Two small Friday finishes

Well, it's something, I suppose! Despite all my best intentions expressed in the last post, still too much to do on the home front and sewing has had to be set aside for a few more weeks. Now finally I have a little more time and I have decided to take a short break from the 365 Challenge to clear one or two of my WIPs.

Maybe it is having to empty my mum-in-law's flat to prepare it for sale that is making me twitchy about the amount of fabric and unfinished projects tucked away in odd corners, but this week I went through some of my boxes and dug out some half finished items. Needless to say they only took a short time to complete - so why hadn't I tackled them before? Probably the siren call of new fabric and patterns....

Anyway, here is a blast from the past, and two tiny finishes for Finish it up Friday - it's been a long time since I have been able to type those words....

First is a small table runner made from coral coloured fabrics in a sort of Bargello layout. It measures 15" x 25" and the rectangles are 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" finished. Most of the fabrics are from a range by French General for Moda quite some time ago.

The story behind this small patchwork piece is that about 6 years ago I was asked by a friend to make her a quilt for her bedroom, to co-ordinate with a rug and an upholstered chair in a soft coral pink. I don't usually take on 'commissions' as I always seem to be short on time and it is not always easy to judge whether what you are making is quite what your friend had in mind.  

However, for various reasons, I agreed, on the basis that my friend would buy the fabric, and pay to have the quilt long arm quilted. I knew her bed was a large double and she wanted the quilt to drape to the floor so there was no way I felt up to quilting what would turn out to be a king size quilt.

I was also anxious that we might not be able to find fabric to match the colour scheme of the bedroom and explained that we quilters are at the mercy of the fabric manufacturers and that the quilting industry is as much at the mercy of fashion when it comes to current colours as the clothing industry.

Anyway as it turned out there was this range in precisely the colours required, my friend chose Trip around the World which was nice and straightforward for piecing, and the top went together like a dream. Apart from her shock at having to buy 9 metres of backing fabric (I said it turned out kingsize, didn't I?) it was generally a happy experience for us both, and my friend Susie Green made a fantastic job of the quilting.

Apologies for the slight colour cast on these photos of the finished quilt - back in 2010 the camera decided to use flash and I guess I let it. The true colours are as for the table runner below.

I had very little fabric left over but just enough to make two pillow shams, and then I thought that was that. Until I opened a box which had not been unpacked for some time, and found just enough fabric scraps to make, back and bind the table runner. I shall be delivering this rather belated surprise next week!

My second finish goes back even further, to a time when I was asked to contribute to a series of basic quiltmaking books. I had made a baby quilt in soft blue and pink Shoo Fly and Nine patch blocks, and found amongst my fabrics that I still had six blocks  which I had at some time in the past sashed into a very small top.

So this week I layered and quilted (hardly a very onerous task!) and bound with a bias strip, so as to have the plaid on the cross - horribly stretchy but just about OK and worth doing for the look of it.

This is a tiny quilt, measuring just 13 1/2" x 19 1/2" (the blocks finish at 4 1/2" square), so I think it is destined for a local premature baby unit. Still, it is nice to have finished it, rather than it being yet another UFO.

So I can, with a clear conscience, link to Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday, though I admire Amanda Jean's finished WIP far more than my feeble efforts. Must do better next week!

Hope you all have a happy and productive weekend!