I Made A Christmas Topper, Too

It's always nice to have good variety on the Holly Bazaar's craft table so during October and November I was busy trying to ensure that happened.

This little topper pattern I found on Pinterest, but I could find neither the maker nor the pattern name, so I made up my own pattern from the image. Interestingly, similar to the nine patch that I showed a few posts ago, it also had a fair bit of black in it, which is unusual for me to use in Christmas pieces.

It was helpful to lay everything out and then systematically work through the pieces and sections, 

starting with the corner units.

After all of the quilting that I put into the last runner the quilting on this one was a breeze!

The inspiration photo that I was working from showed a black binding, which made sense given the black cornerstones, but that just seemed a little too lugubrious for the holidays, 

so I used the red that was in the topper. Much more Christmassy.

And it's backed with a red gingham, which continued to cheer it up.

Ta-da!

It must have sold fairly quickly because I don't remember seeing it hang around on the craft table for very long. I love knowing that my pieces are being enjoyed by others....M

Another Christmas Table Runner

This project might seem like a bit of déjà vu...

primarily because it's made with remnant Peppermint Pines blocks from one of the Holly Bazaar runners that I made in 2022. Love their scrappy, graphic nature.

I loved that red border check and had a hard time reimagining what I could do with a few more blocks, but when I landed on the green and narrow green check I knew that I was onto something.

It's quilted with diamonds that mirror the angle of the trees and I really like the finish, though I cannot help but smile about the amount of thread that it took to do it!

And the fun white polka dot on red backing reminds me of a snappy sports jacket lining - love it! There's just a hint of it showing here, but you get the idea.

This one is quite large, about 16" x 44" so it will definitely make a statement on someone's table....M

My Nine-Patch Christmas Runner

Last time I shared my cute little nine-patch Christmas runner but didn't show you the finished product, so here you go.

Actually, it's not that little. The squares finish off at 2" so it's at least 16" wide, and being 6 blocks long, it's about 45" in length.

Because of it's size, I might see if they want to use it on the Silent Auction Table instead of the Craft Table.

Still can't get over those lovely little quilted stars in the sashing.

I've been sewing like a dervish for the last couple of weeks and have a few more runners, table toppers and placemats made, along with a pair of cute little acorn potholders to show for it. More to come!....M

The First Christmas Runner Finish

I'm always very leery of machine quilting pieces so it can take a bit of time to drum up the courage to begin, but happily, this runner came together quite nicely.

I started out thinking I'd just do a simple set of diagonal lines so as not to wreck anything, but it just wasn't enough. So I moved to making it a cross-hatch pattern. Still lacking a little, so I opted to add another line of quilting on either side of every second line of quilting that was already there. 

Bingo! It added just enough interest and left me with a surprising bonus - these cute little stars in the sashing. Almost like I had planned it 😉. Not.

The quilting looked nice on the green gingham backing too.

And, it must have been my lucky day because when it was time to bind it I found a remnant candy cane stripe that was seemingly made for it.

This one was fun to stitch down.

It's all finished up but in my excitement I forgot to take a pic for you, so that will come. 

One additional fabric that I wanted to share with you is this cute red and white print. Love the fabric but I particularly love the selvage which contains one of my favourite quotes from Audrey Hepburn which I will leave with you, despite the fact that  the landscape is now covered in snow: To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow....M