give it away, give it away, now!

 I made these two quilts for a local Child Advocacy Center. The center gives the quilts to children/teens during a medical examination as a means to comfort them during that scary time. The child/teen then takes the quilt home with them. Kids go to the advocacy center if they are abused or mistreated and thinking about that just breaks my heart. No child should ever have to go through the unspeakable horrors that echo off that center's walls.

 The lady I emailed with at center said they were in need of teen style quilts. I went through my stash and came with this cute pink and black combo.

 This was my first attempt of a pieced back and I enjoy it very much! I will be doing that more in the future.

 This quilt is geared towards "boy." I always find it hard to make a quilt for a guy! I just went with solid gray and that cute awesome penguin flannel print. You can just see the softness in it!

Here they are! Ready to be given away! When they are stacked like this, you can really see what a difference different types of quilting make. See how much loft the penguins seem to have? I quilted those very loosely with my walking foot verses the pink and black one that is quilted more tightly with free motion loops. 

Sounds like I'll have the Red Hot Chili Peppers in my head for a while now!

Garden Pinwheels Quilted Table Runner Tutorial

Welcome to my very first tutorial!!! I was searching for a pattern for a new spring-y table runner and just couldn't find one that suited the fabric I purchased. So, I made one myself!!

The completed runner measures 11" x 55". You can add or omit some blocks to make yours the right size for your table. 

I chose four print fabrics and a crisp white. These fabrics are from the Fresh From the Garden line by M'Liss. You will need about a half yard of each.

Fabrics

For each pinwheel block you will need:
2- 5 7/8" squares print
2- 5 7/8" squares white
For the rail blocks you will need:
2- 5 1/4" x 10" print
2- 5 1/4" x 10" different print
Sashing:
6- 1 1/2" x 10 strips
2- 1 1/2" x 54" strips
Backing & Batting:
14" x 56"

Half-Square Triangles

Make your HST by laying the 5 7/8" white squares on top of your print squares and drawing a line on the diagonal. Sew 1/4" on each side of the line and then cut on the line so you now have 10 HST blocks. Trim them up and iron.

HST trimmed and pressed

Lay out your four HST blocks like the picture below to make a total of three pinwheel blocks. Sew together using the chain-piecing method.

Now, you have you completed pinwheel blocks. I made two the same and one different so I would have the two in the orange on the ends and the red one in the middle. 

Three pinwheel blocks

 Take your 5 1/4" cuts and lay them out like the picture below. I alternated the prints. Sew them together!

Rail block layout

 Now, you have your two completed rail fence blocks!

Completed rail blocks

 Take your six 10" long sashing strips and sew them on each side of your pinwheel blocks. Then, sew your blocks together to get this:

Grab your 56" long shashing strips and sew those to the top and bottom of your runner.

Completed runner top

 Layer your backing, batting, and top. Baste and quilt! Add your binding. I used the yellow word print from the top of the bird in the garden print.

 Enjoy you new lovely spring table runner!!

 I know this little birdie will!

Please don't use this tutorial as your own and always link back to this post if you are going to discuss it on your own blog! Thank you! I hope you enjoy it! Let me know if I made any mistakes or if you have any questions in your comments!