Friday, August 17, 2012

Juggling Summer Table Runner for Mom

August 15th is my mom's birthday and every year I like to make her birthday gift.  She just received the package and opened it so now I can finally post about it!

This year I saw this project by Bari J and I loved the pieced pattern and thought it would be perfect for a project for my mom.  I sent my mom a bunch of photos of fabric collections (at least 24 different ones) and had her pick which line was her favorite.  She picked Juggling Summer by Zen Chic for Moda and when the jelly roll arrived I knew it was perfect for my mom.  The colors and prints in the collection are beautiful, and the main fabric of the collection has this yummy red/orange color that is exactly my mom's color.

Folded Juggling Summer Tablerunner

I had a lot of fun making the table runner.  I lucked out and noticed on the blog post by Bari J that someone mentioned that you can use a quilter's binding tool as a template to make the friendship braid instead of having to measure and cut the angles.  (You can see a video demo here).  I happen to have a quilter's binding tool so that made the process smooth and easy.  I'm not sure how many I cut, but I definitely didn't use the whole jelly roll.  In actuality I probably only used 1/2 of the jelly roll.

Juggling Summer Tablerunner in Progress

For the backing of the table runner I bought 1 1/2 yards of Moda Bella Solid in Betty Orange (which coordinated exactly with the collection- thanks Moda!).  The orange also happens to be the yummy red/orange color that I mentioned is my mom's color, so it worked out perfectly.

Juggling Summer Tablerunner

I free-motion quilted it using the "geometric allover" pattern as described by Angela Walters in her book "Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters" (which I am LOVING by the way).  It was simple and I was able to get into the flow of doing it relatively easily.

Detail of Quilting on Juggling Summer Tablerunner

Detail of Quilting on back of Juggling Summer Tablerunner

As a bonus gift I also made a set of 6 coasters to go with the runner.  I used some of the scraps from the table runner and the Betty Orange for the back of these.  Since I didn't want to fuss with binding I made these by sewing the top and bottom of the coasters right sides together with a layer of batting on the bottom of the stack (so it went batting, coaster bottom RSU, coaster top WSU) and then turned them right sides out and hand stitched the opening closed.

Juggling Summer Coasters

For the quilting on the coasters I did the same "geometric allover" pattern on them and loved the way they turned out.

Juggling Summer Coasters

I also made my mom a set of "Cool Downs" for her to use in the hot Tennessee sun.  One with two of the leftover strips from the jelly roll and one in the same gnome print I used in the tutorial.  "Cool Downs' are new to her so I hope she enjoys using them!

Wrapped and ready to go!

5 comments:

  1. Loving the 'Betty orange'! Such a gorgeous colour.

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  2. Love the bright colors, and love how you quilted it in orange!

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  3. The runner looks so great! I really want to do a braided jelly roll pattern like that. I was actually going to do one with a jelly roll last week, but it was for a boy and I decided it didn't fee boyish enough. It's perfect for your mom!

    I am SO eager to get Angela's book! I am on a spending freeze right now, because we need to pack and move. Soon, though!

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  4. Hi Stephanie, I stumbled across your blog this morning from Pinterest. I love your free motion quilting. I have been a little afraid to try since my last experience didn't turn out so well. I decided to buy the book you suggested but instead when I went to Amazon they had Angela Walters Free Motion Meandering for free as a Prime member. Yay! I am reading it first and then may go back to purchase the other. Just thought I would let you and your readers know it is free to Prime members. I have so enjoyed reading your blog. Feel free to come visit FlyAwayHome-4am.Blogspot.com

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