Thursday 28 March 2013

Modernista Homemade Swap - Finished!

So I finished up my items for the Modernista Homemade Swap.  This is my first round in this swap, but it is the third round it has been running, and each time the participants make something for a specific room in the home, plus a little extra bonus item.  This round is for the living room, so I made a table runner for my main item, and a zipper pouch in co-ordinating fabrics for the bonus extra.


I had a request via flickr for details on the fabrics and patterns I used, so I thought I would share them here.  Starting with the pouch, I used my favourite pouch tutorial, the open wide zipper pouch from Noodlehead, with a couple of tweaks.

Items for Modernista Homemade

First, I pieced the body of the pouch using scraps from making the table runner.  The little blue and orange squares are 1 1/2" square (2" cut), with a solid grey strip 1/4" wide (3/4" cut) on either side.  Those pieced strips ended up a little longer than the 10" recommended for the open wide zipper pouch, but left it at that length, and  added the charcoal sketch fabric to either side to build the height up to around 7".

Pouch for Modernista Homemade

I pieced the lining of the pouch out of 4" squares, and then trimmed it down to the same size as the outer pieces.  From then, I followed the instructions in the open wide zipper pouch tutorial, except that I did not box the corners.  I like boxed corners on a pouch, but leaving it flat just felt like the right thing to do for this pouch.

Items for Modernista Homemade

I didn't use a pattern for the table runner, but it's pretty simple to put together.  I cut 4" squares of the solid grey (I think it's Freespirit Designer Solid in Slate Grey) and 4" squares of an assortment of blue and orange fabrics (mostly DS Quilts, with a couple of Denyse Schmidt fabrics thrown in there).  I used those to make half square triangles, which I trimmed down to 3 1/2" square - so that the finished half square triangles in the table runner are 3" square.

Table Runner for Modernista Homemade

Creating the chevron design with the half square triangles is pretty simple, and you could definitely expand or reduce this design to fit whatever you're making, from a table runner, to a pillow, to a quilt.

Table Runner for Modernista Homemade

I backed the table runner with a Denyse Schmidt fabric from the re-printed Flea Market Fancy collection.  And yes, that dense dense quilting (sometimes called matchstick quilting) did take ages (each 6" section took about an hour to quilt).  I did learn a couple of tricks while doing it, so will post a tutorial with my thoughts in the next couple of weeks.

So I hope that's helpful - feel free to ask questions in the comments if you have any!

Linking up with Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF.

15 comments:

Christine said...

The runner looks amazing. I am looking forward to your tutorial. I'd like to try it.

Susan said...

I LOVE that runner! And you're giving this away!!??

Chris Dodsley @made by ChrissieD said...

It really is lovely and thanks for sharing how you made it, I'm not surprised people had been asking you about it! :)

Cherilyn said...

Your table runner is fantastic! Love the pieced lining of the zipper pouch too!

Annabella said...

I love the sound of this swap - what a great idea. Your swap items are gorgeous!

Martha said...

Your table runner is gorgeous and the dense quilting is amazing. Looking forward for your tutorial.

Sarskhia said...

Looking forward to a tutorial on the matchstick quilting - I've been admiring Jacquie Gering's use of it on some of her recent pieces but not been game to try it myself. I particularly like how the tight quilting in the base colour thread really pulls the orange and blue blocks in yet doesn't overwhelm them. Beautiful piece.

Kirsten said...

Absolutely love the cute pouch and the runner you have made - the matchstick quilting is just amazing!

Erica said...

It is so cute, I love orange and gray together. And that matchstick quilting was totally worth it!

M-R Charbonneau said...

Love your colour palette and that design! I've been toying with the idea of doing some matchstick quilting so I'm looking forward to your tutorial. Thanks for linking up with TGIFF!

Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts said...

It's a beautiful runner! I love the colours you've used.

MsMidge said...

LOVE the colours you have used!!!

Camilla said...

Thanks for sharing your match sticking learning! Look forward to it...considering how long it's taking me to quilt with 1/2" spaces I feel like I could use some encouragement.

Anonymous said...

I love the colors and design of the table runner. Great job!!

Franziska said...

I love the colours, I love the pattern. And I so enjoy the pieced interior of the pouch. I love the table runner. Makes me want to start something similar soon. Which is ridiculous when seeing all the wips here and the little time I have.