Scrappy American 4th of July Table Runner

This little table runner graced our table for our Fourth of July celebration. Our daughter and son and their families were here, along with our grandson's girlfriend, as well as my husband's sister and nephew. We had so much food and so much fun! Our menu was my husband's smoked brisket and ribs, baked beans, potato salad, garlic french bread, and homemade ice cream and strawberry cake for dessert. I will share family photos and recipes in an upcoming post.

I forgot to get a picture of the table when it was "in use" during our celebration, but this was the basic decoration.

The idea for this table runner started when I organized my scrap bins a couple months ago and found some 2-1/2 inch squares left over from the Scrappy American Flag wall hanging I made last year. I'm happy to say that I used fabrics 90% from my scrap bins and 10% from my stash!

I had no pattern. I just knew I wanted the squares on point. I used this chart to cut the setting and corner triangles, and it was a perfect fit. I sewed the rows together diagonally, and there were a few rows I had to redo because I got confused - lol!

I had a piece of Aunt Grace's Garden that was the perfect size for the back (yay no piecing!)

I added a navy border and navy binding and simply stitched "in the ditch" to give a puffy appearance. You can see by the photo how hard it is for me to stay in the ditch!

Scrappy American Table Runner Details:
Fabrics:
Mostly from my scrap bins

Backing:
Aunt Grace's Garden by Judie Rothermel for Marcus Fabrics

Border and binding:
Hobby Lobby's version of navy Grunge

Thread:
Piecing - Superior Threads So Fine #50 in Genoa Gray (503)
Quilting - Superior Threads So Fine #50 Navy Blue (431)

I am linking to Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts.

New Sew-Along and 4th of July Squirrel

Here is the first "Granny Square" block for the new Crochet Quilt Sew-Along. Fresh Figs is hosting the SAL on Instagram, and it is based on Joanna Figueroa's new Crochet Quilt pattern. The majority of blocks I see on Instagram have gorgeous Fig Tree and Bonnie and Camille fabrics in small-scale prints and pastel shades against a white or black background, but I decided to do a Christmas themed quilt. I always like to be different. ;)

There will be 16 blocks total, and the finished size is 66" x 66". I have a couple of treasured Mary Engelbreit fabrics I am (gasp!) cutting into for this quilt. The background is a soft gray grunge-like fabric. Again, I had to be different.

This is how a black background might look when finished

There are a LOT of pieces in this quilt, and the background alone has 960 1-1/2" pieces!

In other news, I chased a squirrel the other day and cut 2-1/2" squares for a Fourth of July table runner. All our kids and grandkids will be here for the 4th, and I want to have it ready by then. The squares will be "on point", and I had to find a chart to figure out what size to cut the setting and corner triangles. Yes I did get my degree in mathematics, but quilt math is harder than calculus!

I'm joining Busy Hands Quilts in Finished or Not Friday and also Confessions of a Fabric Addict in Can I Get A Whoop Whoop (love that name.) I hope you have a great weekend!

Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Finish, OMG, and Finished or Not Friday

This is my first time participating in a Hand2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge. Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict has been hosting these challenges since 2011! I'm excited to send this quilt to Bernie at Needle and Foot for her charity Mercyful Quilts.

This is my second time using Yellow Brick Road as a pattern. In spite of the pop of bright fabrics, I am hoping this is neutral gender enough to be used by a male.

For the backing, I had a quilt-width blender in my stash that I purchased from a LQS years ago, and I didn't have to piece it -yay!

I added cornerstones for a little interest, and this is my first time making a border and binding in the same color, which I like a lot!

I tried something different with quilting - a kind of quadrant design. I used a hera marker initially then pretty much eyeballed it. That's why it's a bit wavy and out of line. And I ran out of spray baste, so there are wrinkles after quilting. But as the trendy folks like to say,"it's organic"!

As you can see in the photos below, May was a busy month! Our second grandson was born, and I spent a few days helping out while my daughter was in the hospital, our oldest granddaughter graduated high school, and our son turned 49, and we will celebrate his birthday on Sunday. Garden weeding and planting was a priority this month, and there were times this past week that I doubted I would finish this quilt in time for the deadline on the final linky party. But last night I powered through and finished hand-sewing the binding at 9:00.

Little Everett was born May 7 and named after my Dad. He is so sweet.

Our oldest granddaughter graduated high school May 17. She posed
with my husband and me and my son and his beautiful family.

The garden is starting to come on! We've picked some onions and a few tomatoes so far.

Quilt details:
Finished size:
52" x 70"

Pattern:
Yellow Brick Road by Atkinson Designs

Fabrics:
Skinny Vines in Lime by Valentina Ramos for Robert Kaufman
Solid Lemon
PB&J by Basic Grey for Moda
Road 15 by Sweetwater for Moda
Chamberry by Carolee McMullin for Adorn It
Kona Coal
Grunge in Grey Paper by Basic Grey for Moda
Blue plaid - unnmarked stash fabric
Hobby Lobby's version of Grunge in dark blue

Backing:
From the Mary Rose Collection by Quilt Gate

Border and binding:
Hobby Lobby's version of Grunge in dark blue

Thread:
Superior Threads So Fine #50 in Genoa Grey

I'm happy to link to Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge final linkup. I am also linking to One Monthly Goal at Patty's Elm Street Quilts and Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts.

Finished Or Not Friday - Pantone Quilt Started!

Last week I got a catalog in the mail from Connecting Threads. I look forward to their catalogs because the photos of finished quilts are just eye candy. There was a quilt featured on one page that caught my attention and would not let go. It was in colors I would not normally think of using together - oranges and purples - and the pattern was irresistible to me. It is called Home Awaits by Myra at Busy Hands Quilts. I visited her blog, found the pattern in her Etsy shop, and downloaded the pattern.

In this post about the Pantone Quilt Challenge (see the coral badge in my sidebar), I was considering the Uneven Nine Patch as my block for the quilt; but instead I am using the Home Awaits pattern. What I love about this pattern is that it features 10-inch squares of fabric, and I LOVE the fabric I'm using for the challenge! I started cutting yesterday. This afternoon we will leave to attend the graduation of our oldest granddaughter tonight, so there won't be much time spent in the sewing room today!

The Connecting Threads catalog led me to Myra's blog where I noticed she has a linky party on Fridays - yay! So this post is linked to Finished Or Not Friday. Of course mine falls under the "Not" category!