Summertime Ecstasy!

So here it is!This is my new table runner for my piano. I needed something bright and fun for summer. I made it from a line of fabric called Riviera printed by Connecting Threads. It was printed in 2008...yep that is how long I have been looking for the perfect project to use it for. I had a 40% of coupon at the time and decided to buy something fun. I bought a fat quarter sampler of the line of fabric and it was perfect. I only used parts of half the fat quarters for this table runner and still have some left over for something else fun...MY Whimsical Quilt. Yippy!~

I came across a table runner on Sandy Gervais blog about a month ago and knew that it was perfect for this fabric. I am so glad that the picture on her blog was named the name of the pattern..sassy blooms. Here is a picture of the version I found on her blog.

While looking for a picture of the original pattern and sassy blooms I found the following link!!! It is the pattern for free digitally. Click here. The link take you too the pattern of this table runner using Sandy Gervais fabric. (Which by the way she is probably my most favorite fabric designer. I still have yet to find one of her lines of fabric that I don't like.)

The pattern is found in Easy Quilts from Fons and Porter Summer 2008 issue. I am a member of QCA (Quilters Club of America) and I get all the back issue back to..Summer 2008...digitally. I can't believe that the digital copies go back to the exact issue that I needed. It was awesome. Here is a picture of the original sassy blooms pattern I found. This is the pattern I used to make my table runner.I changed the pattern slightly and added flowers from my quilt pattern by Crazy Old Ladies called In Bloom. I liked the flowers better this way first of all and second of all I thought it would be nice to have something that kind of matched a little in my summer decor. At first when I cut out the light pink flowers I thought that they didn't really match. They are the same print as the red I used around the edges yes, but it is so different from all the bright colors of the table runner. Well, I am glad that I did. I think that they help it calm down just a little. I added mismatching buttons to the centers of the flowers and I love that I did that. The binding is also pieced with two different fabrics since when I bought the line of fabric I just bought a fat quarter sampler and therefore didn't have tons of every piece of fabric.

I also added one more section so I have four flowers instead of the original three so that it found fit my piano width. It turned out to be finished size: 14 1/2" by 58". I finally figured out how to lower my dog feed on my machine and so this is the first time that I have used my darning foot with everything in place. I decided to quilt it I would do more than a stitch in the ditch. I was trying to do a stipling pattern and failed entirely and end up with loops throughout and such. Oh well. I did learn that I needed to be confident in pushing the fabric along to where I wanted it so that it would create straighter lines and such. I am glad that I decided to try quilting out of the norm. The more practice I get at quilting my own things the better I will get at it.

Well, here are some more pictures.

Here is a little of the back so you can see the backing.

Here it is in its final resting spot. Haha, my plant is sooo droppy in the background and the vase with flowers needs new flowers. I have been cutting flowers at my grandparents home and bringing home grown flowers home every week. I love them so much.

Hope that you enjoyed.