Tuesday 19 November 2013

WIP Wednesday - Table Runner

This week I've been working on my table topper for the Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland Christmas swap and it is starting to come together for me now.  I have learned quite a few things on the way designing this star runner.

I had this block I made previously as the start of a design idea.  I call it Star Crossing.

I removed the pinwheel and played with the lights and darks on the background and came up with this which I thought would be a really cool Christmas project.
Getting a bit fancy I turned it on point to make the little squares bigger and have less seams to sew.  Then I noticed some of the squares could be rectangles so it became this: 

I realised this was going to be a bit tricky to put together as I was not making clear rows now and I had cut some of rectangles too long.  So I went back to my computer and played with shapes to make mini blocks and came up with this as being all the parts I needed for my project.

 All good so far.  I like symmetry and was quite happy to make these blocks chain piecing as I went along. 
The two floating rectangles in the middle should have given me a hint but it wasn't until I laid the piece parts out to sew in blocks that I saw I'd have 2 areas where I would have to sew partial seams.  I'm ok with it though I haven't done it before but I am happy to try! 


The other thing that struck me when piecing the HST is I could have been a bit smarter if I hadn't been using precuts. Instead of piecing 2.5" squares and 3" HST I should have taken a 10" square and cut along the diagonals twice to make quarter square triangles.  That would have kept my outside edges on the grain and avoided having bias edges all along the runner. 

So I guess I'll be using starch and lots of pins when I'm quilting and binding this one!  Still nothing ventured, nothing gained.  I'm happy with how it looks.  It's pretty close to how I imagined it and I love the colours in this fabric range Joy.


Linking up to WIP Wednesday and I Quilt Thursdays!

10 comments:

  1. This is sooo gorgeous.............I love how the red stars pop!

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  2. It's coming along so well! I can't believe how many seams you managed to get rid of, as well! Partial seams are really not too difficult, so I am sure you'll finish off this masterpiece. :D

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  3. What a great post, very interesting design concept. I do that too though, figure out an easier way when it's too late.

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  4. You runner is looking great. Lovely design. Do you have a design app or software?

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  5. What a great block! It makes such a pretty table runner too, I love the colors you chose!

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  6. Beautiful Christmas stars! I love that Joy collection too.

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  7. It's beautiful. I love the fabric too!

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  8. It's looking fantastic! Thanks for linking up :)

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