Making Table Runners

Okay, I think I have a "thing" for making table runners!  I made several using this star pattern.  It's not that difficult to make.  I will work on making a tutorial for it in the near future! 

This one I made in a cheetah-type print for my daughter.  One day we were out at Joann Fabrics and she liked the print so we bought the whole bolt!

I made four of these for Christmas presents.  They make a great gift.  Your recipient only needs to bring it out on the holidays, and who doesn't need a festive table runner?

Reversible Placemats

Brighten up your dining room or kitchen with these easy-to-make placemats!  They are reversible so that they can be displayed with either side showing.  Make one side for your everyday use and the other side with a summery or holiday fabric.

I made eight placemats but you can make as many as you'd like.  You can get four placemats from two half-yard cuts of fabric.  Check out my tutorial.  They're so easy to make!  Machine quilt them or just leave them plain.  They make nice gifts, too. 

What pretty fabrics will you choose?

Striped & Gathered Table Runner

I just love the colors in this table runner! To make this,  I cut every other row twice as long (22") and gathered them to fit the 11" rows in between!  It's kind of hard to see the texture in this photo, but I like how it came out.  It's definitely not something that you'd want to make in a hurry because it took a long time to gather and then fit the gathered rows in, but definitely something that I would make again.  

Of course I gave this as a gift to someone.  I used some fabrics that I had purchased from Joann's a couple of years ago.  They have cute little birdcages on them and I thought that they worked up nicely in this project.

I was feeling rather ambitious so I made a little owl to match the runner.  He's made with the same fabrics as accent pieces.  I made his body out of an old gray sweater that I felted.  My friend likes owls and birds and she really loved these gifts!

There's Nothing Better Than a Finished Quilt!

 I have to admit, I love to start projects!  I love picking out new fabrics and finding a new pattern to make. It's all fun and exciting when you start to cut and lay out the new fabrics.  I get started with a vengeance and then... something comes up and I have to put away the project.  Or I have to work on something else that is more urgent.  My treasured project gets pushed aside and before I know it, it gets placed in the "pile" of unfinished items.

Today I wanted to show you that (sometimes) I actually do finish my projects!  Here is the queen sized quilt that I made for my daughter for her birthday.  She loves this color of soft teal and was SO excited to see that I had really finished her quilt! 

Although this pattern looks difficult, when you break down the blocks, it's just a 16-patch next to a 4-patch. I just love how it came out! (Even more, I love that it is FINISHED!) 

Here's a photo of the happy recipient of her quilt!

Easy-to-Make Tote Bag

I made this medium-sized tote bag today and am posting another tutorial!  They are so quick and easy to make!  It even has a small pocket on the outside of both the front and the back (hard to see in the photo).  It measures 13" x 9" x 3".  This one will hold several skeins of yarn or sewing materials to tote your project with you to work on when you go out.   (Or whatever you'd like!)

I made this bag using upholstery fabrics- fabrics that are a little thicker than cotton, to give it some thickness and weight to it.  I doubled the fabric for the bag to create a simple lining.  Check out the tutorial tab at the top of my home page and make one today!  (I also posted the changes to make a larger bag if you'd like!)