Thursday, November 20, 2014

Feeling thrifty

I forgot to share this project when I finished it recently.

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I’m feeling particularly pleased with it because it is entirely made of leftovers. The center is made of bonus HST units generated in the making of Starlight WishesThe borders and backing are scraps from the same quilt.  Even the batting was a narrow strip left over from other projects.  I’m feeling very thrifty indeed! 

Even the binding was thrifty.  After I used the green fabric for the back I decided I wanted it for the binding as well – but of course that bit on the back was the last of it!  I thought of using the trimmings from cutting the backing even with the front, but they wouldn’t have been wide enough for a separate binding.  So, I expanded my quilting techniques toolbox and learned how to bind  by folding the backing over to the front.  I’ve seen it I called “self-binding” or “back-to-front” binding.  I looked at several tutorials online and took bits and pieces away from each.  Perhaps I’ll write a tutorial showing what combination finally worked for me.

I may go back and add a bit of free-motion quilting to the borders, as they aren’t quilted as densely as the center, which results in a slight ripple in the borders. I stitched in the ditch quite a bit, then decided I wanted to actually see some quilting so added some outline quilting 1/4” away from some seams.

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This reminds me of confetti, so I’m calling it the Birthday Runner.  We’ll test it out at a family birthday this weekend.  Note to self: don’t get chocolate frosting on the white bits…

10 comments:

  1. You had such great leftovers and they turned into a fun table runner! Thrifty indeed (and creative)! So much more fun to use up those extra bits

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  2. So bright and cheery. I love leftover projects. It's like making something from nothing.

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  3. There is nothing more rewarding to me than those "thrifty" projects! Great job and bright and fun finish!

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  4. With all your gorgeous colors of fabric and your creativity, there's no way you could miss having a beautiful table runner! Enjoy it! ---"Love"

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  5. You are too funny! Great job. Mine are hst units sitting and waiting patiently for me to make them into stars with black cat or black heart fabrics as the centers! Got to love leftover quilts.

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  6. A VERY beautiful thrifty table runner. Double bonus! It deserves double chocolate :D

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  7. I'm proud of you! It does feel good to use up those scraps! That's my goal now, to use scraps and leftovers - of which there are many.

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  8. I love how bright and cheerful it is. Great use of all those leftovers. I really want a birthday runner now, but think I will use a black background.

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  9. SO colorful! Love it :) Perfect for a birthday runner!

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  10. Super to use some leftovers up for sure, and it's so cute too!

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