Twisted log cabin runners

I finally finished a UFO from 2016 during the December holiday.  Although it was only 4 blocks stitched into 2 runners, other projects were always prioritized.  A member of our quilting group, Marietjie, demonstrated this technique.

I used the same cherry fabrics back in 2013 to make this little wall hanging and was glad I saved the little leftovers of the small cherry print as it was just enough to use as sasching between the 3 blocks for the chest of drawers' runner. 

The single block was done for the bedside table.

A feather motif was embroidered in the center block using variegated thread.  On the red and green sides I free motioned some feathers as well.  The border was stitched using the MuVit foot (previously called a walking foot) and the same variegated thread in a grid pattern.

I don't know if I will ever be able to finish all of the ufo's which have accumulated over the years, but at least I am trying. 

Disappearing pinwheel finished (well, one of them)

After the calamity of my Brother Innovis 4000 breaking down last year and the 5 months it took to get parts and having it fixed, it took somewhat longer to finish at least one of these runners in time to be entered into Bloemshow 2025.

All the quilting was done with Lady Reh, my Brother Luminaire XP1/2/3 oh, and what a joy it was using the scanning and projector functions in placing and aligning the designs as well as using a 20 x 20cm (8 x 8") magnetic frame for the first time which I bought off Temu at a fraction of the price of an original Brother frame.

The aligning went at lightning speed and I finish all the quilting in one afternoon.

I again used some of Stitchdelight's designs from the Patchwork set.

The outside row was done with these two designs,

followed by this design in the four inside corners

with this one in the center.

Now to finish the second one also.

4D Flower

After completing this design for my store, I turned it into a small runner with some of the brilliant functions available on Lady Rehtaeh* (Lady Reh for short), my Brother Luminaire XP3.  Using the magnetic frame I bought on Temu made this a breeze.  That is, once I knew how to apply the functions.

All prepped and ready to go.  For this stage, I only wanted to quilt the dark brown background.

In order to achieve this, I scanned the quilt into the machine's design centre 

and remove the inside area so that quilting will only be done around the flower up until where the dark brown fabric starts.

For the border I used the built-in border quilt function where it breaks up the whole border to be quilted into sections.  All input needed was the X and Y measurements of the quilt as well as the width of the border.  The machine then shows you where to place the quilt in the frame to start stitching the border and when it is necessary to turn the quilt.  By again using the scan function with the projection function combined, you can move, mirror, rotate etc. the design until it fits completely where it should.  Making Childsplay of steps I previously found very tedious.

I then adjusted the foot's height to be able to add the other layers of the flower by using the button stitch function

and add the label to the back.

Watch Rehteah Parson's tragic story here.

Disappearing Pinwheel

The second project our Rotary Cutters quilt group did for the year, was the Disappearing Pinwheel.  Another very innovative way of starting off with just two squares of light and dark, constructing half square triangles and stitching them together to form a 12" pinwheel.

After cutting this block then in 3 equal strips horizontal and vertical, you are left with a very small pinwheel, 4 smaller hst's and 4 squares.  And then the fun start.  By mixing these blocks up and laying them out in different ways, all sorts of looks can be created like shown below which is the layout Frances's picked

or this one, the look I went for.

It is created with 4 blocks laid out in the order as shown below which really had me utterly confused as I swopped the dark and light fabrics.  And I also wanted the print of the darker fabric to all go in the same direction in each quarter, which my son (not so jokingly) refers to as his mother's OCD.

By adding a second row, the stunning layout below are created which was what I was originally going after, but at this stage I stitched only 2 centers which will each cover our bedside tables.  Otherwise, it might just end up as another unused quilt.

By adding a third row, this beauty is created.

With me still struggling to finish January's Four Patch Posy, two small runners are definitely the way to go.

Margarida runner

I have been quite busy the last few weeks designing for the first time in years.  Had to learn the program almost from scratch again.  But with perseverance and dedication I finally manage to finish the first new design for Embroidery Girl's online store at Oregon Patchworks.  This is however an exclusive design which members will be able to download for free.  I am not allowed to sell this design at all, but if it helps direct traffic to my store, all is well.

As it is an appliqué design, I had to make a project as well, so I embroidered three blocks and stitched them into a runner.  Was a race against time as the design must be in by the 20th or I will be fined for not adhering to the rules as set out in the contract.

The design could be used to showcase that special fabric in the center or by adding other embroidery designs.  The members will receive it in 3 sizes, 6", 7" and 8".

I still have to tidy up the runner's backside as I just raced to finish the front so that I could take photos.

The next new design is also ready for testing and with sales finally picking up, it will be worth all the hard work. 

 And about a month later I added some of Stitchdelight's designs to the center of the blocks.

The bee can be found here

and the flower here

Courthouse Step Runner

During one of our quilting group's meetings last year, we decided to take part in some of teacher Annie du Toit's classes to broaden our skills and to bring more variety to our group meetings.  Luckily Annie was doing a class about an hour's drive from Bloemfontein and decided to sleep over and do the class in person rather than via the internet.  

So, on the 2nd of March our group convened at Marietjie's house and started cutting and stitching.  It was such a wonderful and instructive morning.  When we left at midday, everybody had most of their blocks done and ready to stitch into a runner.

I added a fifth round of steps and a wider border as our tv cabinet is a bit wider.

As with the Strata Star table runner I stitched in February, I again used machine embroidery, the walking foot as well as free motion to do the quilting.  I used four different designs in each of 4 of the blocks with all 4 designs in the center and 5th block giving a different look to every block.

On the border, I decided to stitch a free motion feather, the first time ever I tackled a feather.  Since I started quilting in 2010, I so wanted to stitch feathers, but was totally intimidated and scared to even try.  I stitched the stem with the walking foot and failed miserably on the first two attempts.  Whilst drawing it out on a piece of paper to show my husband what I was trying to accomplish, I realized what I was doing wrong.  On the third attempt I succeeded and stitched a feather all around the border.

Although I didn't stop far enough from the edge as to not catch the feather in the binding, I am extremely proud of myself that I have finally overcome my feathered fear. 

The embroidery designs I used is this set from Embroidery Library.  On the maroon I stitched with a matching variegated thread and on the cream with a mother of pearl metallic thread.

Below are some of the other members runners.

Frances van Schalkwyk

Marietjie van Rensburg

Rika van der Merwe

                                2023 is going extremely well with two finished quilts thus far.