Making a table runner from left over layer cake pieces

52 Week UFO Challenge - Project #25 - "It's Been A Slice" leftovers

The layer cake that I had used for my "It's Been a Slice" quilt pattern had 42 - 10" squares BUT my pattern only uses 40. As a result I had the equivalent of two 10" squares (and some pieces of sashing and outer border) left over. Since they all coordinated I didn't want to throw them out.

Left over pieces from my "It's Been a Slice" quilt

I decided to sew the triangles together along the LONG sides and then used my Quilt In A Day Square up Ruler  to make half  square triangle blocks. I'm not big on specialized rulers but I LOVE using this one to make half-square triangle blocks. You can use odd sized pieces of fabric, sew them together with a straight line and then use this ruler to cut them into an accurate block. 

The ruler in action

My half square triangle blocks

I sewed the little blocks together to make two larger blocks, then added sashing and a 3" outside border. This ended up being the perfect size for a table runner.

I used a meander stitch to machine quilt the blocks, a back and forth design on the inner border and then a swirl design for the outside border. A little navy blue binding finished it right off!!

This little table runner turned out so cute and was really easy to make! Now maybe you too can try making a table runner from left over layer cake pieces or ANY little leftover pieces of fabric that you have from another project. Get one of the Quilt In A Day Square up Rulers and you'll be making half square triangle blocks from ALL of your leftovers!!  

The finished table runner

It's Been a Slice - Layer Cake Quilt

On Thursday I finished teaching my "Sliced Layer Cake" class at Taylor Sewing Centre and I just LOVED how all of my students' projects were coming along. It's so fun to see how my pattern can be made in five other colour schemes!!

Here are some pictures of my students' works in progress:

Assorted sewing themed fabrics cut into 10" squares

Lovely greys and taupes = a present for a grandson

A beautiful batik quilt

Reproduction fabrics

This one is going to be a queen sized quilt when finished

Donna has asked if she could take my sample with her to the Ottawa Quilt Show next weekend, so I have published my directions for the quilt into a pattern - "It's Been a Slice".

I've also just added this pattern to my Craftsy site, so you can check it out there!! ePatterns are so great because you get them immediately AND don't have to pay shipping.

I can't wait to see the finished projects from my students. I hope they send me pictures of their finished "It's Been a Slice" quilts. Seeing the ones they were working on makes me want to start another layer cake quilt!!!

Fabric goodies from Lancaster PA

I have the BEST business partner in the world!! Nellie went on the guild bus trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania this week and look at all the yummy fabric goodies that she brought back for me!!
She is one AWESOME personal shopper - I can't wait to plan my next project using one of them.

All the loot!

Bee Creative jelly roll

Layer cake and charm packs

52 Week UFO Challenge Project #7 - Sliced Layer Cake Quilt

Do you ever wonder what to do with all your layer cakes?

I bought this "Snowman Gatherings" layer cake and co-ordinating fabrics by Primitive Gatherings in October because I just LOVED the fabrics. I don't usually buy layer cakes because I never know what to do with them, so I really wanted to make sure that I used this one and didn't just let it collect dust in my sewing room.

Snowman Gatherings II Layer Cake

When I was packing for our quilt retreat in November I decided that I wanted to bring along this layer cake to work on, so I did some research online and found some layer cake designs that I liked. I decided to just slice the whole layer cake into quarters diagonally. I mixed up the quarters and sewed four together to make blocks. I wanted the blocks set on point, so I used two triangles sewn together to make the side setting triangles and one single triangle for the corner setting triangles. I added navy sashing strips and a light blue fabric that I've had in my stash for years are the cornerstone blocks in the sashing.

It went together really nicely and pretty quick too, but it needed to be quilted and I figured that it would be nice to get it done while it was still winter! First step was to get in on the Gammill:

I decided to quilt large snowflakes and swirls on the outer border:

Snowflake and swirl quilting design

 I need practice quilting with my rulers, and I'm always afraid to do too much ruler work on a customer quilt, just in case things do work out the way I want. So, when I'm quilting one of my own quilts, I try to do some ruler work if it is appropriate for the design. I decided to use my straight ruler to stitch in the ditch through all of the blocks:

Stitch in the ditch

And my large curved ruler to do an arc on the outside edge of each block:

A loop design down each of the sashing strips and through the inner border finished it off nicely.

After a trip to Taylor Sewing Centre (to buy more binding fabric - I was 5" short so I got the metre that was left on the bolt LOL) I was able to sew on the binding.

Stitching on the binding

 After an evening hand stitching while watching Downton Abbey, Project #7 is finished!! This quilt was so fast and easy to make - I'm going to teach it a Taylor's Sewing Centre in April. Check out the class schedule and their fabric selection - after all, the do have a REALLY nice assortment of layer cakes for sale!!