Flashback Friday #9: Two Weeks’ Notice

As you may have surmised from reading this blog, I am no speed quilter. I am amazed at all the quilters I see online that can finish quilts in a matter of days or weeks. It usually takes me months or years. In one case, though, I finished a table runner from start to finish in less than two weeks!

When one of my co-workers at a previous job learned about my hobby, he started asking me if he could buy one of my quilts. I told him that I don’t sell quilts. I really enjoyed working with him and didn’t want to let him down by promising something I might not be able to deliver. Then one day, in the spring of 2008, he gave his two weeks’ notice. I was sad for me, but happy for him. On a whim, I decided to make him a table runner as a thank you for his mentoring.

I had no WIPs that would suit him and no time to order fabric online. I had been eyeing the Box Lunch Table Runner pattern in On a Roll Again by Heather Mulder Peterson and had a stack of jelly roll strips left over from the Diamond Runner. I picked out some brown, blue and green strips and set to work. I worked on that runner every single day until it was finished and was able to give it to him on his last day. He was pleasantly surprised to receive it. I really enjoyed the pattern and have it in mind for a certain jelly roll in my stash, so you may see it again soon.

Flashback Friday #8: Diamond Runner

One of my favorite things about quilting is that it is a good excuse to spend quality time with my mom. A few years ago, we both fell in love with the pattern On a Roll from the April 2008 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting. We each bought a jelly roll of Deb Strain’s fabric Celebrating Spring and spent a day piecing our table runners together. I love how this table runner turned out, but it taught me an important lesson: I like binding. This pattern calls for the table runner to be pieced, turned and slip stitched like a bag or something similar, which I don’t particularly care for in a table runner I had quite a few strips left over from this project and even made two more table runners with this fabric. The Diamond Runner was finished in the spring of 2008 and now lives on my desk at work.

Flashback Friday #7: Valentine’s Day Table Topper #2

Last week, I showed you my first Valentine’s Day Table Topper. After proving that the Quilted Quickies Charm School – Lesson Two pattern worked well for my purposes, I made another one, this time for my mom. I really enjoy making more than one quilt with the same pattern and seeing how differently they turn out.

For this one, I used fabric by Sandy Gervais, and added a border. Somehow, I managed to sew the binding on wrong, so it didn’t turn out as flat as the first one. My mom loved it anyways. I also finished this table topper in January 2008.

Flashback Friday #6: Valentine’s Day Table Topper #1

I am a big fan of charm squares. They enable you to play around with all the fabrics in a line and explore different colors and styles without having to spend a lot of money.

I was looking for inspiration for a present for my mom when I picked up a couple charm squares of Valentine’s Day fabric. Using the Quilted Quickies Charm School – Lesson Two pattern, I made a table topper for myself first, to test out the pattern. I am very pleased with the outcome, especially the striped back.

If I remember correctly, the line was by Deb Strain. While this is not my favorite charm square pattern of all time, it worked well for this project, as well as for my mom’s present, which deserves its own blog post. I finished this table topper in January 2008.