July 6, 2014

Chevrons - the easy way


Just occasionally I drag myself out of my vintage dreams and design something with a modern touch! 


It wasn't too hard to do as I am rather fond of chevrons, love red and aqua together and there was enough applique on the ends of my table runner to keep me happy.

These are super easy chevrons! They are made from 2½ inch strips cut across the width of fabric, then red and white are joined along the length, and aqua and white the same. The strips are then cross-cut into 4½ inch squares.

The squares are laid out on point and then stitched together in diagonal rows - very quick and easy.

"Chevronetta" is in the latest edition of Handmade Magazine, Vol 32 No 9.


If you can't find the magazine, then keep an eye out for the pattern which I will make available for purchase in a few weeks.

I made a momentous decision a couple of weeks ago - earth-shattering for me anyway! I decided to free-motion quilt a complete lap quilt!  Free motion quilting is something that I have never been able to conquer and all previous attempts have been disastrous.

Recently I have been trying out a few quilting designs on small blocks so I made the bold decision to go bigger!


I was SO tempted to pull it all out after the first hour ... and the second .... and even the third! Eventually I decided to put my perfectionist trait behind me and just go with the flow. It is definitely far from perfect but I was surprised that it didn't actually look too bad overall! 


I'm not sure that I would do it again, but who knows? I don't like to let things beat me!

 We had a couple of quite cold days last week and our morning walk along the beach wasn't all that comfortable with the cold winds. Apart from needing our daily exercise, we like to spot what lovely birds we can find. Braving the cold was all worthwhile when we saw a rare Beach Stone Curlew. We've only seen two in our four years in the area.


It's not amazingly attractive, but is quite large 55 cm (22 inches) and we were over the moon to see it. The next day we saw these two branches protruding from one of the trees we pass regularly:


... No, not branches but brilliant camouflage by two Tawny Frogmouths!

We find joy every day in living in our beautiful area. God has 'blessed our socks off'!

Happy stitching.
Val

9 comments:

Christine M said...

I love your new table runner, Val. You've done a great job on the free motion quilting.

simplestitches said...

love your new pattern....and love those owls.
I had one the other night sitting on our light pole above the front gate to our place

Susan said...

Your FMQ looks pretty darn good to me - I also avoid it...Clever idea for the table runner too.

Regina vicentini said...

Olá Val!
Como é bom aos domingos encontrar seus posts recheado de coisas lindas. O teu capricho encantam os nossos olhos!
Tenha um dia lindo e uma semana sob os olhos de Deus!
Regina

KaHolly said...

First of all, the table runner is just delightful. I love it! You have such a gift. And it looks as though that gift is eventually going to extend itself to FMQ! Great job for your first attempt on a quilt. I have been practicing and practicing and am almost confident enough to try a whole (smallish) quilt, too. Now to those bird pictures. Awesome shorebird. So glad you were in the right place at the right time to see the Beach Stone Curlew!! I might have forgotten to breathe! I had to google Tawny Frogmouths to make sense of that last incredible photo. Some day I'd like to rocket to you little corner of the world to do some birding. I say rocket, because I don't think I could sit on a plane that long anymore!! Great post.

gracie said...

Love the chevron table runner...and you free motion looks good. Love the tree protrusions too!

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

Gorgeous table runner....

Anonymous said...

Fabulous table runner! I love the colors and the EASY way to make it. Those camouflaged birds are amazing! How exciting that you could even catch a glimpse of them.

Gina E. said...

Gosh talk about synchronicity! I just bought that issue of Handmade yesterday and was admiring your runner, and tonight I find it on your blog! I had a go at the Chevron design once and liked the result very much, so I'll put your pattern on my to do list to have another go.