Completed Spiral Table Runner

After all those fabric purchases I felt obligated to complete something.  I needed to back and quilt my Thanksgiving themed spiral table runner.   I had decided I did not want the look of binding. Instead, I cut the batting first and sewed it to the wrong side of the runner top stitching along all the valleys of the teeth that formed the points along the outer edges. Then I used the stitching line as guidance for trimming.  After all, stitching can be redone but cutting is permanent.  I found scissors best for this task.  Somehow we quilters forget that not everything has to be rotary cut.  I had even flipped my mat to do the cutting around the perimeter.  Somewhere I read that rotary cutting mats do not "heal" as well from cuts on a curve.  The suggestion was to use the non-gridded reverse plain side for cutting curves.  Anyway, it was a moot point.  Scissors worked better.  I then used the batting/top combination as a template to cut my backing- also with scissors.

Cutting the backing was a bit confusing trying to decide which way to run the grain of the fabric but I decided that making it fit within the fabric width was allowed to influence the orientation slightly.  Here is the backing. I picked it because I thought the paisley shapes picked up the shape of the runner and the orange inner cores of the teardrop shapes  were a good color blend with the front.  I was going for an overall cornucopia effect. 

After sewing the backing to the top/batting combination, right sides together leaving a small opening, I turned it right sides out and smoothed out the curves.  This was much easier than I had anticipated and the two corners poked out nicely.   I stitched around the perimeter, closing the opening I had left for turning. Then came the dreaded phrase in my book, "Quilt as desired".  My creativity zone goes blank.  Here I just split the difference of the teeth at the different fabric interfaces.  I considered stitching in the ditch along the zig-zag.  That would have been more work. I could have mustered the patience to do that if I thought it would be the better look.  But I wanted to keep the smooth curve effect and thought zig-zags that might be too jolting.  I am not thrilled with how it nips the points.  I considered keeping to one side of the tips instead of bisecting them but what is the inside on one half of the runner is the outside on the other half. Here is the quilted front.

And here is the quilted back.

I think the next one of these I make I will attempt free motion ocean waves along each color - kind of like this.  I can't even draw them much less stitch them!

And here is the finished product.  

One of the nice side effects of this blogging is that I get at least one table surface cleared off.  Must have a spot to take a picture... 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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Cambria Trip Pseudo Shop Hop Purchases

This weekend my husband and I went for a weekend away near the Central California coast at a Lodge called Cambria Pines.  He is great with indulging me in my fabric weakness and we stopped at a bunch of quilt stores on the drive down and back and here are my purchases.  I was shameless, but a lot of it was on sale or clearance and all of it just dang irresistible (obviously).  This post is mainly for my daughter since she is of the opinion you only buy fabric with a set project in mind and not for stash building.  She is in her early years as a quilter.

First stop going south were two stores in Paso Robles.  Birch Fabrics' brick and mortar store has a website called http://www.fabricworm.com/.  It is a bright airy moderate size store with a lot of large scale graphic prints.  I started out slow at this store and only bought two scraps from the bargain bin, very wrinkled and totaling 1/2 yard.  The apples and pears were so bright and cheery. Owls seem to be in lately and I used to collect them in my high school and college years.  I can see fussy cutting the owls and tress and making a small wall hanging for a baby's room.  I just noticed both pieces have my penchant for dots in them.  I did not notice this at time of purchase- really!

The second shop on the way south was The Quiltery in Paso Robles, http://thequiltery.net/.  This was a small shop but the owner had a niece who did lovely tole painting on her counter and shelving.  (I did not think to take a photo, duh!)  She was selling 1/2 yard bundles of 15 fabrics for $20.  I bought one for the unusual greens, beiges and blacks. Unusual for me; I tend buy jewel tones and reds for some reason but am remedying that situation.  Ya gotta admit though, the dancing lambs and flitting bumble bees that were included are cute.  Hmm... only 14 fabrics here.. dunno why the 15th is not in the photo.

On the return trip home from our three-day, two-night getaway we went to the Cotton Ball in Morro Bay, http://www.thecottonball.com/.  I bought very little here but the outstanding features of this shop were some oil painting of quilts for sale (~$2000- out of my price range) and its stained glass window on the second floor.

I did add to my lack of greens and got some letters to personalize my son's jackets that seem to vanish on a regular basis.

In the next city of Atascedero there were two quilt shops.  In the shop called Sew Fun, http://www.atsewfun.com/, I hit their bargain fabrics and got three panels to make set of a stuffed toy train cars with accompanying buildings.  We have no grandkids yet but my husband is a model railroader and a train buff and we hope that some day...

Also in the 1/2 price fabrics were these beauties.  I loved the feathery blues in the one on the left and the one on the right was just plain funky and fun.

 

I added to my supply of flannels to make burp cloths.  No, I do not expect my son and daughter to be extremely prolific nor do I anticipate future grandchildren to be upchucking constantly; but, the burp cloths are quick and fun to sew and make good gifts.

There is one more flannel, owls again, that I could not resist, in the far right of the next photo.  The other two fabrics do have intended uses.  The polka dot is for the Grinch quilt I have planned and the wavy beige is for the animal print wall hanging I have planned.

The next three are fat quarters for which I have no intended use but that I liked.  The butterflies have those kind of swirls I am drawn to.  I thought the black and white print was cute because it had a bit of pink snuck in it... and dots of course.  Be sure to read the print on the grey one in the far left.  And yup, more dots!  I made a lot of purchases at this store because, well, my husband was busy at the hobby shop, and I had more time to be dangerous.

At the final store, The Quilters' Cupboard, http://www.quilterscupboard.com/store.htm, also in Atascadero, I bought a Xmas kit.  I was attracted by the unusual Christmas color scheme that included an aqua and a lime green with the red.  The technique to make it is also a deviation from matching  exact points so should be fun for a change.

I also bought some train fabric my husband gravitated to and a cheerful stripe to go with it.  It is a lovely shade of blue and reminded us both of a blueprint.

After coming home I took these photos to post and felt inspired to FINISH a project.  Which I did!  Next post: Spiral Table Runner completed.  Right now I really should cook dinner for that oh-so-patient and indulgent husband of mine :•)