Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Repeat performance, new pattern

Back in June 2011 I worked on a set of placemats and a matching runner.  I gave it away and never posted a photo of the finished set.  Recently I came across a photo of the set in use after I gifted it and I decided I needed one for myself.  I used the photo to write myself a pattern to make it again

Here’s the original:

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Geese Across the Table set 1

Here is the new set, Geese Around the Table. 
I thought I remembered piecing units in a certain order the first time around and wrote my instructions to myself that way. When I actually got to sewing I realized that there would be an awful lot of pesky bulky seams where I couldn’t make seams nest.  I don’t remember that from before.  After a bit more thought I ripped some seams and came at it a different way and eliminated most of the bulk so things lie flat.  I think that’s a good thing in a placemat!  You just don’t want a bulky bit to make your glass full of your beverage of choice a bit tippy.

I have no idea how I quilted this the first time around, but in this incarnation it’s all quilted in the ditch.  I did machine sew the binding on, which I hade never done before. The thought of hand stitching almost 500 inches of binding just left me cold.  I don’t mind hand stitching a few hundred inches of binding on a cozy quilt, but it somehow it seemed like a lot of trouble for a set of placemats.  I sewed the binding to the front as usual, then folded it around to the back far enough that it would be caught by the needle when I stitched in the ditch along the binding on the front.

Having in effect tested this pattern and fine tuned it I decided to list it for sale (click on the Pattern Shop" tab under my blog banner to go to my shop). Pattern downloads of my 3 free patterns on Craftsy have been brisk, and some quilters out there have also bought my Wandering Geese pattern.  I’m encouraged to keep honing my pattern writing skills!

8 comments:

  1. Very pretty! I like it alot!

    Liri

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  2. Oh yes, you definitely should keep writing patterns. Both versions look fabulous!

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  3. What a great table top set! I just love your header with all the colorful quilts and the star quilt a few posts back is awesome. You are a very talented artist.

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  4. Now I need to make myself something pretty to put on my table...see what you started?;) Took a look at your Craftsy site...looks great! I wish you the best on your endevoures;)
    Happy Quilting!!

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  5. Did we know you had a Craftsy shop? If you mentioned it before, I forgot about it. Craftsy is a great site! I do love your table set. So striking! The black fabrics are really nice and the green highlight is perfect. I seem to have trouble finding black fabric that I like.

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  6. I definitely like the green and black and white better, but where would that go in my house? (Time to redecorate?!) Good luck with the Craftsy shop!

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  7. Hi, I bought your Geese Across the Table pattern in the Craftsy shop. This is my first try at quilting, but the instructions are written so well that I had no problems with finishing my top. Now that I'm at the point of layering, I wonder if I should add batting between the top and the back? It's not mentioned in the pattern, but that's maybe because it's an obvious thing to do for seasoned quilters?

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    Replies
    1. Welcome to the quilting world! I'm so pleased you liked the pattern and that your first top went together well.

      Yes, I do recommend batting betweeen the top and back. I'll be sure to specify that next time. I like to use a low-loft batting or fleece (fusible fleece works well) in placemats and table runners to keep the surface flat for setting things on.

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