Finished Denim Blues

I finished the denim quilt on Friday. I knew it was one of those projects I needed to stay on top of, or it may end up sitting halfway done for quite a long time.

I backed the quilt with a soft floral flannel. Now it is pretty heavy, but great for picnics I think.

I just did a running stitch with some specialty yarn I had leftover from a sweater I made Bella a few years ago. I ended up with just two inches of leftover yarn. I wouldn't have cut it that close had I planned ahead better.

I really like the way it turned out. The finished size is 60"x70". I used warm and natural batting to reduce bulk. Perhaps it will be used today for a lunchtime picnic.

The Blues

I have been saving jeans for the past several years. Finally I cut them up and pieced them together in a picnic blanket. Nate can still identify who's jeans were who's. I am backing this quilt with a flannel that is pink with flowers. Mainly because I had a lot of it and am trying to do some stash busting. Especially with fabrics that have been around for years. I am hand quilting it with some yarn in big running stitches. I have no idea how long this will take me, I just wanted to get it out there so I will feel more accountable. I do have hope to have a picnic on this blanket before the end of the summer.

Table Runner with Pattern

Finished Size: 22"x42"

Materials List:
3/4 yard for backing
1/2 yd tonal red for outer border and four patches
1/2 yd stripe for inner border and binding
1/4 yd green fabric
1/4 yd blue fabric
1/4 yd red/white fabric
1/4 yd brown fabric

24 x 45 piece of batting

Cutting Instructions:
Outer Border- 2 strips 2 1/2" x 38 1/2"
2 strips 2 1/2" x 22 1/2"
Inner Border- 2 strips 1 1/2" x 18 1/2"
2 strips 1 1/2" x 36 1/2"
Squares- Cut 9- 4 1/2" squares from Blue Fabric
Cut 9-4 1/2" squares from Red/white Fabric
Four Patches- Cut 2-2 1/2" strips from tonal red, green, yellow, and brown fabrics

Binding-Cut 4-2 1/2" strips from stripe fabric

Piecing Instructions:
Four Patches-Sew tonal red 2 1/2" strip to green 2 1/2" strip along long side of fabric. Press seam toward red. Cut into 2 1/2" pieces. You will need a total of 18 pieces. Sew yellow and brown strips together in the same manner pressing seam toward yellow. Cut 18 2 1/2" pieces.

Sew together one red/green unit to one brown/yellow unit matching seams. Repeat until you have 18 squares. Press seams to one side. Each square should measure 4 1/2".

Piece together long rows starting with a four patch unit followed by a blue square. Then another four patch unit followed by a red square. Repeat pattern until you have nine squares across, ending on a four patch unit. Move pattern one to the right for the next three rows.

Press the first and third row seams to the left and the second and fourth row seams to the right. Piece rows together matching up seams. Press long seams flat.

Add inner border along the long side first, the 1 1/2" x 36 1/2" piece. Do this on both the top and bottom. Press toward border. Add ends in the same manner pressing toward border. Repeat with outer border.

Quilting:

Layer backing, batting and top together and pin with safety pins every four inches or so. Quilt as desired. I did a meandering daisy pattern. Then I stitched in the ditch along the borders.

Binding:
Sew binding strips together using a diagonal seam. Press seams open to reduce bulk. Iron binding in half. Stitch to top of quilt mitering corners. Hand stitch binding on to back.

I used Rambling Rose by Henry Glass in this runner. But the pattern will work for all sorts of fabrics. It goes together in just a few hours. Feel free to use the binding method you like best or are used to. I know there are a lot of great tutorials out there. For batting I like Hobbes and Warm and Natural the best.

HMQS

Sophie and I went to the Home Machine Quilting Show yesterday at the South Towne Expo Center. These are three of my favorites that we saw.This one is butterflies, of course the pictures don't do any of these quilts justice. But I loved the detail on the wings.
I have always love the Hawaiian quilts. And I love purple. I have a pattern, one day I will start on making it.

And this one is all polka dots. I have a huge love of polka dots which is reflected in my stash. I am liking the pineapple blocks. This would be a great scrap quilt.

There were also over 175 vendors. There were tons of long arm quilt dealers. My mom is interested in me buying one of those. Also lots of cutting systems and such that I really didn't have too much time to focus on. Sophie was in her stroller, but would yell "Go!" loudly anytime I lingered too long. I did manage to buy a few yards of Wonderland by Momo. I seem to be accumulating that fabric lately.