Table Top Swap

I'm playing along in the Table Top Swap.  Round 2 is table runners.  I was on a real table runner kick a couple of years ago, but this time, I just couldn't make up my mind.  My partner said she liked simple blocks, bright colors, trees and flowers.  No trees here, but I tried to give her a little bit of each of the rest.

Simple blocks?  Check.  Giant shoo fly blocks are pretty simple.

Flowers?  Check.  Embroidered flowers and print flowers.

Bright colors?  Check.  Primary colors should qualify as bright. 

 I was also trying to coordinate with the napkins she received in Round 1.  They had a lot of gray in them, which I'm sure you know by now isn't my favorite. 

I tried something a little different this time...

I used gray background for the two outside blocks...

And white for the middle block.


The blocks are pretty large - they each are 18" square - so the runner measures 18" x 54".

The center of the block was such a big empty space I added some embroidery.  It's pretty much free-hand, unstructured embroidery. 

I also wanted to add some extra color and make the blocks coordinate with each other, so I tried to pick up the colors from the other blocks in each one.

It actually made for a pretty leisurely Saturday afternoon to sit and just embroider the flowers.  Very relaxing.

 I used straight line quilting in the corners to echo the lines of the block and stipple quilting in the colored part of the block.  I think you can see it in the photo.  Just don't look too close at the stippling.    The centers are not quilted because I didn't want to compete with the embroidery.  I toyed with embroidering around the flowers, but in the end, I left them alone.

I also made my partner a couple of other coordinating kitchen-y things, but apparently I had the camera on the wrong setting and the photos didn't turn out.  Oh well.  You may just have to imagine a pretty green kitchen towel and a pinwheel pot holder to coordinate with the set.

And it's off in the mail.  Hope she likes it.

A Table for Two Please

If you're looking for the SMS Giveaway post, go here!  Sorry, the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway has ended.

A couple of months ago, I was poking around Flickr-land when I realized that I had missed the sign ups for a swap I was actually pretty excited about.  I left a whiny comment, and a couple of days later Amy, the swap mama, contacted me and asked if I wanted to do a private swap with someone who hadn't swapped before.  I thought about it for - oh - about 10 seconds and then jumped in with both feet.  For one thing, Peggy (mydaytocraft) offered to angel the swap.  THAT takes real dedication and interest.  For another, she had some gorgeous things in her photostream - not a lot of things, of course, but we all have to start somewhere, right?  For another, I really like cloth napkins, and handmade cloth napkins, well, I really, really like those.

So we made contact with each other, set a mailing date, and communicated a little about what we liked.  I advised her to add to her favorites and make a mosaic so I'd have some ideas about what she liked.  I did a little stalking of her blog and photostream.  And before I knew it, it was almost the mailing date and I hadn't started.  Oops!  So I got busy sewing, and popped them in the mail on the day.  And a couple of days later, I got this gorgeous package in the mail.

But I didn't hear whether she received my package or not.  I was getting worried.  Finally, I FM'd her and yes, she had gotten it, but she was distracted by angel-ing another swap on short notice.  Now THAT's dedication.  (Did I say that before?)

Aren't they gorgeous?  Absolutely classic.  And they go really well with my kitchen.  Lucky, lucky me.

But now that I know that she has received my package, I can show mine here too.  These are the napkins I created for her:

She said they use cloth napkins every day in their family, and sometimes use them more than once if they're not soiled, so I thought it would be great to make them each a little different.  I used a selection of DS Quilts fabrics, which seem to be my "go to" fabrics lately.  Each napkin is different on the back, and the same on the front, except for the "binding" which is just carried over from the front.  Each one has a different "citrus" applique.

I was actually amazed at how well each of these went together (although looking at the photos now, I realize I should have pressed them again before their "photo shoot".)  I really didn't fuss with them at all.  I cut the front 2" smaller than the back and then just folded the back over the front.  I mitered the corners simply by folding the corner in diagonally, and then folding the sides over 1/2" and then again right at the ironing board.  I barely pinned them.  Easy peasy.

The napkin rings were just two DS Quilts fabrics sewn together and bound, and closed with velcro, and then a button sewn over the velcro to hide the stitching.  I believe I cut the napkin rings to 2-1/2" by 5".  They were pretty darn easy too.

This was a fun project and a fantastic swap.  Thanks, Peggy, for swapping with me.