I really like the opportunity to use my hobby to help fill needs that the world of "ready made" seems to ignore. So when my sister asked for table linens that would match her decor I was "all in". Here's the final result:
The request was for placemats and/or a table runner to coordinate with this carpet:
This project gave me the chance to play with my machine embroidery, decorative stitches and even two new rulers! I also used a new to me technique to attach the binding.
Binding is my least favorite part of the whole quilting experience. I've resigned myself to the fact that I like the look of hand sewing the binding the best even though it seems to take a lifetime to accomplish. But there are some times when hand sewing isn't the most practical technique to use. Items that will get frequent washing like quilts for children or table linens seem to be more secure with a machine sewn binding. I used a technique that I found on Jo's Country Junction blog which took me to a tutorial at Sew, Cluck, Sew. Here's the link to the tutorial. The binding is sewn onto the front and then sewn from the back just past the first line of sewing (I know I'm making this sound complicated but there are great pictures on the tutorial). The result is a binding that looks handsewn on the front with a line of topstitching around the item just inside the binding.
And on the topic of binding....I wanted to round the edges of the table runner but cutting the binding on the bias meant another trip to the fabric store for more brown. I decided to try my straight grain binding since all I had to lose was a bit of time. I was amazed at how well it fit around the curves.
Binding is my least favorite part of the whole quilting experience. I've resigned myself to the fact that I like the look of hand sewing the binding the best even though it seems to take a lifetime to accomplish. But there are some times when hand sewing isn't the most practical technique to use. Items that will get frequent washing like quilts for children or table linens seem to be more secure with a machine sewn binding. I used a technique that I found on Jo's Country Junction blog which took me to a tutorial at Sew, Cluck, Sew. Here's the link to the tutorial. The binding is sewn onto the front and then sewn from the back just past the first line of sewing (I know I'm making this sound complicated but there are great pictures on the tutorial). The result is a binding that looks handsewn on the front with a line of topstitching around the item just inside the binding.
And on the topic of binding....I wanted to round the edges of the table runner but cutting the binding on the bias meant another trip to the fabric store for more brown. I decided to try my straight grain binding since all I had to lose was a bit of time. I was amazed at how well it fit around the curves.
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