Saturday, September 21, 2013

Quilts in the Pumpkin Patch Blog Hop

Quilts in the Pumpkin Patch 

Welcome to Susie's Sunroom, and Day 3 of the Blog Hop!  I was invited , by my new friend, Sheri,  to share a  fall project with you, in her Quilts in the Pumpkin Patch Blog Hop.  
Day 3  You are here at Susie's Sunroom
Thank you so much, Sheri,  from Sunshine in the Attic blog, for organizing this fun way to meet different bloggers and see new projects!  I enjoy their inspiration and talent !  Here is the lineup of bloggers:


September 19th  Sheri -- Sunshine in the Attic 
September 20th Maggie -- Maggie's Empty Nest Days
September 21st Susie -- Susie's SunRoom        you are here !
September 22nd Celine -- Espritpatch  
September 23rd  Yevette -- Evindie
September 24th Judy -- Judy's Fabric Addiction 
September 25th  Elaine -- Summercrafter 
September 26th Patricia -- Quilting Lines


I had a lot of fun finding a project to celebrate the arrival of fall.  I was constantly drawn to anything with tree leaves.  And when I saw this pattern, I knew I wanted to make it for the blog hop!

The project :  
A Wall hanging called   Tumbling Leaves   from  allpeoplequilt.com  by Gail Abeloe
This is a free pattern !     (click Here )
I like this random arrangement with the two different  sizes of leaves.
Tumbling leaves  wallhanging   from All People Quilt.com

The finished quilt is 27 in  high x 46 inches wide
The blocks are-   9 in square and 5 in square
Fabrics used:   Tic Tac created by Kim Schaefer  Andover Fabrics in 5 fall colors
                      Fall  leaves  fabric  David Textiles
                      Cream tonal  , with smallflowers,  for background
                      Blender brown ,  scraps   for stems


Fabrics selected  for my Tumbling Leaves
       Fabric amounts needed:                          
 5/8 yard cream print ( background)
3/4 yard total assorted  (blocks)
1/8 yard mottled brown (stems)-  scraps will do
1/4 yard brown print (inner border)
1 yard leaves print (outer border)
1-1/2 yards backing fabric and binding
33x51" batting  I used Pellon  FF987
 What worked for me ( from a newbie quilter):  use SCANT quarter inch seams for piecing  , and  for the  seams to put the blocks together.  I had to use the scant quarter inch to ' preserve' my point tips when joining blocks together.  My measurements then turned out to be very close to the pattern.  Make a test block and measure it,  to see what works for you :)   I read that many factors influence our seam allowances... thread type, fabric weave, the presser foot we use....
Sewing a scant quarter inch seam, using my 1/4 inch foot on my Viking
The leaf blocks were made by piecing squares and half  square triangles together.
I marked the diagonals on the cream squares, to make the half square triangles

Then I sewed on each side of the line, with a SCANT quarter inch seam.  I kept on  sewing, to make a chain of blocks.
I needed to sew every seam with a SCANT 1/4 "  seam to ' keep' my points

I used the blanket stitch on my Viking to applique the little strips onto a triangle,  to make the stem pieces
Next, I laid out all of the  squares,  to see what each leaf would look like.  I switched around colors to make them random , and ' pretty to my eye.'


                                                        Leaf Block layout:

Looking at the large leaf blocks....and arranging the colors.  I put the final selections onto a mini  project board to move to my sewing machine easily. 
Left side is unsewn  /   Right side is sewn together







The next step was to join all of the large and small leaf blocks together. (Note: I still used a scant quarter inch seam, so I didn't lose the leaf points in the seams. )



Then it was time to add the borders:

Inner: 1 1/4 inch wide strips  I chose the dark green/brown TicTac fabric. I love this color! 
Outer:  4 inch wide strips     I used my leaves fabric.  I had this fabric in my stash, and can't believe how well the Tic Tac Andover fabrics matched that leaf fabric!
                                               

                           Attaching the outer border...  the leaves fabric


Before I cut the backing, I had to decide what color and kind of binding I would use.  Because I decided to use this small quilt as a table runner by this time, I chose to use the "backing as binding" method to bind it.  I learned this technique from a tutorial by Rae, of Made-by-Rae.com, featured as a guest at Pretty Prudent.com.  It makes a clean and crisp border, with minimal bulk, that I can machine sew.  Simply add one inch to each side to the backing. This extra inch on each side (after quilting) is used to fold- over to become the binding on the front.



I chose to make the backing from the gold Tic Tac fabric.  I  also had scraps left from the other fabrics , and decided to piece them together to form a strip in the center of the gold fabric, to make it wider than 42 inches.... I needed it to be 50 inches wide



I needed final measurement of backing to be 
 31 inches tall x 50 inches wide before quilting

  I sewed pieces together of:  21 1/2 in  plus 8 inches plus 21 1/2 inches  ...  all 31 inches tall
** Note:  the above picture shows a quilted back. It was not quilted until all pieced together to be the back piece of 31 in tall x  50 in  wide


This created the backing, with enough fabric to add one inch to every side, that will become the binding.

The next step- add the batting between the front and back.  I used Pellon FF987, a fusible fleece, for the batting.  I can quilt as little or as much as I like with this fleece.  

Quilting- I put my walking foot on the machine.   I decided to quilt around the outside of each leaf shape, and in the ditch around the dark brown inner border. Then,  I wanted to add a "movement" feel to the quilt, so I decided to make some "wisps of wind" in some of  the negative space spots.

A wisp of wind

I trimmed the backing to be one inch bigger than the front, on all four sides
The backing  is pressed and double- folded over to become the binding on the front  


 
Next step, folding down the raw edge , after the corner is is folded

Machine stitching the binding with my walking foot
And now it is done!  My fall dishes look pretty with this runner.
My Tumbling Leaves  table runner    by Susie's Sunroom
Tumbling Leaves Table Runner  front side
Pieced Back of the Tumbling Leaves Table Runner
The swirls remind me of little gusts of wind that stir up the leaves








The Tumbing Leaves Table Runner... Welcome Fall !

                                                                                       
Thanks for stopping by  today .  I hope to see you tomorrow, Sept. 22nd,  over at Celine's blog... Espiritpatch.  I can't wait to see everybody's projects!


I'm off to my sewing room!
...and  the Pumpkin Patch this week!!
Linking up at: TGIFF  @ MIssyMacCreations   and
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict and
Sew Darn Crafty @ Sew Many Ways

24 comments:

  1. I love love your table runner. the leaves are beautiful and thank you for taking time to write it all up. This is going on my to do list - and soon I hope.
    Thanks for sharing.
    have a great weekend.
    xo jan@sewandsowfarm

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  2. Thanks for the great tutorial! I love the extra arrows and extra instructions written right on the photos! And really liked seeing the "back binding method" which worked out very nicely!

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  3. Stunning table runner - absolutely stunning. The wisp of wind quilting is the perfect touch.

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  5. Beautiful table runner, Susie. I love the fabrics that you chose!

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  6. Very pretty. I love the fall color fabrics! Thanks for the great tutorial with all the pics! I love the pieced back too!

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  7. So very pretty and fresh like an autumn breeze. I love the way the leaves fall in different directions, each one pretty and unique. Great job, start to finish. I love the rolled up photo!

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  8. That's a neat project. I love the colors and fabrics. The tip about the scant quarter inch is something I have to remember.

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  9. Your leaves are beautiful! I love the colors you chose, they are perfect.
    ~Brandy

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  10. Thank you for sharing your lovely fall table runner. Lovely!

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  11. I really love your table runner. The colors are just gorgeous! It looks so pretty with your dishes. Thank you for sharing.

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  12. Your runner is beautiful! Thank you for the detailed tute too.

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  13. This is a beautiful representation of Fall at its best! You did a super job, Susie!

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  14. Lovely, lovely table runner! Thanks for the tutorial!

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  15. Your Fall table runner is wonderful! Great choice of colors and fabrics and it really brings the colors of Fall indoors and preserves them forever. Well done.

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  16. I love the table runner. The colours are beautiful

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  17. Susie oh how I love those colors, we don't get "fall" down here. great job!! It looks great hanging or on the table. : )

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  18. Beautiful autumn table runner! Love it Susie!! Thank you for sharing how you made it. Fabrics are gorgeous.

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  19. Perfect autumn colours. I love the different sized leaves too. Well done. Thanks for linking up to TGIFF. :)

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  20. Trees and leaves are some of my most favorite things so I really like this one! It looks great and your steps were well done. Getting that 1/4" right is one of the hardest things for new quilters.

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  21. I lobe your table runner and your border fabric is just perfect! Thanks for sharing

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  22. Beautiful quilt! Thank you for all the pictures and the tutorial. I just found this blog hop today and I am sew happy I did ... :) Pat

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  23. This is so beautiful! I have always loved leaf patterns and especially when they are done in fall colors!

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  24. Love the quilt. I really like to see new projects or older techniques displayed in new ways to spark my interest. Thanks so much for sharing.

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