Stars and Stripes table runner -Free PDF Pattern!

Can I just tell you how happy I am that we've finally reached the season of sunscreen, flip flops and popsicles?  School is out, we've made our summer bucket list and we've already reached our maximum allotted hours of video games for the year hahaha!  

How about celebrating summer with a free PDF pattern for this Stars & Stripes table runner?  I designed this one a few years ago to sell as kits in a local quilt shop and realized I never shared the pattern here with all of you!  

You can download and print the free PDF pattern here.

This table runner comes together pretty quickly - I promise!  The stripe blocks are made with strip piecing, and the stars are raw edge appliqued with the help of your favorite fusible web product (I love Heat n Bond Lite.)

The table runner finishes at 12" x 36", and if you'd prefer a wall hanging, make three of the table runners and sew them together to make a 36" x 36" wall hanging.   

Now get outside and enjoy that sunshine!  But don't forget to grab the free PDF pattern here!

Looking for more table runner ideas?  Check out my table runner Pinterest board:

Or how about some patriotic quilts and crafts?  Follow my patriotic Pinterest board:

Deco Foil Star Table Topper tutorial

Summer is in full swing around here and we are counting down the days to our family’s annual Cul-de-sac of Fire celebration (a.k.a. 4th of July fireworks with extended family.)  To add to our July decor around the house I’ve made a sparkly star table topper using the Silver Star color of the iCraft Deco Foil. 

The Deco Foils were fun to work with!



My tutorial is over on the Therm O Web blog today – go check it out!

Quick Curve Ruler tutorial

Have you heard of the Quick Curve Ruler?  It’s a pretty fun tool that makes cutting and sewing curves a breeze.  No really! 



I recently wrote a tutorial about the Quick Curve Ruler for the Fabric Mill’s Blog – you can find it here.

 
The tutorial gives you an idea of how the curves are cut (you can use a regular sized rotary cutter!) and pieced (no special presser foot needed!). 

I’ve heard from several people that they own the ruler but have been afraid to try it.  Well, my friends, it’s time!  My advice to you, is to just get the ruler out and make a couple of test blocks.  Don’t be afraid!
 


The pattern I made is called “Urban Runner” and it is included with the ruler.  The pattern is actually written on the back and inside of the ruler’s label.  Making a table runner is a great way to get the hang of the ruler – consider it a warm-up.  By the time I finished the runner I felt like I was confident enough to tackle any of the many other patterns that are written for the QCR (Quick Curve Ruler) and there’s so many!!  There are even some free ones available here. 



Go and check out the tutorial, and you can also find very helpful videos here.  Let me know if you have questions about the ruler, or the tutorial.  Now go and break out that ruler and give it a try!

Scrappy Pumpkin table runner

Halloween is just a week away!  Every year I tell myself I’m going to pull out my Halloween décor the first week of October but then when the time comes, I don’t.  I just can’t bring myself to admit that it’s fall.  So here we are, on Oct 24th and not a bit of Halloween to be seen in my house!  Well, we do have two pumpkins on our front porch but that’s about it. 

So because of my Halloween décor procrastination, I decided to make a table runner that will work for both Halloween and Thanksgiving.  That way, I can use it now and leave it for another month.  Win/win.

This Scrappy Pumpkin table runner is a tutorial today over on the Therm O Web Blog (click on the photo to go to the tutorial).  It’s a great way to use up some of those scraps!  My orange scrap bin was a little lacking so I had to cut into my orange stash too.

To make the pumpkins there is a printable page as a part of the tutorial and you can just print that on to three sheets of HeatnBond EZ Print sheets straight from your computer’s printer.  Pretty nifty.  You CAN use regular HeatnBond Lite, but by using the EZ Print sheets you can skip the tracing step – my least favorite part of using fusible webbing. 

I made this to fit on my little blue bookcase in my dining room.  I have a hard time deciding just what to put there sometimes. 

I think my favorite part of the runner is the scrappy binding!

As I was first designing the table runner, I made one test block with a print as the background instead of the solid white.  I loved it so much I put it in a frame!  That background print is from the Flutter line of fabric designed by The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake.

Well, I guess I’d better go and get the rest of my Halloween decorations and just admit that it’s the end of October!

Cascade Blog Tour + a giveaway!

Hi friends, and welcome to those new readers that are visiting from the Cascade Blog Tour! 

I’m happy to be a part of the Blog Hop for Jessica Levitt’s new fabric line called Cascade (Windham Fabrics).  Jessica’s inspiration for this line was the many colors and forms of water.  The name of it instantly reminded me of the Pacific Northwest where I grew up.  The Cascade mountain range is filled with such beauty- vast forests, rivers, waterfalls, lakes- and many, many bodies of water!   

You can read more about Jessica’s inspiration as she created this line here on her blog.  I really enjoy hearing every designer’s inspiration and thought process as they create a new line.  So interesting!

I had the chance to work with some of the fabrics to create a table runner for Jessica’s quilt market booth.  Aren’t these lovely? 

The table runner I created is made up of just four blocks from one of my newest patterns.  The quilt pattern is called “Division” and will be available for purchase later this week.  I’ll be talking more about Division in my next blog post.

Ok confession time.  I actually made two table toppers.  The topper in these photos was version #1, with soft, wavy (water-like) quilting lines.  I wasn’t happy with the result however, so instead of unpicking all of that quilting, I just made another one and gave it the straight line quilting treatment.  Much better!  So that’s the one that I sent off to Jessica!  You can see a little of the wavy quilting lines in this photo below -

Here’s a pic of the second topper with the straight line quilting.  This photo below is from the Cascade look book, where you can get a good look at more projects using Cascade fabrics!  To see the whole collection, visit the Windham Fabrics site here. 

Be sure to visit the other stops along the blog hop and check out the fun projects that others have made with Cascade!

Monday October 13th - Jessica Levitt - Juicy Bits / Windham Fabrics
Tuesday October 14th - Julie Herman - Jaybird Quilts / Jenn Nevitt -knit ’n lit
Wednesday October 15th - Amanda Kattner - What the Bobbin / Andy Knowlton – A Bright Corner
Thursday October 16th - Marci Debataz - Marci Girl Designs / Jennifer Auh Chon - Sunny in Cal
Friday October 17th - Angela Walters - Quilting is my Therapy / Rachel Gander - Imagine Gnats
Saturday October 18th - Elizabeth Timmons - and pins / Andrea Taddicken - knitty bitties
Sunday October 19th - Erin Erickson - Dog Under my Desk / Jessica Skultety - Quilty Habitt
Monday October 20th  - Caroline Press - Trillium Design / Karin Jordan - Leigh Laurel Studios


Giveaway time!  Windham fabrics is giving a fat quarter bundle of Cascade to one of my lucky readers!  To enter simply leave a comment below - just one!.  I’d love to hear what your favorite body of water is.  Do you have a favorite local lake or river?  My current favorite is a spot called Bridal Veil Falls here in Utah.  Simply gorgeous – all year ‘round!  The giveaway will close at midnight (MST) on Tuesday, October 21st.  If you’re a no-reply blogger be sure to leave an email so I have a way to contact you if you win!  I'll draw the winner using a random number generator and announce it here on Oct 22nd.

 Good luck!  And thanks for stopping by!

edited to add:  Giveaway is now closed - thanks for entering!

Patriotic Table Runners

When do YOU decorate for the 4th of July?  Do you wait for the 1st of July to roll around?  Do you pull out your red, white and blue décor in June?  I can never decide.  It seems to early to decorate.  A few days ago I found my table runners from last year and pressed them flat, but there they sit in my sewing room.  Maybe today is the day that I take them upstairs and embrace the idea that July 4th is only 11 days away.

By the way, the pattern for these table runners is called Patriotic Parade and can be purchased here for only $5!  You can see more about the Patriotic Parade runners here.  They’re made using a technique called reversible applique – which is not difficult and is fun to play around with.

A few weeks ago I worked on another patriotic table runner for my local quilt shop.  They needed a table runner pattern that they could give out for free during their shop hop.  So I got to work!

You can’t really go wrong with stars and stripes, right?

And here’s the finished runner-

So when it comes back from being on display I’ll have one more runner to help my home feel a bit more festive!  (Whenever I decided to finally decorate)

Sprouts Table Runners

Well, I think I can safely say that it’s springtime here in Utah.  My beloved lilac bush has buds, our grass is turning green and we are all spending a lot more time outside these days!

I’ve pulled out my spring door wreath and my spring table runner to help things feel more springy around the house. 

And of course my butterflies are still hanging out on my bookcase-

By the way, do you follow the Craftsy blog?  You should!  Recently my Sprouts Table Runner pattern made an appearance there along with some other really great leaf-themed patterns.  There was also a recent post about 10 great Spring inspired table runner patterns.  All great ideas for when your dining table needs a new Spring look.

The Sprouts Table Runner & Topper pattern is just $5 and is available in my pattern shop and in my Etsy shop.  The pattern has instructions for three sizes of runner and is a quick project.  Really!  It uses raw edge applique and is a great excuse to dig through your scrap bins.

Right now I have the longer (blue) one on my table but I’m thinking of making a circular topper using the coral scraps from these blocks.  Wouldn’t that be pretty? 

Well, happy Friday everyone and I hope you can find a little time to sew today! 

Sewing Just Because + Fabric Stack Friday

There hasn’t been much sewing around here for the past few days.  My sister is visiting from Oregon and we’ve been helping another sis get ready for a few Holiday Boutiques / Craft Fairs / Whatever-it-is-they-are-called-where-you-live (what ARE they called where you live??)

I will show you what I was working on earlier this week though -

First of all I cut into this fat eighth bundle of Wrens & Friends that I got last spring from quilt market (this is where Fabric Stack Friday comes in!)

I’ve been flipping through this delightful book, trying to decide what to make first:

I settled on one of the table runners – mostly because I need a nice fall-ish one for my table.  In a short time I had my fabrics for the blocks all cut and half square triangles made.

By that evening the three star blocks were finished

And now I’m just deciding on what to use for the border and binding.  I’m not convinced my fat eighth bundle has what I need for the border so a trip to my local shop is most likely inevitable. 

I’m hoping to find maybe a light green for the border and a brown for the binding?  What would you choose?

Have a delightful Friday!

Table Topper

Remember that family reunion I wrote about a couple of days ago?  Well at the reunion there was a  family store and auction to raise money for the next reunion.  One of the women (my second cousin I think) is a quilter and brought a few of these fantastic hand-quilted table toppers to add to the family store.  I bought this one immediately! 

I love the hand quilting she did.  Isn't it fantastic?  This is a fairly small topper – fits perfectly on my teal bookcase.  So far none of the boys in my household have noticed that it has some pink in it.  Let’s see how long it takes them to say something. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Patriotic Parade (or Stars and Bacon)

I really love the red, white and blue color combo.  I don’t do a whole lot of decorating for the 4th of July.  I have this star garland and we always put out our flag, but that’s about it.  I decided I needed a bit more red, white and blue around the house for June and July. 

When my husband first saw my sketch of the idea for this runner he asked why there was bacon down the middle.  Apparently my squiggly lines looked an awful lot like hot, crispy bacon.  Ever since then my family lovingly refers to this table runner as “stars and bacon.”  Whatever.  As long as they let me have it on the table!

I also made this version of the same runner using some of the “Stars and Stripes” fabric from Riley Blake:

The stars are created using an easy reverse applique technique and some of the quilting is done as the ric rac is stitched down.  This runner really comes together quickly! 

If you’d like your own stars and bacon, I’ve written it up in a pattern and it’s now available in my etsy shop  (although I chose to list it under it’s official name: Patriotic Parade.)  

Scrap Stacks

Several weeks ago I did a brief but productive “spring cleaning” of my fabric closet.  I have a shelf in there where I keep stacks of project leftovers.  If there are enough leftovers from a project to make a whole other project then I don’t separate them into the scrap bins.  I stack them together (if they’re small I use a ziplock) and set them aside for another time.  It’s my goal this year to clear out some of those scrap stacks.

The first scrap stack project I completed was this quilt made from the Honey Honey scraps.  This next project is the second.  I have a total of 8 or 9 scrap stacks up there on that shelf.  Think I can clear them all out in 2013? 

These are the scraps from this quilt.   I pressed and measured them and found I had enough to make a small table runner.  I love the Noteworthy line so I’m happy to put the leftovers to good use!

I trimmed off the selvedges, and cut each piece into strips of varying widths.

Then I arranged them.  Two of the pink strips were shorter than the others so I pieced them with a scrap of white so they’d be usable. 



I sewed the strips together, pressed it well, and then trimmed all of the edges.  See how quickly this is coming together?  Perfect for a scrap project!



I had a piece of Kona Tarragon that was the perfect size for the backing.  The whole thing got a quick spray-baste and it was ready for some quilting.



I used my walking foot and did some slightly wavy lines down the whole length of the runner. 



The little bit of wave in each line helped to soften up the look of the final table runner.  I finished it with one more piece of scrap for the binding. 



The finished table runner measures 18” x 28” and it does a fabulous job of brightening up my kitchen on those gray, rainy spring days!