Catching up... part two!

Three smaller projects that I finished up! (They all count, no matter how small!)

I started these patriotic projects back in May or June, 2014... but life got in the way and I ended up putting them aside until late in the year. That's okay... now they are ready for when July rolls around again. :) These are the last "holiday" wall hangings and table runners I needed to have one for each major holiday, so YAY!

I used fabric in my stash for the backing on the table runner.

Most of the fabric came from a charm pack, but I added a few extras from my scraps to fill in the blanks

The wall hanging just has a backing of white and they both have a quick and simple label. I did the machine quilting at home, and the bindings were also done by machine.

And... I saw this cute nail polish wall hanging in a Fat Quarter Shop e-mail. (fatquartershop.com) It immediately made me think of my dear friend who cuts my hair and does manicures and pedicures in her home salon. I ordered the kit last summer, and in January, I sewed it up.

The only thing I changed about the kit was the binding. It came with a solid white. I thought this black and white added a little more oomph.

I was amazed by how much fabric came in the kit... way more than I needed! Thank you, Fat Quarter Shop!

The top pile is what was needed for the project. The bottom pile was the leftover that went in my scraps. I don't think the leftover white is in the picture, so there was even more than you see.

It really came together quickly and easily, thanks to the great pattern instructions.

The pattern instructions were easy to follow. It also came with two spools of thread... one to match the green and one clear for the machine quilting. All in all, I was thrilled with this kit. I copied the original quilting design and did a diagonal grid with my walking foot, which was so easy and pretty fast.

I drew the quilting lines on with a chalk pencil, which made quilting it go fast.

I hand-stitched the binding in the back this time since it was a gift, but still went with a fast, handwritten label.

My sweet friend hung it in her salon with a gorgeous wrought-iron nail polish rack next to it. It looks really nice! SO happy it was well-received. :) I had wondered if she would think it was an odd gift...

And finally... a fail.

I had some fabric left over from the Fall projects I blogged about a few months ago... the runner I put on my piano and the wall hanging. I figured I could throw together a quick improv table topper or hot pad for Thanksgiving dishes. So I started throwing it together and... it just didn't work. I got about halfway done and it really wasn't coming together into anything I'd want to keep (or give away, for that matter).

Yeah, it really just didn't work. I think I improv'd too much, even for an improv project. So I committed what would some quilters would consider the ultimate sin... I tossed it. I did check in with one quilter friend and she let me know it was okay (and maybe even good) to know when to let something go. This was one of those things for me.

It helped that I had other projects in the works which were more exciting. More on those later. :)