A Project Fit For Hurricane Season And Another Use For Painter's Tape

This is a table runner that I planned on having finished for Easter. Well as you can see, that didn't happen. The quilting is what was holding me back. You see, I was determined to do some elaborate quilting on it to practice some fancier patterns, but I just didn't think that kind of quilting fit this table runner, so I had to change my plan.  That slowed me down, the table runner went on a shelf and was forgotten about for awhile. Until Hurricane Season began.

You see here in Florida, from June 1st through November 30th, hurricanes are on our mind.  You know when they are on their way, but maybe not exactly where they are going or how long they will stay around, so preparation is important.  Along with all of the essential emergency supplies and comfort snacks, I like to keep a handwork project around in case of a power outage. After experiencing days without power because of hurricanes in the past, I have learned that it is important to have a few things to  do to keep busy. If losing power is as bad as it gets for us, we consider ourselves very lucky, but after a hurricane passes through and it's 95 degrees and really, really humid, no electricity for a long period of time is a problem.  Distractions are a must.

That was my inspiration to get this table runner quilted now, so it would be my power outage binding project ready to go.  I just hope I don't need it!                 

Another use for Painter's Tape

I finally decided to go with some simple straight line quilting.  I thought it would fit the pattern well, and I'm interested in trying some more modern quilting fabrics and looks, and this quilting fit right in.  I'm not giving up traditional quilting looks by any means, I'm just a quilter who likes all kinds of styles and I try to keep my quilting options open to anything!  Wait until you see the rest of the quilt from my sneak peak last week!

When I started quilting this table runner, I was trying to keep my lines straight and it wasn't going well.  Marking the lines with a chalk pencil was just taking too long for my taste, and involved too much figuring, so I remembered the Painter's Tape.  I have a roll or two in my quilting drawer to use on rulers for quick reference when cutting.  I stick a piece or two on the ruler near a particular line or measurement I'm using so I don't have to spend time looking for a measurement or angle each time I cut. In fact, this helped me save a lot of time when I cut out my Honeycomb Schnibble a few days ago.  By placing a bit of the tape near the 60 degree mark on the ruler, I was able to find it easily every time I made a cut.  But for this table runner, I used it to mark where I wanted to quilt.  I just quilted slightly outside of the tape to make a straight line right where I wanted it, being very careful not to go through the tape.  Getting tape goo in your machine is probably not a good idea. Although this tape doesn't have much goo. That is part of the beauty of it.  

Can you see the quilting beside the tape on the purple fabric?


I just pulled off the tape and used it on the next block when I was finished with a section. It made the quilting much faster and easier than measuring it all out!  I've used this tip before and I'm sure many of you have too, but I thought it was worth sharing because it really helped me out. Painter's tape is one of my favorite non-quilting quilting tools!  Did you follow that?

The final result, ready for a power outage!

If you are still with me on this long post, here is the picture of the final result.  I was trying to get a good picture of the quilting and this angle showed the quilting the most, but didn't do the fabric justice.  I think you get what I'm going for though.

  This pattern was Framed Four Patch from Little Charmers II by Heather Mulder Peterson in case you are interested.  She also had a great tutorial on her blog about how to handle the odd angle of the binding that was very helpful.  I've done some corners greater than 90 degrees before, but I couldn't remembered how I did it, and Heather's tutorial was great.  

This was a long post for me!  Thanks for sticking around.  I hope it was helpful.