Christmas Postscript {one}

When I saw Svetlana's Christmas patchwork table runner, I wanted to make one for myself!

photo permission by s.o.t.a.k handmade

But being handmade gifts was high on my priority list at the time, I instead sewed one up for a friend.

I had a charm pack of cloud9 Cut Out & Keep that I had been hanging onto for reasons unknown, and I'm so glad I brought it out for this project. It went so nice with the flax-colored Essex I used, and of course, I always love how that Essex quilts up! I followed Svetlana's lead, doing straight-line quilting and used one of my newer favorite Aurifil 50wt threads - #2326. It's called 'tan' but seriously has a bit of a gold tone, and has gone so nicely with several of my recent makes.

Since there was no matching yardage in my stash for the binding, I went with the charcoal stripe from the awesome new Botanics collection. And I think it finished it off just fine. With the Essex and organic prints, the texture of this runner is just lovely.

Finished size: 15 3/4" x 41"

Svetlana's tutorial was a joy to follow, and being so pleased with my first finish, I went on to make another.

For the second one, I used a light and creamy Essex, along with a mini charm pack of V and co.'s Simply Color. Where the original runner used 2" squares for the patchwork, I went ahead and used the 2 1/2" mini charms as cut, and adjusted the sizes of the other fabric pieces as needed. This resulted in a slightly larger runner, about 20"x46". (The sashing between blocks was cut at 2 1/2" wide, the side borders 3 1/2", and the ends 4 1/2".) Again I straight-line quilted, this time using my stand-by Aurifil 50wt #2000 (beige) and there it is again - the most texture indeed. Backed and bound with Notting Hill, it's similar yet different from the original, and just goes to show where inspiration can take you.

And guess what? Santa left a mini charm pack of Moda's Blitzen in my stocking, so guess who's ordering up some more linen and may just make a Christmas patchwork table runner for herself after all?