Medina Dots Table Runner & Matching Placemats

 I'm excited to share my latest project for Oakshott Fabrics! Everything you see here was made from one F8 stack of the Lipari and one F8 stack of the Ruby Reds collections (a total of 16 super-sized Oakshott F8's which measure 10" x 27"). I set myself the challenge of creating a pattern that would not only let the fabrics shine, but let you feel good about your purchase by using up all of the precious cloth in the two F8 stacks. The result is a super luxurious set of table linens with playful shapes and vibrant colours reminiscent of Moroccan market stands.

The table runner features 60 degree triangles of the blue and green Liparis, appliquéd Ruby Reds circles (by hand, or machine) and a unique diamond-shape that is sure to fancy-up your table! The 6 coordinating placemats make use of the remaining F8's from the Lipari stack with leftover triangles pieced as a border accent. Everything is beautifully bound in a scrappy Ruby Reds binding using up almost every inch!  And because I have a feeling someone will ask...the binding went these angles in the exact same way it works on right angled quilt corners. It just takes a little finesse when turning to the wrong side to create the mitre.

I used a regular cotton blend batting in the table runner, but for the placemats I wanted a bit more structure that would stand up to more regular washing (by hand). I chose heavyweight fusible fleece by Pellon and am very pleased with the crisp finish. 

Everything is pieced with Aurifil 50wt and quilted with a luscious green Aurifil 40 wt thread. I give all of the recommended thread weight and colour info in the pattern. I didn't want to compress those pretty circles with quilting, so I chose to simply quilt 1/4" from all of the piecing lines with my walking foot and repeated the same angles and double lines on the placemats. A Hera marker works a treat for chemical and chalk-free marking on Oakshott shot cottons.

If you're looking for some luxe and would like to make your own set, the .pdf pattern is available in my Etsy shop here and you can purchase the full fabric pack directly from Oakshott here. I've also got a limited number of full kits for sale myself that include all fabric for front and binding of the runner and 6 placemats, the full colour printed pattern + die-cut cardstock circle templates for a great price of $125 Can shipping to North American addresses for $20 Cdn (or available for local pick from my front porch). Please contact me via my email address (upper left corner under my headshot) to claim one! ONLY FOUR AVAILABLE AS OF DECEMBER 4.

Icy Improv Pillow

Made over my weekend of teaching a year ago in Inuvik, this pillow cover has been accompanying me to trunk shows and workshops as a sample of my Improv Under the Influence piecing technique. It was the launching off project for my Ice Road quilt.  I finally completed a simple envelope backing and bound the pillow cover last week on retreat.

It is quilted with unmarked, improv straight line quilting with a walking foot. Just following the X seams in the central portion of the pillow using the presser foot edge as a spacing guide. Unlike concentric circle quilting, I began the concentric triangle from the outside (I started sewing beside the X seam) and worked my way into the middle of each pieced quadrant.

It would have been too difficult to keep the triangle lines parallel to the piecing (without marking) if I'd started in the middle of each quadrant with a tiny stitched triangle; by the time I made it out to the long seams, the lines would've been skew to the white sashing and really noticeable.  The beauty of quilting a small item like a pillow top is Pellon fusible fleece (I don't bother wasting fabric and adding a backing, I just quilt through the pillow top and fleece).  The fusible batting stays put, so you can actually quilt from the outside in, without worrying about shifting.

The white border is stitched with white thread in improv zigzags that end up looking like wonky triangles.

...and of course I love a longer stitch length for straight line quilting. I set my Pfaff and Juki to 4.0. The binding is machine sewn to the back via a stitch in the ditch along the front seam.