Holiday table runner

I've been under the weather. I was chatting with my Instagram buddy Babsy about heading for a nap while I was home sick, and she said she hoped I would be snuggled under a quilt. Funny thing is, I have only once made a quilt for us, that is, not for one of the kids. It was in Istanbul, and it got threadbare, so we don't use it now. So I was going to snuggle under a store-bought whole cloth quilt.

Babsy makes beautiful pieces for her home (like this), and she inspires me to sew more for our own place. I just seem to always be making a quilt for someone else, either for a gift, or to sell. Because I work full time, there isn't much time for other projects.

Well, getting sick is a not-so-great way to find time you don't normally have. I had this weekend all set aside to work on a quilt order for an "Andrea" quilt. (I will treat it as second in a series.) When I got sick with a sore throat, I knew I couldn't get through appointments all day with students, nor did I want to spread the illness to them. But I haven't had a fever, and I have a certain amount of energy to sew something at a slow pace. (You should see me normally, I jump up and down from sewing machine, to design board, to cutting table, to ironing board, back to machine, etc.) Who wants to just sit or lie around all day?

I had pulled out holiday fabric Nancy gave me that I absolutely love. I had no idea what to do with this old-fashioned print with scenes that look like Currier & Ives prints. I have 4-5 yards of it! After posting the photo below at Instagram, I thought about a table runner for the kitchen table in our little farmhouse. We don't have a formal dining room.

I didn't end up using any green;
it wouldn't stick!

I have been inspired by Victoria Gertenbach at Silly Boodilly ever since getting into modern quilts, and I used her table runners as inspiration. Her work is A MA ZING.

I thought I was going to use only large blocks, but that never seems to happen, no matter how hard I try. Little dots, checks, swirlies or plaids have to nudge their way in.

So there! I made something for us! When Don got home from work yesterday, he was appreciative! Now he can make toast for breakfast and look at something besides whatever is sitting on the kitchen table, because this piece inspires me to keep the table tidy. (How long will this last?)

Isn't this fabric the sweetest?
Both Babsy and another Instagrammer said they have this fabric in their stash also!

no-waste, quick and precise flying geese

I found this tutorial by Lauren Palmer of Olive Tree Textiles via Pinterest. I'll let you look over there if you want the details.

It has transformed how I'll do flying geese from now on.

We came home after dinner with Lesley and her family, and I worked another hour out of sheer pleasure.

Really, if it weren't for preparations for Father's Day tomorrow taking priority, I would finish this top tomorrow.

I've always loved purple and red together. I like how the various shades of blue add a little punch.

The sweet bird fabric by Stella is covering a gift quilt on the design board I'm piecing for someone who is coming Sunday. :)

stash placemats and a baby boy quilt "ships & sails"

Stuff for Etsy. Placemats from my stash, which is big enough (thanks to Nancy) to create a thousand combinations.

The pink and yellow polka dot is left over from Casey's "sugar sand" baby quilt. Some of these fabrics I've had since the 1980s, some I've bought more recently, and some have been given me by my stash sister Nancy. There is even fabric from my mom's old doilies, the ones I made coasters with.

* * *

This blue and white stripe was a dust ruffle. I am trying to remember if we used it in one of our houses or if Nancy gave me this too. Besides that fabric, many of these triangles (flying geese) were fabrics she gave me which are shirting. I have always loved quilts made from shirts. Anyway, this will be a baby boy quilt to [hopefully] sell in my Etsy shoppe. I've quilted one small section. I think I'll straight-line quilt the triangles and free-motion quilt the other panels in swirls to resemble wind and waves. The quilt is called "ships & sails," which rhymes with "snips and snails and puppy dog tails." I'll post when finished.

Portofino placemats & napkins

My great-niece is getting married in Florida soon, so we Michigan aunts are giving her a shower, for which she is flying in.


I "shopped" for fabrics to make placemats and napkins in the stash Nancy has given me from her travels in South Carolina and Michigan. The bride and groom have chosen red accents for their kitchen. Their taste is elegant and traditional.

My love affair with printed linens like this deepens. It's like a toile, but is it?

I thought it would make magnificent napkins.

And I think I was right.

We'll see if I make it with these and the chicken salad to the shower tomorrow since I came down with a hum dinger of a cold last night. Don's chicken soup (from the chicken for the salad, yes) is soothing my raw throat. In fact, he is helping with all the prep and will even drive the stuff across the state in the morning if I am not up to going.

I hope Emma has chosen as much of a winner as I did nearly 36 years ago.

reds of winter

With all the cold and snow, color and heat are necessary.

Two projects for gifts. The blocks above are for a baby quilt I'm calling "sugar sand." It's for a mama-to-be who lives on a dune. The beautiful sand of Lake Michigan is called sugar sand. The mama loves hot pink and yellow. This is a subtle interpretation of those colors. The tan linen reminds me of sandpaper, and I adore it.

Below are fabrics for placemats and napkins for a bride-to-be. My stashy sister Nancy gave me all but the ochre with Swissy dots. The linen on the left is more of the stuff that I have loveloveloved from her. She visits shops in Myrtle Beach and gathers remnants for a song. I will make reversible placemats with the reds, binding in the ochre, and napkins from the linen toile-ish print.

Here is the arrangement my siblings sent for my mother-in-law's funeral. They have dried so beautifully, even the orchids. Sadly, I bumped them as I walked by and some orchid blossoms fell atop the roses. 

mug mats: the perfect quick quilt

Mug mats are useful. Of course. This is how to market them. But bottom line: Mug mats are small quilts, a joy for the quilter. In the old days, when I made quilts, I loved designing a block, cutting it, sewing it, and then I had to force myself to finish a big quilt of block after block. The colors, shapes and combinations of patterns are what interested me then, and still do.

The perfect answer to this craving to design something new: mug mats. Make one, it's done. Now on to the next!

The floral white and black in the center is the same as in Genevieve's quilt,
from a thrift store skirt.

This mat has upholstery fabric (charcoal gray with vines
and beige linen moiré, both given by my sister Nancy),
and new buttery and gray dot fabrics I bought

I really love combining fabrics from different sources. This one has fabric: from my 1970s-80s stash; an old farm skirt; gifts from friends and family; and a couple of new ones I bought.

Ninety-eight percent of my fabric stash is patterns and prints. I am very drawn to minimal quilts, believe it or not, but when it comes to designing, I keep going to prints. My next challenge to myself is to design minimal quilt mats, more like the beige and charcoal gray one above.

Let's see how I do. :-)

UPDATE:

I made two minimal abstract mats today, so let's call this rising to the challenge. :)

This linen is heavy. It was a dream to sew, until I got to the binding.
I won't ever bind with such heavy fabric again if I can help it.
Still, I LOVE this linen and will make many more things with it.
My sister Nancy gave it to me.

The back of the linen mat is a fabric long in my stash,
but I cannot remember for the life of me where it came from.
Nancy, no doubt.

Nancy gave me this dotted upholstery fabric, and also the red cotton,
which looks like batik. The dotted fabric looks much richer in person.
I was stymied about how to quilt it,
because I didn't want to detract from the simplicity of the design.
In the end I kept it simple with four squares.

Nancy gave me this linen toile, just delicious.
I paired it with the dots, which she gave together,
and they are perfect paired, even if one is on the front
and one is on the back.
I love Chinoiserie.