Sunshine and Wet Leaves

Soooo hey--whoever sent the sunshine this weekend? Thank you! I don't know how you worked that one out, but I send you my kudos and my gratitude. It came just in time for me to photograph for you the runner I just made for my mother's windowsill. I usually go rectangular, but this time my sister and mom suggested that I try to extend the edges to protect more of the wood. I used a charm pack I had that I don't recall exactly why I bought it--it came with 40 squares instead of the usual 42. I made do, but 42 would have been perfect.

The charm pack was a set called 'Dancing in the Rain Batiks' by Moda. That name strikes me as ironic since the sun is shining on the finished product, teehee. Not my usual colors as they're very earthy and look like wet leaves (in a good way--not in a sodden, mushy way). But once I laid them out they looked warm, and very pretty--perfect for the kitchen. I took the pictures with it in the window so the shaping wouldn't look so odd, so the lighting varies from one side to the other.

 So here's almost the whole thing--I had nothing stashed to add to this and my goal was to not buy anything. It covers most of the sill and I didn't mess up the math part, so that was good enough for me. The fabrics are the same on both sides, but look very different on the right from that glorious sunshine coming through!

 See? Not my normal colors at all, but it looks like it belongs.

I've never used batik anything before, but I might start now that I have. There's something about how the colors all run together that I didn't appreciate until I used them.

I quilted by sewing straight on both sides of each seam, and then did a little diagonal action. I've never combined the two before, but I like how it turned out.

I had some plain muslin I used for the back. I ironed this so earnestly but it refused to press flat--I'm only showing you this so you can see how neat the quilting looks on the back. The binding fought me like you wouldn't believe, so no close-ups of that action.

I stitched just next to the binding instead of on top of it - it's kind of a fake hand-stitched look. I was cursing this binding by the time I was finished. I don't think I was in a sewing mood for this part. Note to self: know when to take a break.

All set up.

So that's my make for this week. I've got one more to make, but that will be an easy whole-cloth piece to protect the wood on top of a cabinet my dad made. It'll be nice practice for my new sewing machine. What what? Yeah, I splurged and completely indulged myself. I'll introduce her soon.

Happy Monday!