Saturday, January 30, 2021

RSC and Table Scraps Challenge

Are you a fan of RSC, Rainbow Scrap Challenge?  I seem to participate every other year or so. Although I spend some time nearly every day in my studio I am not a particularly fast planner or doer when it comes to making quilts and such.  So some years I'm all about finishing projects or working on things I want to do.  But some years I like to add the RSC as a form of using more scraps. Instead of doing several different block sets each month, I've joined Table Scraps Challenge at The Joyful Quilter. Ok, yes I did start one new block set with January's pink that I plan to continue.  

But first up is my Table Scraps Challenge runner.  I realize I don't have a lot of pink but did have some fat quarters I really like.  I have a couple of table runner books and books I know have table runners in them.  Plus, I have files of quilt pictures on my computer.  I looked at all of them until I chose Fusion from The Trendy Table by Heather Peterson of Anka's Treasures. (Wow! I just realized she's written two more Trendy Tables books.) 

I decided I wasn't going to use just pink so I selected a light grey allover design and Navy Kona solid. I was going to make it smaller to fit my dining room table. I got to cutting.  Have I mentioned I don't always read directions completely? First, I had to figured out the right size and quantity to cut my pieces. Then I had to sew them the right way. (Really? Why?) Which led me to having to rip frequently.  Oh yes, there was a whole post recently on Jack the Ripper.  This table runner was helped by my friend Jack. I digress.  

Stitching in the ditch. 

After the top was pieced I used my Bernina to quilt it. Yes, I do have a long arm but I only had a small backing and I wanted to do specific things around the design.  I was pleasantly surprised that I could still quilt on the domestic machine.  It's a whole different way of doing when you compare a domestic machine to a long arm.  I remembered how to push the fabric around. First up stitching in the ditch.  Next I did a bit of stippling. (That was a bit harder than the SID.) Then I got out my trusty 1" painter's tape to mark some straight line stitching. As I got going on these steps I realized it was imperative to think about where I was going so I didn't have a bunch of starts and stops.  

Straight line quilting done with 1" painter's tape markings.

Because the straight lines went off the edge of the table runner, I was able to run my stitching off and then make a turn and stitch in the excess until batting until I wanted to make a turn and stitch the next straight line area. That made it much easier as long as I thought about stitching before starting.  And yes, my pointer finger was tracing the lines to make sure I figured out what to do before the machine did its work. 

The final stitching was a curve in the pink pieces.  Again, I thought about the best way to do it to eliminate starts and stops.  Having the navy separating parts of the quilt meant I did have quite a few beginnings and endings.  I did not stitch in the navy at all.  I used a bendable ruler to create a pleasing curve and then drew it on a piece of lightweight cardboard.  I cut it out and had two shapes I could play with.  I used it to draw a line on the pink pieces to give some motion to the quilting. 

As I was quilting I was pondering the binding.  I had enough grey or navy to do it.  I probably had enough of one of the light pinks to use as a binding too.  But after consulting with my quilting buddy Sharon, we both liked the idea of the navy. (Thank goodness I had enough for it and another quilt I wanted to bind with it!) 

I don't often hand stitch binding down any more.  Most of my quilts are donated.  The last thing a recipient wants is the binding to fall apart so I normally sew both sides on the machine.  But this was small and I was willing to spend the time to hand finish it.  I LOVE the backing fabric.  I've owned it for years and have used little bits and pieces but I thought it worked well with the front.It looks mostly cranberry but it has a bit of pink within the paisleys. And if I want, I can flip the runner and use that side for a while.  

Here are some glamour shots --- 



My first Table Scraps challenge is complete.  I enjoyed working with pink and some friends.  I love the backing fabric that might be flipped to use sometimes. All of these fabrics came from stash so I'm tickled with that too.  I am happy I can still push fabric around under my domestic machine and have some decent results. The best thing I can say is I really enjoyed this challenge.  

Lest you think I didn't really start blocks, here are the two pink star blocks I did.  I specifically made them to test a block I'm putting with the t shirt quilt but I decided a bunch of different Friendship Star blocks in a rainbow of colors would make a nice quilt eventually.  I think I need to make a few more.



I'm linking up with Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts, Beauties Pageant 114 at From Bolt to Beauty, Scrap Happy Saturday at Superscrappy, and Table Scraps Runner/Topper Challenge at The Joyful Quilter.  Enjoy seeing what people are doing, especially with pink around the Internet.  Monday starts a new color -- bright shiny yellow.  Angela mentioned it in her post today.

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 


6 comments:

  1. Your table topper is just darling and I love seeing the whole process of how you quilted it. I too like to do the straight lines and work off the extra batting to turn. Great tip to share. Friendship stars are always a fun one to make as well.

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  2. table topper a win/win....i love it...and yes the backing is very nice...i have a bit in my stash as well...

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  3. I just bought Trendy Table 3 when I went to work/the quilt shop on Thursday--just in! Ohh, that turned out super cute, Bonnie! I'm not surprised you did a great job quilting on your domestic machine--it's something you don't forget! Great job!!!

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  4. So glad to see you again, Bonnie! I've missed your header with the beautiful red bud tree and quilt draped over the white fence. Anyway, sorry you've had dates with Jack but I'll tell you -- your table runner is one of the prettiest projects I've seen so far. I like the way you put the quilting movement into the pinks and you & Sharon picked out the perfect binding!

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  5. Oh that is an awesome Table Scraps RSC project!! and look at you - quilting on the domestic!! Go you!!!

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  6. Beautiful table topper! The pink, navy and gray is a great color combo.

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