A few finishes...and a WIP

**friendly reminder -- today is the last day to enter the chicopee giveaway! Don't miss out and enter here**

I have been a busy little bee this week -- catching up on all sorts of projects. I managed to finish quilting one of 2 quilts I need to finish for do.good.stitches (a charity quilting group on flickr). I will take better photos when the weather decides to cooperate, but for now this sneak peek will have to do.

Not going to lie, I was a bit nervous about washing it -- although with some suggestions from my lovely instagram friends, I loaded it up in the washing machine with a few color catchers and voila, no bleeding! Thank goodness for online friends!

I've also been trying to piece together a back for my other do.good.stitches quilt, so I spent the afternoon yesterday playing with a few kona charm packs. I am liking how this is turning out - I have a fun idea, but we'll see if I have the time to execute it...and of course it involves a visit to the fabric shop. =)

Finally, I finished my swap item for the Sewing Summit 12 Swap that is hosted on Flickr. I had so much fun coming up with something I think my partner will enjoy...but since she hasn't got it yet I'll only show a sneak peek.

I'll link up to Lee's WIP post...and hope that you ya'all have an excellent holiday!

The only pie recipe you'll ever need

My lovely friend Tammie is hosting a series on her blog this week called sew full of thanks in honor of this time of year.  She has organized a lot of giveaways and guest posts -- you should go check it out!

As part of the event, today I am sharing with ya'all how to make the best pie ever - tollhouse pie. It is so yummy and super easy to make...click here for the recipe.

Enjoy! And do let me know if you end up making some -- I'd love to know how you like it.

PS - if you're looking for the fat quarter giveaway -- enter here

Chicopee Giveaway: A sponsored post!

Awhile back I was in search of some gorgeous chicopee fabric for my fall table runner tutorial. I came across this awesome etsy shop - LiMaSews and I fell in love.

I ordered a fat quarter bundle of chicopee and the service was excellent. Linh worked with me to get my fabric shipped as soon as possible (I was a bit of a procrastinator in my ordering) and when it arrived it was beautifully packaged.

Here are a few of my favorite things in her shop:

Chicopee by Denyse Schmidt 

Designer Cotton Solids by Riley Blake

Tone on Tone chevrons from Riley Blake

Serenade Moonlight from Poetica by Art Gallery

Linh also blogs over at Elvy Crafts where you can find up to the minute information about the goings on in her shop. You can also see some examples of her excellent quilting!

Linh has so generously offered to give away this fat quarter bundle of chicopee fabrics in push pop to one of my readers! It includes 12 different fat quarters.

Enter using the Rafflecopter below and good luck! I will leave the giveaway open until Thursday November 22 at 12:01 AM.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tutorial: Fantastic Fall Table Runner

Today I am excited to share with you a tutorial for this fantastic fall table runner. I used chicopee by Denyse Schmidt with some Essex Linnen.

Materials:

2" wide strips in various lengths of 11 different prints (I used a fat quarter stack of DS prints - there is still plenty leftover)
2 2" x 33.5" fabric pieces for border
2 2" x 20" fabric pieces for border
38" x 21" piece of fabric for backing
2" wide strips in various lengths for negative space
1 fat quarter for binding fabric
58" x 21" piece of batting
Thread
Rotary Cutter

**note: I used a yard of fabric for the backing, negative space, and borders with a little bit left over**

Instructions:

1. Choose an order for your fabrics.

2. Cut and iron all the pieces. See the diagram below for the measurements I used - or you can feel free to turn this into an improv project and sew strips of various lengths together to create a similar effect.

3. Make rows by sewing A to B, D to E and then AB to C and DE to C.

4. Repeat for each row. I found it helpful to stack the pieces of each row on top of each other and pin. I also numbered each row.

5. Sew the rows together.

6. Press and add borders. First, add the longer sides and then add the shorter sides.

7. Make a quilt sandwich by layering the backing (right side down), batting, and table runner top (right side up)

8. Pin baste.

9. Quilt as desired. I used a metallic gold thread and quilted in horizontal rows .75" apart. I really love the shine the thread gives to the finished project.

10. Bind - I bind by machine. Katie has an excellent tutorial if you need help.

11. Voila! Now you are finished and you can enjoy your new fantastic fall table runner!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial -- and if you'd like to make one just like mine, check back tomorrow --  I will be giving away a fat quarter stack of chicopee.