Tuesday 15 November 2016

Christmas table runner and pillow

A couple of days before my friend Els went back to Holland, we visited Cherished Pieces in Tillsonburg together.  It is one of our favourite quilt shops in this area :-).  Els bought a charm pack of winter fabrics featuring cardinals.  We rooted around on the internet to find a pattern for them. We came across sotak. (the same site where the instructions for zippered pillows comes from).  She had a free tutorial for a modern table runner using 2" squares.  We cut the charm pack in half twice to make 2 1/2" squares and adapted the background size to fit.  

That triggered a memory that I had some Christmas mini charm packs (candy) in my stash somewhere.  I found them and had two packs (you need 52 or so squares).  There was also a lovely Christmas tree print which worked great for the back. I searched around in my solids and found this lovely Pepper Cory shot cotton in a shimmery grey. (click on the photos to enlarge them for a better view)

The finished runner

Close up of the fabrics and quilting lines (the white trees on red in the lower left is also the backing fabric). I quilted it 1/2" apart.  The pattern said 1/4", but since this was larger, I think 1/2" was perfect.

Binding was also done in the red and white trees.

The completed runner on the design wall

I had auditioned a white with red snowmen fabric for the background of the table runner, but figured it would be a little busy.  But, the leftover squares were still on it and I needed a handmade gift for a Ladies Conference I attended last weekend.  And, I really did want to try quilting 1/4" lines as I love the texture.  I had just enough little squares left to make a 20" pillow.

Love the way the pillow turned out with the 1/4" lines.  It was a lot of sewing, but worth it.

I used a turqouise Aurafil thread from a little thread set given to me by my friend Lynn last year for Christmas.

I found these Basic grey snowmen in my stash which went perfectly.  Of course it got a zippered closure as well :-).

2 comments:

The Cozy Quilter said...

These will be great additions to your Christmas decor! Wonderful projects!

Lorna McMahon said...

You have made such cute winter themed projects here, Jacqui! The table runner is gorgeous and I love the quilting on that pillow!