Christmas Table Runner

Christmas is coming - only six more lessons to teach!

I've entered my table runner in the Quilting Gallery contest.

I made this mariner's compass using paper foundation piecing. I had used paper piecing before where you sew through the paper. I decided to try the method where you fold the paper back and stitch right next to the fold. The advantage of this method is that you can reuse the paper. The drawback is that you lose accuracy, especially on these really skinny points.  Still, I got there in the end and I was pleased with the result. 

Designing the mariner's compass was an interesting exercise. I thought I could do it mathematically but it didn't look right. Putting a perfectly proportioned compass inside a square looked wrong but fudging it a bit looked better. In the end, you just have to draw it!

After putting so much work into the middle, the other rows were very straightforward. I bought die-cut trees backed with fusible web. I just ironed them on and added some metallic thread for tinsel. My quilting is not great! I made this a few years ago before I bought my Supreme Slider. It makes a huge difference to your ability to make nice smooth quilting lines.

I also bought some die-cut stars and a couple of Christmas fat quarters from a bargain bin. I used the stripe fabric as my colour palette and found everything else in my stash. I love the challenge of using what you've got. Some of my best designs come out of trying to make do. You should have seen some of the clothes I made for my kids, hey Melanie!

Here's a collage of all the parts of this huge table runner.