Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Kintsugi on Repeat

Four years after my first experiment with kintsugi, the table runner I'd made was deeply faded, as its 'home' has always been, by intention, in our living room window. Obviously, it had served its purpose and needed to be replaced, but I loved it so. Thus, I decided (obviously!) to make something very similar. Just for fun, here's the first one, that I made 

For fabrics, this time I used the same Essex Homespun in Natural for the background; but for focus fabrics, I chose several cuts from the Afternoon Bliss Fat Quarter Bundle from fabricBUBB that I'd gotten in March. For the contrasting joining lines, I used Kona Pimento.

I'd originally found the improv Kintsugi technique in Nicholas @quiltsfromtheattic's Inspiring Improv, and I referenced it again this time. I began by cutting 9" background squares, which was just a tad larger than what I needed, as after creating each kintsugi block, I trimmed it to 6.5". But that's fine, as it gave me plenty of wiggle room. I already knew I'd need a 4 x 7 layout of blocks, so that was nice not to have to do any extra calculations.

Once the top was pieced, I used the leftovers plus a couple more fat-quarters from the Afternoon Bliss bundle to make a pieced back. Deciding nothing too complicated was needed for quilting, I used Aurifil 50wt 2225 [Salmon] thread to stitch diagonal lines one-inch apart.

Bound in Free Spirit Tango, the runner finished at 24" x 42", and it feels great to have something new and fresh, yet familiar, on our living room table. Isn't it great to be a maker?

4 comments:

  1. Yes, second time around is the charm! Great design skills Debbie.

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  2. The color combo is so good, and it looks right at home by that window. (What do you do with the old quilt? Just curious.)

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  3. The Salmon thread blends in beautifully with the composition - I love it when a non neutral is used to such good effect. The runner certainly fits perfectly in the space, both physically and style-wise. It's fun to see the photograph of the original for comparison, too.

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  4. Yes and yes! It looks great on your living room table. Love your colors, and the technique you used. And it's great to be a maker. Recently I did some mall-shopping, which I haven't done for several years, and was intrigued by all the women's bags, including many Kate Spain pieces. But as much as I liked them, I kept thinking, "I' prefer my own, custom-made bags much better." I'm so glad to know how to sew, though it can be problematic too, when you WANT to buy ready-made clothes, and see how poorly a piece is constructed. Or that pieces aren't cut on the grain/cross-grain - as seen on some t-shirts. Sometimes I think what I know is to my detriment!

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