My LQS, Stitching on State, in Hampshire, IL, had a series of first Saturday projects. They all used the Strip & Twist method using a template from Sewing with Nancy. The September project was a square I will be making into a pillow for a nephew for Christmas. The October project was an autumnal table topper. This diary will focus on the table topper and discuss some hits and misses on this project.
Follow me below the squiggle for the process.
First the basics on Strip & Twist. The technique uses 3 different 2.5" strips sewn together. The order they are sewn makes a lot of difference in the end product. Generally you have a light, medium and a dark fabric. After you have sewn the strips together, you press the seams open as opposed to pressing them to the dark side. Then you lay the template tool on top, aligning the lines on the template with the seams in your fabric and cut the pieces out in groups of eight. After you have the pieces cut out, you place them together in groups of two with two being horizontal and two vertical The pic below from the template front shows the process.
I didn't take all the pictures I should have as I went through this project, but you'll get the idea. Following the class instructions, I sewed together two different strip sets, and then sprayed the long strips with starch and ironed the seams open. The last of the strip sets are shown below.
Once I had the two strip sets cut, I tried out different arrangements of the strips to get the look I wanted. This is what I chose. The finished block is 12" X 12".
For the table runner we were doing two identical squares -- one at each end -- with fabric in-between. I sewed the rectangles together, again pressing the seams open.
Now I had to decide on a middle fabric. I had purchased the cream, green and brown leaf pattern fabric shown next to unsewn block above two pics. I decided I didn't really like it.
I went to Jo-Ann fabrics where they were having a nice sale on autumn fabrics and bought the fabric I ended up using, with acorns and leaves. I cut it out as per instructions, 12" X 16". Next was the inner border. The instructions called for 1" strips which would come down to 1/2" after seaming. I thought that was too narrow and did 1.5" strips to get a 1" inner border. I used dark green fabric with touches of red. Then I did the outer border in gold (I auditioned a couple of other fabrics but decided a tonal gold was best.)
Put all together I got this:
Now comes binding. Usually with small projects I don't like binding. The thick edges I feel overwhelm the project. I had never done a table runner before. The end size is 15" X 43". To bind or not to bind. That was the question. I decided not to. The picture above shows it with top stitching. I will likely add a decorative stitch closer to the edge. I made my decision based on looking at a couple of the finished table runners by my classmates. Again I thought the binding looked too bulky for the project.
Even though I have it on the table behind the couch already, it isn't done. I want to quilt the center with a pumpkin outline and do the decorative stitching -- likely chained small leaves at the very edge of the table topper. I'm not completely pleased with the outcome of this project. The 1/2 sq triangles in the corner didn't really turn out too well. I am pleased though with the ultimate fabric choices.
Below is the first Strip & Twist project done in September. It will end up as a pillow for a nephew for Christmas. You can see how different the blocks can be using this template. It was an interesting experience.
What are you quilting?