Fall Table Runner

I started this thing ages ago (that's a common theme with me) but it was just languishing in my sewing drawer. When I first started the quilting on it, somehow my tension was completely off and I couldn't fix it. At the time I was also working on my son's blessing outfit so I knew it wasn't just this project I was struggling with. So, I sent the machine in for a service. It came back great and I finished the blessing outfit but never got back to this quilt.

I did the binding on the machine and it turned out okay, not great. I followed this Quilt Binding Tutorial. I think if I bind on the machine again I'll have to either try harder to make it even, or get a binder foot attachment.

 I did the machine quilting myself and am quite proud of it. I used some cream thread and my darning foot. My stitches aren't very even (this is the best block) and my swirls are mostly awkward, but it was so fun! I am desperate to quilt something else - maybe a potholder?

I love the ricrac trim. I used matching thread and it turned out really nice.

Lessons Learned:

• Don't leave scissors lying around next to the quilt. Yes, Ben did cut about one inch into the quilt. Oh, well. That is the first time he's used the scissor successfully on his own...I guess that's a good thing. I just zig-zagged it together. The binding actually covered up about half of it...it adds character. :)
• Don't let the boys touch the sewing machine. Or even look at it, or think about looking at it. Ben actually put a button inside of the machine. Don't ask me how he did it, but it happened. I took the cover off to put oil in it and found a 1 inch button inside!
• Cut the back larger than the front. I cut it the exact size and in the quilting process it shrunk a bit. I had to trim the quilt a bit smaller, and it was no big deal, but next time I'll be sure to leave extra backing fabric.
• Even though I'm using the darning foot - presser foot must be down! Twice I didn't drop the foot, which is an easy mistake to make since the darning foot doesn't actually touch the quilt top. This caused the stitch tension to be off (of course on the backside so I didn't notice for a while) and I had to rip out two large chunks of work.