Let's Talk Table Runners / Beauties Pageant 272

In the 10-plus years I’ve been quilting, I have made a total of three table runners. On one hand, I have limited places in my house I’d display a runner. My children (and/or dogs) may do bad things to a table runner (there was an applesauce incident on the kitchen table just this past week!). And putting covers on my pretty table tops doesn’t seem really “me.”

On the other, if I made more runners, I would have more-frequent finishes, and wouldn’t that be nice?

When designing my Ornament Collection pattern (releasing next Tuesday, November 19), I added a runner option. The sample I’ve made so far is the throw, and it’s a generously sized throw at that. But I figured that some people might want a smaller, faster finish. What I didn’t consider until Anne (@batiksbythebay) mentioned it to me on Instagram is that people who live in the southern hemisphere celebrate Christmas in the summer. They have little need for a Christmas-themed throw. Of course! Why didn’t I consider that? Needless to say, all future Christmas designs from me will include the option of a smaller finish for that very reason.

Me with a freshly longarmed Ornament Collection. Picture and quilting by Ophelia Chang.

Because I am a runner newbie, however, I had to ask Anne how she would orient the ornaments in a runner.

Should they all be right side up (as I would prefer on a runner displayed on a console placed against a wall)?

Or should the baubles be upside down (as I would prefer on a runner displayed on a kitchen island)?

Anne said both, and that’s what I’ll do. : )

So, what other runners have I made up to this point?

There was the runner I made for the sideboard in my dining room (and still resides there).

There was the runner I made from Modern Plus Sign Quilts and gifted to a friend.

And then there was the runner I made from a free pattern on Moda Bake Shop and gifted to another friend.

You knew this was coming ... I am soliciting any and all thoughts on quilted runners. Do you sew them? Do you display them? What are your thoughts on the issue of orientation? Thank you in advance!

Follow Me On ...

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

New Christmas Pattern on the Horizon! / Beauties Pageant 271

I am always on the lookout for quilt patterns that give especially beautiful prints the spotlight they deserve. It was the reason I designed Pretty in Pluses back in 2021: I loved the large-scale flowers in Anna Maria Horner’s Hindsight line and couldn’t bear to chop them into little pieces, so I created a venue for them to shine. Other versions of the quilt followed, including the pattern’s cover quilt in Heather Ross’s Far, Far Away 2 collection for Windham ...

When it came time to sew with a stashed layer cake of Jill Howarth’s Twas collection for Riley Blake, I knew I wanted to design something special for all those sweet novelty prints. What you see pictured in this post is the beginning of that new pattern. I’m calling it Ornament Collection, a nod to the tradition my mom started with me and my sister (and I’ve continued with my two boys) of marking each holiday season with a new ball or bauble for the Christmas tree.

This quilty collection contains two different ornament designs. You see the ball blocks in this post. There are also bauble blocks. Both block designs were specifically created to work with layer cake squares, but you could just as easily cut the centers of your ornaments from fat quarters (or scraps—but more on that later!).

These blocks are big, friends! And all you need for a generously sized throw quilt is 15 layer cake squares or 8 fat quarters.

This first version isn’t finished, yet I already have a second one—in Rifle Paper Co. prints—in the works. I can’t wait to share more! 

Are you a fan of seasonal sewing? I don’t expect to gift many handmade items this year. If I wrap up a quilt or two in the next six weeks, I’ll be a happy quilter!

Follow Me On ...

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

A Little Panic Sewing / Beauties Pageant 270

Most autumns, I do a certain amount of panic sewing. No, I am not creating Halloween- or fall-themed quilts. I am not getting a leg up on my handmade Christmas gifts. I am joining other QuiltCon hopefuls and finishing up projects to submit to the show before the October 31 deadline.

Here’s the thing: I am not a show quilter. That’s not a judgment on my artisanship—it’s being honest about my approach to quilting. Most of what I sew as a pattern designer is created to be replicated by others and doesn’t reflect the QuiltCon aesthetic. I am solidly JV when it comes to QuiltCon, and that’s fine with me.

Then why submit at all? Because is an absolute thrill to attend QuiltCon and see my work hanging with the others! And I find the challenges especially inspiring—they get me creating things I wouldn’t have made otherwise. (The problem with the challenges is that they tend to be announced over the summer, when my productivity is minimal at best, and I can’t really get going with them until my kids are back in school. Hence the frantic sewing in September and October.)

Some of my project have shown at past QuiltCons (read a recap here). Will this year’s submission? Maybe! In a moment of clarity I abandoned the notion of submitting a quilt to the transparency challenge—I don’t have adequate time—so I will submit just one quilt, to the Windham Ruby and Bee Fabric challenge. I used all six colors in the palette selected by Tara Faughnan. After straight-line quilting the piece on my domestic, I added some chunky hand quilting. There are some sneak peeks of the quilting detail in this post.

Are you also susceptible to QuiltCon panic sewing? If so, I wish you the best of luck! I’d love to see your work—and mine—in Phoenix next February.

Follow Me On ...

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter