TGIFF & Giveaway

Well, I did it... I finished my first large project :)  I actually finished sewing the binding on July 19 (so it's been done for a few weeks) I just haven't had time or weather to get a nice picture until this weekend.  excuse the shabby landscaping, I took the picture before I pruned the hydrenga :p

It turned out 72" long, 14" wide.  I am so pleased with how it turned out. And I love the Metro Living rings as the binding.  here are a couple close-up shots so you can see the binding and quilting better.

I decided to just do a random strip backing.  Each fabric is showcased at least once, with a few duplicates.  It's a little crooked, but it's hard to tell from a distance ::wink::

Action shots guest starring my mom's dining room table (since mine looks like a fabric store explosion at the moment!)

So to celebrate my first sizable finish.  I'm having a little giveaway.  I grabbed my scraps and made a cute herringbone hot pad complete with insulbrite batting so it's safe to use with hot things; it's 10x10" a great size for Dutch Ovens :)

I backed it with the turquoise bouquet print and it's bound in the same Metro Living rings.  The winner will get the hot pad, and a little surprise.

To enter, just leave me a comment and the RNG will choose a winner on Monday 8/12 around noon.  One entry per person please.  If you're a no-reply blogger, please leave an email address where I can contact you.  The giveaway is closed, thank you for your lovely comments :)

Linking up with TGIFF hosted @ Bedtime Quilting this week.  Thanks for celebrating my first finish with me!

WIP Wednesday: FMF tablerunner Quilting!

Welcome to the late edition of WIP Wednesday.  We had a dreary morning here in Western MD, but when I got home from work it had cleared up enough that I had some light to take some pictures.  I decided to strip piece the back of my FMF table runner in random widths from 1-4 inches.  I was able to get at least one strip of each print (and a few duplicates) on the back this way :)

After finishing sewing the back on Sunday, we watched "Call of the Wildman" (hilarious and awesome show!) and I basted this sucker together.  It's 76.5"x14"... If basting just a table runner was this much of a pain, I'm not looking forward to a full quilt!  Maybe I went overboard on the pins?

That blue stripe is painters tape so I can get my stitch lines relatively straight in the middle of the blocks where I can't just follow the seam to quilt.  Someone on the New Bloggers Blog hop mentioned using it to quilt (Sorry I can't remember who now!) and it works great :)

I'm just doing straight line stitching at random widths along the quilt.  It looks pretty, but I realized that my back isn't quite parallel with the front because the stitch lines run in a shallow diagonal along my back strips, whoops!  I was going to use red thread to quilt, but I am so glad I changed my mind and stuck with basic white... red probably isn't the color a beginner quilter wants to use to show all her quilting mistakes ::wink::

 I also love how the white looks across the darker fabrics :)

I hope to have the quilting done by tomorrow, then I need to run to Joann's and get some red thread to attach my binding.  Hopefully I'll have it finished up by the weekend!  What are you working on this week?  Linking up with WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced :)