REMEMBER THAT TABLE RUNNER?

 You know, the one I was making as a Christmas gift?

  

The one that was getting me back in into quilting? 

The one that I so enjoyed working on?

And actually wish, now, that I'd made two because 
the colors work so well in my home too!  

Choosing the fabrics.

Sewing up some of the sections.

More sections sewn together.
The star block is taking shape.

Well, it's finished!  

FINALLY 

I actually finished it a last weekend, although, I did present to it's recipient right after Christmas unfinished.  I had about 3/4 of the binding left to whipstitch down, but gave it to my friend not quite finished knowing she would understand {she's a sewer too!}.  I let her "live with it" for a few days, then I snatched it back to finish it! LOL

Pin basting.
This is my preferred method of basting in preparation for quilting.

Brass safety pins won't leave rust marks on the quilt,
and this handi-dandi tool makes it super easy to fasten the pins.
Wish I'd invited it!!! 

The pattern I used was from this book.  Yeah right!
Guess I could have gotten it done in a weekend if I didn't
sleep or do anything else! LOL

I'm so proud of this piece, more because it's the first quilted projected I've started and totally finished in years!  And my friend loves it too.  I'm so glad.  My goal this past Christmas was to give quilted gifts to a lot of people, but I guess I just misjudged the amount of time I'd need to get these types of projects done.  I'll be starting a whole lot earlier this year!

Close-up of the quilting.  I machine quilted this piece mainly using
the stipple, meandering or all-over technique
{this technique has many names!}.
My machine quilting was a little rusty - it's been so long.

Obviously, I'm going to have to start planning now and start sewing in the very near future if I want to be able to give gifts like this next year for Christmas!

Thanks for visiting! 

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