Christmas Fabric Finishes #2

     I am continuing to make progress on my project to reducing my overwhelming stash of  holiday fabrics.  

The original pile of fabrics

      In my last post, I shared using 5 1/2 yards to make 7 chevron/herringbone table runners.   I then used another 2 yards to make 4 smaller checkerboard table runners - two with a green fabric paired with a cute Christmas stocking fabric, and two with a star fabric (not technically a Christmas fabric, but one which has been in my stash for years!) and a dark red snowman fabric. 

2  1/2 inch strips sewn together in sets of 5, alternating the fabrics. 

The final runner will be about 40 by 10 inches. 

The strips for the second set of checkerboard runners

The finished checkerboard.  

     I also used another 2 1/2 yards (1/2 yard cut each of 5 fabrics) which made three tumbler runners.  I cut 5 inch squares, and then cut tumbler shapes from them, making the narrower portion 3 inches in width.   These turned out to be super easy to work with.  I am already planning a multi colored solid quilt using this block! (this may be my New Year's Day project!)    

These are four of the fabrics, plus I had another 1/2 yard of the dark red snowman fabric. 

     These runners ended up being about 44 inches in length, but will finish up at about 9 inches in width.  I'd go a bit bigger with the tumbler next time (maybe 6 inches) .

I liked how the reds all blend together in this version.   

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     The snowmen on the black background added some contrast.  I wasn't crazy about this, and so have some tumbler blocks left over. 

      So -  I have used up 10 yards of fabric (!!)  for 14 table runner tops.  My stash now looks like this  - still yards and yards of fabric to go!

The box at the back left is for scraps. 

     The next step is to get backs for each of those runners, and piece together batting and calculate and cut the binding pieces.   I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for visiting -
I welcome your comments!
I'll be posting to WIP Wednesday at My Quilt Infatuation and "Finish it up Friday" at Crazy Mom Quilts

Gretchen

Christmas Fabric Finishes #1

 Oh my goodness, I have a lot of Christmas themed fabric!  You can read more about it here! 

Yards and yards off Christmas-y fabric! 

      My goal is to make a dent in this stash, and be ready for the upcoming holiday season.  The last few years, I have made some handmade gifts, but was aided by the federal furlough in October 2013, and the massive "Snow-vember" snowstorm in 2014.  Both events allowed me to stay home and sew.  Since I am counting on neither this year, best get cracking! 

     I decided to just start cutting. I pulled all the rich looking red and green florals, and started cutting.  Other than the dense nutcracker print, I stayed away from anything that seemed like a novelty fabric. The first project was going to be some herringbone table runners, similar to the musical table runners I made last year.  

I used all of these

I didn't use the snowmen or the checks or plaids 

I started with cutting 1/2 yard pieces from eleven different fabrics.  I had more than 1/2 yard for most of these fabrics.  I cut as many 2 1/2 inch strips as I could.  In all, I used up about 5 1/2 yards of the fabric

The strips

Close up of the fabrics

I sewed the strips together in groups of 5, and then made 60 degree cuts, and put the units together for a total of 10 on each side of the middle piece.

     All those strips yielded 7 table runners, each a bit different, and all rather pretty.  These are about 12 inches wide and 54 inches from point to point. 

     Here are a few tops auditioning on their own!

     I am sure to use up some additional yardage with the backing and binding.  In the meantime, I am working on some other runners - using a checkerboard pattern and a tumbler pattern.  More next week!

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Gretchen

Ocean Chain

     Last May, I queried my three sisters on their favorite color combos, whether they preferred brights v. darks v. pastels, whether they saw themselves as modern v. traditional,  and if they liked a scrappy look.   My sister Amy answered first, with pink and orange, brights, scrappy and modern.  Amy's quilt was all those things.  My sister Juli requested a tee-shirt quilt.  Alison took her time responding, and said she liked shades of blues or green, slate blue and all ranges of green, with light gray and beiges and other soft neutral colors and a modern design.   With those colors I decided to go with batiks, and ordered up some blue and green fat quarters, some light gray yardage, and added in some from my stash.

Sorting through the various batiks

    In browsing various blogs, I was inspired by versions of Cluck Cluck Sew's off track pattern, and decided to give that pattern a try.  I cut the batiks into 2 1/2 inch strips to place against the gray background.

After first pinning the matching pieces together, I eventually switched over to use Wonder clips to hold the pieces together.  

     I sewed the blocks together, trying to keep a contrast between the blocks and the middles, but otherwise, just randomly selecting the fabric.

Trying out a layout on the floor.  I ended up moving around some of the dark pieces, which had accumulated in one corner.   The finished quilt is about 44 by 70 inches - a nice lap quilt size. 

The final layout

Close ups on some of the fabrics before quilting.  

I decided to do a loose double loopy quilting, as a counterpoint to the straight lines of the pattern.  I used a light gray Aurifil on the top, and a white Aurifil for the bottom.  7 bobbins for this quilt! 

More little loops

The back is an Alexander Henry fabric.  I used scraps of the batiks for the binding.   

All soft and quilted! 

         This quilt has a nice soft look to it.  I have now made two quilts using batiks.  My earlier Tranquility quilt and this one.  I will definitely use them again.   

      Enjoy the rest of the summer.  I intend to link up to  Crazy Mom Quilt's Finish it up Friday next week.  

Take care, 

Gretchen