Sizzlin' 60s Table Runner

Seems like it takes me a month between posts...and since I did the last post on all of the Pieced Tree table runner kits I completed, I thought I'd do one more post about one more table runner...

I bought the fabric kit at a different quilt shop in Pine River, MN (I think it was in a shop in PR that has since closed). I saw the fabrics and the sample and bought the kit. I didn't read the sign which stated the kit did not include the pattern...but I didn't realize that until I was showing the kit to my cousin and realized I didn't have the pattern! At that point, my DD spoke up and said "yeah, it wasn't included, you had to buy the book"...so, darn, we had to go back to the quilt shop!

There's more to the story, but first, here's a picture of the runner:

The pattern comes from an Anka's Treasure's book called "Sizzlin' 60s". All of the fabrics were part of the MN quilt shop hop that year. They are all winter themes. The kit came with all of the fabric for the top, backing and binding. It was hard to not break up that fabric as some of it I wanted to use for other quilts...but I couldn't bring myself to break up the kit. I'm so glad, as the runner looks great!

 The backing is this great paisley print:

Here's a closer view so that you can see I just outlined around the hexies, on both edges of the "border" strips. Then, I quilted straight lines through the background and made them look like pie pieces...You can see the two different "blocks" here...

Here's a little closer view of the blocks (and one with that same paisley print!):

The book Sizzlin 60s by Ankas Treasures is by Heather Mulder Peterson. Great book, great technique to do these hexies with no set in piecing...all straight lines! You make strip sets, cut those into triangles, piece half hexies and sew those together in rows...and then sew the rows together. If you want to make hexies, I recommend this book. She makes things super easy! I've used the book and made a few other quilts. I've even bought a couple of her books and made other quilts...and finished all of them before this first runner. Ironic, huh? She's got a new book and ruler out where the pieced triangle has some different angles of make some really interesting patterns. It's on my list of things I want - the ruler and the book.

Pieced Tree Table Runners

A few years ago, I bought some table runner kits from a quilt shop in Jensen, MN (near Pine River). All of the kits were made with a Pieced Tree pattern (they are laminated little cards, with punch holes so you can keep them on a ring) and typically had 2 fabrics for the top and contained most everything (some had backings and some didn't). The shop had samples made of the kits and the shop owner even let me take pictures of them.

The next New Years eve, I pieced quite a few of them as they were really quick to piece (great instructions/patterns) and the fabric selections were so great (and generous in amount). It had been awhile, so I'm glad that I had the photos of the shop samples!

After that, I paired them with backings (the ones that didn't some with one), cut the bindings, and put them all into a clear plastic bag. They sat there, and sat there...and sat there.

I didn't want to ruin them by quilting them myself as I'm not that good in that part of the process...but I also didn't want to take them to a LAQ. I've moved them a couple of times while cleaning for different occasions... I've added things to the bags and then taken those out and had them quilted and finished...and still those table runners sat. I even added more runner of different patterns and sizes...and they all sat.

Last year, one of my quilting goals was to do more machine quilting myself. I've done lots of mug rugs and placemats. This year, I'd even done a couple of small quilts. Well, this year, I finally shamed myself info finishing those runners. In alphabetical order by pattern name, here they are:

This is called "Churnover":

 Love the fabric combo! Here's a closer  view:

Churn dash blocks with just two fabrics. Super cute, huh? I did straight lines 1/4" inside and outside of the blocks. The back looks really cool too:

 OK, bad lighting...this is really the same dark brown fabric as the top!

Great pattern, huh?

Next up is "In The Middle" - love, love, love the fabric choices on this one!

 I did straight lines about 1/4" to 1/2" apart and stopped when it got too hard. Closer detail shot showing off the back:

 Here's an even closer shot of the front:

It's funny how many of my table runner kits have either brown or green (or both) colors in the fabrics!

Next pattern, "Nifty Nines". This one has Christmas prints on the fabrics and some gold sparkles:

 I again did just some straight lines inside and outside the blocks and carried those lines through the setting triangles. Here's a close up of one of the 9-patches:

 Again, this made a neat pattern on the back:

I'm not really sure which order I really quilted these in, but I did get more and more confident as I went through them!

Next up, "Something Fishy". This one, I bought with my DH in mind...

 FISH! Going in either direction! CUTE!

 Love, love, love the fabrics! I think I did this one first. I bought a variegated green thread (at WalMart, Coats & Clark brand) and I used a wavy line stitch on my machine. I made it as wide and high as I could... I love the way it looks! Here's a close up of a fish:

 Here's the back:

This fabric is one I bought for my very first quilt. I had bought it as a background to use in my sampler quilt we made in a beginning quilting class. I ended up having to buy a bolt of it as it was a Christmas fabric, a few years old, and I couldn't find it anywhere.I ended up needing 4 or more yards to be able to make the quilt big enough for our queen sized bed and since I bought a bolt, the backing is made of the same fabric. Since then, and since a bolt is 15 yards, I've used this fabric a lot - I think this is the last big piece of it - the rest I cut into 2.5" squares so I may have a little more...

And there you go - those are all Pieced Tree patterns. The little pattern cards are addictive - and cheap...and many people collect them. If you find a shop that has them - and makes kits, I recommend the kits - especially if they have such great fabric selections as I had!!

Hawaiian Shirt Quilt for My Dear Husband

Last summer, my DH and I redid our master closet. Or was that a year ago? As part of the redo, my DH went through his clothes and got rid of some things. He doesn't typically get rid of anything, so I was very excited.

Part of his "discard" pile were old Hawaiian style shirts. They were old in the sense that parts of them were falling apart and he was no longer able to wear them to work. As we looked at them, I noticed they were 100% cotton...and we both thought - why not make a quilt???!!

So, I found a pattern that I thought would work well with lots of different patterns - his shirts were a mixture of fish/fishing related and cars... I made some test blocks with a red accent color but the red really was the focal point which was not what I (we) wanted. I tried a gray and that worked perfectly. The quilt went together quickly and I showed a lot of people the "in progress" quilt.

Here's the finish:

It's lap sized (66 x 77) and we think good for watching tv. The only problem? The cat LOVES it and it's already full of cat hair and so my DH won't use it. It's ok - I know he will eventually and he could always wash it too...here's a close up of the center portion:

See? Cars and fish (or sharks in this case)!

The back is a quilt I was working on called "Scrappy Many Trips Around the World" or something like that. It's a free pattern from Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville. She has lots of great free patterns on her website...and I have a couple of her books. She does tons of scrap quilts. Anyway....so here's the back:

The quilting is called "water" (I think). Here's a close up of the back and quilting:

After trimming and binding this quilt, I kept the "scraps" of the back. I've used them as backings for other things afterwards and I actually have a couple of pieces that I'm going to make into a larger piece for a small table topper quilt I'm working on.