wave" quilting. I had actually done that from Jacquie's book, recently. I love her book "Walk".

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  17. Very nice! I like how you used the charms on the back. Great quilting decision.

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  18. That is one lovely gift, your friend will be more than happy to receive it. A lovely version of the pattern.

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  19. Gorgeous! REally like your fabrics and Kona Snow is one of my faves too - seems to show off fabrics perfectly. Lucky person to recieve such a lovely gift!

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  20. Love your runner Michelle, especially the s quilting, nice work!

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  21. Great idea and beautiful runner, that’s one lucky friend too.

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  22. Your runner is beautiful, I too love Bonnie and Camille fabrics. Thanks for sharing about the S quilting. I will have to try that some time.

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  23. Love the runner! I am obsessed with + blocks, can’t wait for the book

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  24. I love Bonnie and Camille's fabrics, and they look terrific here on the front and back! Your friend will love it!

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  25. A pretty tablerunner & a lucky friend - very nice! Thank you for sharing, Susan

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  26. Lovely runner ! I like the back very much too and your quilting design is perfect.

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  27. I love those Bonnie and Camille fabrics! In this runner, they look stunning. That soft S curve quilting was a perfect choice. I need to remember this one!

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  28. What a perfect gift for your friend. I love the fabric choice for red, white and blue but in such pretty fabrics. The quilting design is really effective.

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  29. Such a pretty table runner and your quilting is perfect!

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  30. What a sweet gift for your friend. Beautiful runner and perfect quilting!

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  31. That binding sets it off perfectly! Lovely runner for a lucky friend!

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  32. I always think it keeps it real and keeps us grounded when real life happens to quilting. Love your runner by the way.

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  33. Lucky friend. Wonderful tablerunner and the back looks lovely too. The S curve quilting was perfect. Don't you just love wavy quilting?!

    -Soma

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  34. Well done. Great gift for your friend. There are a lot of great projects in this book.

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  35. What a beautiful runner! And given those pretty B&C charms on the back, that makes it reversible in my book. :)

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  36. Too bad you're saving this table runner as a gift for your friend's party. . . I was looking forward to eating carbs over it this weekend ;)

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  37. Your runner is gorgeous, and I love all of the fabrics on the back, it complements the front so well! It is now two sided, so if your friend wants a change they can use the backside. Beautiful work!

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