Friday, September 8, 2017

Fall is on the table

Hi everyone!  I have some bad news for all of us--summer is over.  I know!  I'm not happy about it either.  How did that happen? I still have summer things to do!  Around here, it's like someone has flipped a switch.  All of a sudden the temps have fallen into the 60s and low 70s, and I got stuck behind a school bus this week. I hope fall lasts a long time, because we all know what comes next, right?

This week I finally quilted up a table runner that I made almost two years ago from some scraps left over from another project:


Yep, that's a fall-like picture!  It's a little early for mums, but I think they're very festive.  They certainly dress up the deck now that the geraniums have had it.


This table runner is based on Amanda Nyberg's pattern Bright Birch Trees.  I used the bargello scraps as the trees (obviously) and then just pieced the blocks side by side instead of into a quilt.  I think I managed to get 5 blocks plus a half block out of the scraps and I put them all into this runner.

This made for a pretty long runner!  This finished at about 82 by 13, which is long and skinny but works great for my table:


I quilted this up using the walking foot and just echoing the lines of the "trees."  Some of the lines crossed, but it turned out okay.  There's only one little wrinkle in the quilting, and I think that's because I forgot to reverse directions when quilting the parallel lines.  I didn't fuss over the wrinkle and I think it will disappear once I wash it a few times.  Because it's so long, though, the quilting took a while.  There were no threads to bury because all the lines went all the way across, so that was a nice bonus.


I finished this with a purple and gold batik for the machine binding.  I do love binding it all by machine. Now that I've done it several times I've got the hang of it, and it goes so fast!  You have to love it when binding doesn't take a lot of time.  You still have to piece it together, but there's no hand stitching to eat up the hours.

So that was my big finish for the week!  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and it does look good on the table.  Good thing it turned out so long, huh? 


Everyone have a great weekend. Florida friends, stay safe!  We'll all be praying for Irma to make a sharp right turn and pass you by.

Sharing at Finished or Not Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, crazymomquilts, and Oh, Scrap!.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a beautiful runner. I love that it is so long and hangs over the ends of the table. Nice work!

Tish Stemple said...

Fall is here, almost in full force too. Your table runner is beautiful. I love how the tree strips change color, kind of like the seasons, but in bright cheery hues. I wish the leaves on the trees went from green to red/yellow/orange to blue...instead of brown.

Preeti said...

What a gorgeous beauty of a runner!!! Reminds me of the Birch pattern but prettier with rainbow inserts. I refuse to believe Fall is here. I am still wearing my summer dress today and will go out for a walk when it turns a delicious 70 degrees and sunny at 12:30. Two more weeks and then Fall will be here - OFFICIALLY.

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi Mari,
This is sure a pretty table runner! It doesn't look fallish at all - those remind me of summer blues. It looks just perfect on your table. ~smile~ Roseanne

somethingrosemade14@blogspot.com said...

I might be the only one who thinks this but when I look at your runner, I think that summer is still hanging around so it could be used for the table during both Summer and Fall. I love the quilting and there's something neat when the lines intersect. What a great idea to use the Birch pattern to make this runner.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

The bargello scraps were perfect for the birch tree sections, Mari! I really like how that turned out!

Carie @ Space for the Butterflies said...

I think it's beautiful - I love bright birch trees, it's on my list of must definitely makes!!

marebear said...

Lovely! What a fun table runner.

Pamela Arbour said...

I love it. Thanks for the inspiration!

grammajudyb said...

Bright Birch Trees is on my "to-do" list also. Strips(trees) are started, still searching for solid fat quarters. Solids are in low supply in my stash. Great execution of this pattern. Amanda Jean would be proud!

Sandra Walker said...

This is fabulous Mari! I have long loved Amanda's birch trees; putting them into a runner is perfection. As for flipping the switch, this is SO much like an Alberta late August/early September it's scary. Not the norm for here. With our Alberta daughter and grandson here for their annual Sept visit we usually have to run the AC because 80s are too hot for them...not this year!

Louise said...

So pretty! I love a good rainbow quilt :) The Bright Birch Trees pattern is on my short list; it never occurred to me to make a table runner. Great idea!

Kevin the Quilter said...

How much fun is this! Great work!

The Joyful Quilter said...

Nice job on your table runner!! I see you have the "pumpkin stem" lid for your Jack O' lantern basket. I've got the eyes, nose, and mouth ceramic tie-ons for mine. I use it for the Halloween candy.

Kate said...

Beautiful table runner! What a great way to use up a few left overs. I'm not ready for the end of summer either, but we are enjoying the cooler weather.

Danice G said...

That table runner is so pretty. Bright cheery colors. Beautiful :)

Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts said...

Wow, that's a long table runner! It looks perfect for your table.

Bernie Kringel said...

I have this pattern too. I love it but haven't used it for anything yet. This looks great on your table. Runners are such a great project because you have that satisfying finish much faster than a quilt. (Can you tell I am getting caught up on blog reading?? I have missed so many posts!)