Jewel Lines

There's been a little project behind the scenes that I can finally share. And that would be a table runner I made as a shower gift. It's a bit complicated when we live in different states, but daughter dear and godchild Jessica figured out a way to throw a shower for my soon-to-be-daughter-in-law. They called it "Bridal Shower-in-a-Box."  Basically, they asked local friends and family to fill a gift box with something for the bride-to-be, then Jessica and Rachel packed them all together with fresh-baked cookies and party decorations, and sent them off.

The runner I made was "get in line" by Amy Walsh of Blue Underground Studios, which was published in the June 2012 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting. In the magazine, the runner was made of Dupiani silk, which was lovely, but I chose to make mine more day-to-day-friendly by using Kona cottons.

It was a really interesting process cutting strips . . .

and playing with placement on the design wall.

For quilting, I tried to add some more variety by using 3 different Aurifil 28wt Mako Cotton Threads. The 28wt is heavier than the 50 weight I use for piecing, and emphasizes the stitches well. I was pleased to find 3 really nicely coordinating colors in my thread bin - Winter Mauve #5003, Sapphire #2730, and Peapod #1231. I stitched randomly spaced straight lines in the stripes across the runner, 2 or 3 lines per stripe.

The finished runner measured a generous 20x44", and I've named my version "Jewel Lines," taken from the many jewel-toned Kona's and the obviously repetitive lines, both in fabric and quilting.

So the bridal-shower-in-a-box has arrived to bless my future daughter-in-law, and in just about every way, I couldn't be more pleased.

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday!