Slow Stitching - No. 013 - Friendship Star

The prompt for week 13 of the slow stitch challenge 2024 at K3N Cloth Tales was  Friendship with a nine patch square as the technique hence a Friendship Star.

I am not a traditional quilter so nine patch is something I have not done before. Then to make on a small scale and hand stitch it was another level of challenge.

I started with 2 inch squares but somewhere along the way I ended up with extra fabric I had to cut off the the center square was a bit too big.  Math is not my strong point.

Friends are important.

I chose to put the print on the star and the aqua on the surrounding squares. I then added the yellow and teal strips around the square to make it work better when I put these squares into a project at the end of the year.  Once the nine patch was done, I added a white cotton layer on the back and id the top stitching.  Really happy with this piece.

Gift - Table Runner Trivet

A table runner trivet is a quilted piece one can place in the center of a table or other serving area to protect the surface from hot dishes.  It replaces the use of several trivets and looks pretty.  Upon doing some on-line research I found a place that recommended layers of terry cloth as good insulation.

I wanted to make this runner reversible so I took my fabric to my sisters a while back and we checked out her collection of fabric and found several pieces that would compliment the fabrics I had chosen.  In the end, I rejected some of the ones I had selected so that both side would work together.

I had just purchased the printed sunshine yellow piece of fabric.

The solid fabric was a left over from a quilt I made a couple of years ago.  The color name I would use is Soft Suede which is a green brown color.  

The cork fabric and the circle fabric came from my sister.  I have now swapped her some from my stash.  

All the fabric is 100% cotton.  

The layers involved are

• cotton quilted layer
• terry towel fabric
• 100% cotton quilted batting piece
• terry towel fabric
• cotton quilted layer

I chose to put the quilted piece in the center of the trivet, the terry cloth goes the full width of the runner.

The front and back pretty quilted layers were stitched to the terry cloth layers.  The front and back are different designs and therefore quilted differently.  I needed to come up with a way to hold the quilted piece to the center of the runner. 

The final measurements of the piece is 14x40 inches and the center is 12 x 37.5 inches. 

The seam in the yellow is the one which goes through all the layers and holds the center batting piece in place. Each side had a yellow in this space.  The sunshine yellow piece on the cork side and a more lemony yellow on the circle side.  Allowed me to have yellow thread in the top and bobbin of the machine.

It would have been really nice to have my walking foot fo rthis project but the order is still on hold awaiting a shipment from over seas.

I decided based on my fabric to make the warm sunshine yellow side in a ladder pattern.  I cut strips of varying heights and 10 inches wide.  The Soft Suede, the cork fabric, some solid burgundy make up the pattern on this side.  

The other side features the circle fabric and this piece was larger and I did not want to cut it up into smaller pieces.  It was also getting late in the day and I wanted to get the project finished. I added some teal from my scrap stash which worked out well. 

I wanted Soft Suede to be on the edges of both side so they would make it the same color no matter which side was showing.

I stitched all the way around with the good sides together leaving an opening then turned the trivet runner inside out.  I top stitched very close to the edge where there was only the terry towel layers.  

The last seam was the one in the yellow that holds it all together.

I hope my niece likes it and it comes in handy for serving from the kitchen island or the middle of her dining room table. 

Tea with a Friend - Yellow and Blue

I had tea with another friend today.  It's been a couple of months since we talked.  We had a lovely visit and caught up on our lives.

I set the table with the navy tablecloth topped with the white lace one.  I chose my sunshine yellow Libbey Tableware plates.  These were one of the first plates I bought just because I loved them. 
I chose some simple clear glass water glasses and 365+ Cobalt Blue porcelain mugs. 

I coordinated the place settings with the matching 365+ Cobalt Blue teapot by IKEA. 

We had Bengal Spice by Celestial Seasonings which is quickly becoming a favorite for non caffeinated tea. 

I added my vase of sunflowers to the table in hopes of cheering up the space a little despite the snow outside. 

The glass fruit as still working for me so this dish may last a while.

We had apple crisp for a snack.

I am sharing with the following:

Ruth at Tuesday Cuppa Tea