Zakka Style Shamrock Table Runner {a finished project}

Maybe it’s the warmer (finally!) weather or my love of the color green, but after making those Shamrock Pillows with the kids, I needed to sew something else green.  So, I fooled around with more applique, linen, and some hand stitching, and a Zakka Style Table Runner was born.

I used green fabric from my stash, including Jennifer Paganelli, Connecting Threads, True Colors, and a mystery green of unknown origin.

Does it look better with purple?

Or green? 

I like the simple look of the straight line stitching in natural colored thread on the applique and the gray perle thread outline on the linen.  What do you think the frog in the photo above is thinking?

I stitched only through the batting, with no backing, so the back is simply a piece of linen with edgestitching.  I went back and forth about using quilting weight cotton for the back and putting on binding, but I think the plain linen without binding is the perfect compliment to the front.

I used a 1/4” walking foot to do the edgestitching and it turned out very nice and even.  The finished size is 9.5” x 28.5”.

Originally these shamrock squares were going to be a pillow.  So I had a few squares left over.  I already gave away the finished runner, so this new one will be for our table.

These shamrocks better bring us some luck for spring weather.  Snow is in the forecast again!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday and Fort Worth Fabric Studio.

Spring Pillows and New Shoes

Over the weekend we finished up another Shamrock Pillow. 

One of the pillows is for us, and the other we gave to my great aunt this morning along with the yellow flower and caramels as an early St. Patrick’s Day gift.  My great aunt happens to be very Irish and proud of it, so she loved the pillow!

If you want to make your own, you can get the template from the Fort Worth Fabric Blog and resize the larger shamrock to 200%.  We appliqued it to a 12.5” block and added 2.25” borders around, so the cover fit a 16” pillow form perfectly.  The envelope back was made with two 16” x 20” panels hemmed on one edge by folding the fabric back about .5” twice.

Esther picked this nice springy fabric for the back.  It’s the perfect compliment to the linen on the front.  Now I just wish the weather would feel like spring already!

I was so enamored of these pillows that I had to start another project with them.  Here’s a little sneak peek. 

Miraculously I got all the hand stitching done in the waiting room at gymnastics this morning so as soon as the rain stops and the sun comes out I hope to get some photos of it finished.

Over the weekend we planted some lettuces and strawberries in repurposed containers and put them on this cool A-Frame plant stand I bought on clearance at an online shop called Gardener’s Supply Company. 

I was actually on there ordering the most awesome wellies for myself for the spring.  I’ve never owned a pair of rubber boots, but my kids always wear them in the spring and summer, so I thought I’d treat myself to a pair.  The nice thing is I won’t outgrow these and need a new pair every year!

No, I don’t have backyard chickens, but I wish I did!  I got my mom a pair for Mother’s Day because she does have chickens.  Don’t worry, she doesn’t read my blog, so no spoiler alert.

And while I’m on the topic of shoes, I also got a pair of custom painted Tom’s for the summer from Anna See.  She has an online store and I happened to see these shoes while I was buying some bird prints for our bedroom when we were redecorating.  I never buy shoes full price or probably more than $15 a pair, but these were too amazing to pass up.

She custom painted peacock feathers on them.  It took a few weeks for her to make them, but it was well worth the wait!  I’ve been rocking them all over town the past few days and I have to say, Toms are some comfortable shoes. 

Hope you are having a good start to the week!

Cupcake Party!

We’re having a cupcake party for Valentines.  I made this tablerunner over the weekend for the special occasion.

It measures 54” x 14”.

I found these cute red glitter buttons at Joanns on Friday (along with a few choice cuts of Aunt Edna…).

Then I did a practice run of baking the cupcakes for the party.

Lookin’ good!   The backing fabric features even more sweet treats.

Most of the fabrics used are Heidi Grace from Joanns.  I loved making this and the kids love it even more!

Newest Blocks…

I haven’t been able to sew much lately because I had a breast infection (from breastfeeding) that was a real bear.  It is my third one in the 5+ years I’ve been breastfeeding, and definitely the worst of them.  In times like this, I am so thankful for the miracle of antibiotics.  And eye doctors.  When I got my first pair of glasses, I walked out of the office and saw the leaves on the trees in the parking lot.  I had forgotten that trees even had leaves and weren’t just some fuzzy blob on a trunk.  If I had lived in prehistoric times, I would have already been eaten by a saber-toothed tiger that I couldn’t see hiding in the bush. 

So, the good news is that I am on the mend and got some sewing done today.  Sunni, from Love Affair With My Brother, is running the Stash Bee (one of the 2 bees I am participating in this year) and is making a quilt called the Tree of Life.  I got busy this morning.  The first I made was just a log cabin tree with a fussy cut bird in the middle.

Most of the fabrics are Riley Blake Summer Song and Rainy Days & Mondays, but the cute flower/bee print is one called “Girl Friday.”  I love it of course for the bees.

The second tree I used some of the leaves I have made for my Little Leaves quilt (a pattern from Elizabeth Hartman’s Practical Guide to Patchwork).  The fabric is mostly Domestic Bliss with a few others thrown in for a good mix.

I did a zig zag stitch around all the applique, and I am digging this block, too.  I freehanded the trunk onto the Heat n Bond in the spirit of this tree I saw on Needle Little Balance. 

Hope Sunni likes both of these!