Friday, August 26, 2022

Oranges and Lemons on Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 396 of Free Motion Mavericks. Sorry for the delay. I guess I'm more ready for the weekend than I thought! 😁

Playing with Oranges and Lemons!


This month on the Table Scraps Challenge, the colour is orange and the theme is Embroidery.

Oranges and Lemons runner 🍊🍋

I started, as I usually do, with a look at my scrap containers. I found these in the scrap bag for English Paper Piecing (EPP) hexies. There are still lots, so it shouldn't affect my hexies supply much 😀

I was trying out my mother's Kenmore sewing machine to make sure that it was ready to give to my son - it made four patches just fine! I attached those to the larger squares and Voilà! It was then time to add an inside border and then the oranges and lemons outside border.

Orange scraps with oranges and lemons border
ready to FMQ

I stitched-in-the-ditch around the borders. I didn't bother with the inside blocks. I then FMQ the oranges and lemons outside border. My FMQ got more elaborate as I went along 😊

FMQ the runner

Finally it was time to FQM the centre blocks. I had just watched Lea Day's video on the Quilting Daily newsletter. She has a series called "Quilted & Bound: Quilting Ideas to Finish Your Quilt Tops Fast and Easy!"  For a scrappy quilt, Leah used the undulation design in all-over style. She had some good tips to share, so if you're interested, you may want to check out her Episode 1 video (see Related links below).

The centre blocks are FMQ using the undulation design in all-over style

I had some lovely light orange yardage that I used for the binding. I believe that the backing fabric comes from an old cotton tablecloth that I mother had. I love the Mediterranean vibes.

Hand-stitching the binding

Since the theme for August is embroidery, I just added a running stitch line of Perle cotton through the border.
Running stitch line of Perle cotton through the border

I shot the finished photos at my son's place last night after finishing the border. They had lovely sunflowers. 

Finished Oranges and Lemons runner with sunflowers
 

What I learned

  • I had several small squares of orange fabric scraps that I was able to use for the 4 patch.
  • I was worried that the centre blocks would be too much but since they're surrounded by the outside border, it frames them well and the overall effect isn't "too much"!
  • I was going to embroider the border with more than the running stitch, but since I ended up making it quite narrow, I decided for just a thin line of running stitch. I didn't stitch through all of the layers since I would have needed a thimble and didn't have one with me. 
  • I loved FMQ those lemon, orange, lemon and lime slices!😊

Related links

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to the August 2022 Table Scraps Challenge as well as other fun linking parties. Why not check some of these out, after you've linked up below! Midweek MakersNeedle & Thread Thursday, Put your foot down - this week with True Blue QuiltsOff The Wall Friday TGIFF, Finished or Not Finished FridayPeacock Party, DrEAMi!, Design Wall Monday

Project details

Oranges and Lemons table runner
Size: 
Materials: commercial fabric scraps, perle cotton
Techniques: 4 patch blocks, FMQ, embroidery



Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome! Last time Nancy of Grace and Peace Quilting shared with us her "Bring the Love" mini quilts. If you didn't get a chance to look at these, you may want to check them out now after you link up!

"Bring the Love" mini quilts by Nancy of Grace and Peace Quilting

It's now your turn to link up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

21 comments:

  1. A pretty and fresh looking tablerunner.

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  2. This turned out great, definitely a Mediterranean vibe, and looks so good with the sunflowers on his table!

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    1. Thanks Sandra, those sunflowers really make the orange and yellow pop! It was good to take pictures somewhere other than my very cluttered studio :-)

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  3. Your runner looks great! It’s perfect for this fresh fruit time of year.

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    1. Thanks Annie. I was so happy when I found that citrus fabric in my stash :-)

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  4. Sunny citrus runner, Andree... LOVE it!! Thanks for sharing with the TABLE SCRAPS Challenge!

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    1. Thanks Joyful...and thanks so much for hosting. I'm really having a lot of fun with this easy, fast, scrappy projects!

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  5. you know I like a running stitch with thick thread. I need to do something zen where I just do a running quilting stitch
    LeeAnna love the sunflowers too

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    1. Thanks LeeAnna - I'm glad that I thought of the running stitch since those borders were so narrow. I do hope to use this technique more often.

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  6. What a cute runner!!! Thanks for the shoutout!

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  7. I am intrigued by the big stitching I've seen in bindings. Great job with Oranges and Lemons - wavy lines work for quilting almost any pattern. Have a great week, and thanks for joining the Put Your Foot Down Linky Party :-)

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    1. Thanks Andi. I'm going to have to remember the wavy lines FMQ and the big stitches in future projects. It's great to find something simple that can add something to a project.

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  8. I love the tablerunner and the picture with the sunflower is great. Thanks for linking up to the TGIFF party!

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    1. Thanks Kathleen! I've tried a couple of times to leave a comment but it didn't work. Thanks for linking up to Free Motion Mavericks! Take care of yourself :-)

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  9. Oh how fun - the oranges and lemons palette is SO pretty and summery!

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    1. Thanks so much Alycia. It was a lot of fun to make.

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  10. Beautiful results. The runner looks so good with the sunflowers. Great job!

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    1. Thanks Judy. I'm glad that I was able to take pictures of the finished runner somewhere other than my poor cluttered studio. The sunflowers really make the colours pop!

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  11. Ooo, I love the fabric combo. So cheery and fresh. Denise

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Hi! I would love to hear from you and I will try to answer you. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a message. :-)