Spring Table Tunner

 Where I live there's still frost, ice and patches of snow, but during the day we get some warmth from the sun. I long for green grass and flowers in my garden!

I made this table runner which will be great for spring and easter. The tulips grow up from the sand and soil and bring colors to the surroundings.

The table runner is designed by the Norwegian designer Runa Kristiansen. I used fabrics from may stash, and used Aurifil threads for piecing and quilting. Finished size for the runner is 12" x 36".

Keep on quilting!

Strip Pieced Jewel Table Runner

 A new year and new projects. I am in a good stream of working my stash off, already. 

 

 This table runner is made from leftover stash from my two years as an ambassador for Island Batik. These batiks in earthy colors are playing well together with the neutral light stripes.

 

 These are the starting strip pieced blocks.

I also get to show off my new ironing board cover.

 

The resulting quilt top after some slicing and sewing, 12" x 36"
 

 Straight line quilting in the light stripes using white Aurifil thread gives a minimalistic design. 

The table runner is made from a tutorial by Connie Kresin, @freemotionbytheriver .

Keep on quilting!

Summer Runner

 

 

My latest table runner is this one in nice summer colors. The Quatrefoil block is a quick one to make, and the runner looks great.

I quilted it with a crosshatch design, and the finished size is 18" x 44". After having made several table runners lately, all to be given away, the next project will be a bit bigger.

Keep on quilting!

 

 

Which Direction in the City?

It shouldn't come as a surprise that I love the color blue. When I was an Island Batik ambassador in 2018 and 2019 I was fortunate enough to get to play with several blue collections. One of them was "London Calling". I have already made a big quilt with these batiks, but there was still more than enough to make a table runner from the beautiful fabric.

This is the pattern I chose; "Which Direction In the City?" by Michelle Marvig of Pieceville.

The design let me play with the whole range of 20+ fabrics in making the modern-looking table runner. I tweaked the design a little bit by making the runner wider and shorter than in the original pattern.

Finished size of the runner is 18" x 44 ". I took it out in the forest on a beautiful spring day for the photo shoot. We still have temperatures below freezing at night, so even in the middle of the day when the wind was blowing we had "sun with teeth" as my husband would say.

 

It was a fairly simple table runner to quilt, mostly echoing the design 1/4" from the piecing seams, but also on the diagonal and horizontal in some stripes.

What gives extra life to the quilting is that I raided my stash of blue Aurifil and used 6 different quilting threads in the stripes.

The runner was finished off with striped binding in navy and white.

Keep on quilting!

Seasonal Runner

This is the latest table runner I have made, the pattern is Seasonal Runner, a free pattern from Art Gallery Fabrics.

 I used fabrics from Island Batik for the top. The cool blues and greens look great towards the solid grey background.

 A progress shot with all the blocks cut and HSTs assembled, with details of the first block.

The runner is quilted with straight lines, using the walking foot in the background and ruler work for the blue/green blocks.

 The binding is a blue batik from Island Batik. Finished size for the runner is 18"x45".

 

Keep on quilting!

 

Sunny Tablerunner

 

 

I got a request for a tablerunner that was quite unusal for me; she wanted a yellow fabric on one side and a leafy green on the other side. I have never made a wholecloth quilt before, this was my first time. 

I had a nice piece of a sunny fabric from Island Batik from my time as an ambassador for them. The print has a lot of swirls in orange on warm yellow background. The fabric just begged for a modern quilt design using the walking foot. I quilted straight lines one inch apart. The thread used is Aurifil 50wt in color #5015. I used Thermore batting from Hobbs Batting in the quilt sandwich, that is the thinnest batting I know, and is perfect for tablerunners. Even though the batting is thin, it can do a great deal for definition!

The backside is a leafy green print also from Island Batik. The binding is another green print that works well with the spring feel of the tablerunner. I used Aurifil 50wt in color #2843 for hand stitching binding to the back.

The yellow side is perfect for Easter, and the green side is more neutral and great for spring.

Keep on quilting!

 

Endless Summer Runners in Full Winter

 

 It is good to work on somewhat smaller projects from time to time, here are my Endless Summer table runners out on a snow covered park bench.

It started with the need for a couple of table runners for gifts. I looked through my collection of patterns and found this sweet runner by Sharon Holland Designs. The best thing is that it is a free pattern in case you want to make your own.

 I made the pink version first. I hardly ever make the same pattern twice, but this one was so much fun that I searched my stash to find another good color combination.

Here's an in-progress picture of #2. These are more my colors.

This table runner was quilted with Aurifil thread in white and army green.
 

 The quilting shows off well in this picture. I love how different the runners look while still made from the same pattern!

Keep on quilting!

Citrus Split in Blue

Meet my Sitrussplitt quilt (or Citrus Split) designed by Daisy Aschehoug from @warmfolk . The pattern was published in the Norwegian publication "Quiltemagasinet".

I chose to make my modern table runner in blues instead of Daisy's original in red and orange. In addition I omitted one of the ovals from the original pattern since I don't have such a long dining table.

The ovals were made with templates from @pappersaxsten . The fabric I used are from the line 'Birchtree Lane 'by Connecting Threads, in addition to white solid.

After the two ovals were connected to construct the quilt top, the fun part began: Slicing!

The resulting table runner is a fun one with stripes cutting through the ovals. The dotted green binding adds more life to the runner.

We have had a strange spring this year, it is the middle of May and still snowing! The green in the stripes and binding represents the hope of spring breaking through the snow and ice of the blues.

The piecing of the table runner was done with Aurifil 50wt in pure white #2024, and the stipple quilting was done in Aurifil 40wt in the same color. The binding was hand sewn to the back with Aurifil 50wt #2843. I used Hobbs Thermore as the batting in the quilt sandwich.

I had this beautiful fabric in my stash to use as the backing. It looks like fine porcelain!

I have added a new, beautiful table runner to my collection of quilted items. Let the spring come, now!

Keep on quilting!

Snowflakes Coming

The October challenge for the Island Batik ambassadors was to create a table runner or table topper appropriate for the coming holidays. There product had to include appliqué, by machine or hand.

Here is my contribution: 'Snowflakes Coming'.

I used the Blue Sea collection from Island Batik and chose 17 of the 21 prints for my table runner. Cutting 243 two and a half inch squares was a breeze using my AccuQuilt GO! cutter. It makes accurate cuts and very little waste. 

Chain piecing of all the 2.5" squares took a lot longer time than cutting them. This is the closest to a quilt swirl I could manage for this runner. Looks kind of cute, doesn't it? 

 I 

All the piecing was done with Aurifil 50wt in white #2024. I quilted the runner in a cross hatch design with the variegated thread Stonewash Blues #4669. The raw edge appliqué was done with Aurifil 40wt #2024. I used 50wt #2024 in the bobbin for both quilting and applique to get a clean finish for the backing, which is the neutral batik Almond.

The ultra thin Hobbs Thermore polyester batting was used in the quilt sandwich. 

The binding is a blue batik from last year's collection London Calling. The binding was sewn on with Aurifil 50wt in blue #1128, Light blue Violet, and hand sewn to the back.

I found the template for the snowflakes in an old quilting magazine. I can tell you it was a tedious cutting process with a small pair of scissors to get all the details right, and I had to make five of them! The neutral batik Almond  was used for the snowflakes.

There was actually snow on the mountain in the distance, how appropriate for the photo shoot! Winter is getting closer...

When looking for a location for the photo shoot I spotted this place down the hill from where I live; a golden ground! A perfect background for a blue and purple quilt.

Last night's freeze made a good amount of the leaves fall off, but still enough of them hanging on the trees to get good pictures.

 The table runner on top of the crisp maple leaves. The runner is 18"x54" finished.

There was even an orange leaved tree in the neighborhood, how appropriate to display the blues together with the complimentary color!

A nice effect of the sunlight and shadows in the playground!

This is how my new table runner will be used during the coming winter months, though not outside! It is very difficult to get good pictures of the purple colors inside, outdoor pictures in natural light are the best.

A full length picture of the runner with a background of glorious fall colors.

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik.