Log cabin mat and runner

Last time, we made February's BOM after a bit of a drought and this week, as per my new rules from last year, we are going to make it into something. 

No more isolated blocks which either need to be duplicated and committed into a large quilt!

Here is the block again just to remind you and if you scroll down, you will find the post right under this one. Otherwise, look in the drop down menu under the main title.

This is a great block, easy for beginners because you don't have to match super accurately and I hope that you all enjoyed my little trick of strip piecing. I thought that a runner and a little mat might be something nice to make with it too so how do we go about that?

Well the first thing to do is to gather some supplies. Let's assume for the sake of argument that we are making a little mat from the BOM from last week and then I will give you an indication of what else you need to make the runner option. You will need
-your BOM
-a piece of wadding about 3 cm larger than the BOM all around. I have used 272 Thermolam by Vlieseline and you can buy that here.
-something for backing, about 5 cm larger all around than your block
-bias binding either shop bought or made from one of your fabrics.
-water soluble marker

Right. The first thing to do is to make a 'quilt sandwich' and you achieve this by laying the backing fabric right side down, adding the wadding next and putting the patched panel the right way up on top of that...

Pin so that no movement is possible.

This is an easy make because it is so small but never make the mistake of thinking that you can proceed without pins! The fabric WILL creep and it WILL go skew whiff. This is physics and we have to find a way to be okay with it.

I have chosen to channel quilt my mat. This is easy and it looks good but doesn't detract from the patches. Use your dual feel foot (walking foot). Here is mine....

Set your machine up and quilt the first line. I am using the longest seam as a straight point.

Now, making sure that there is no puckering on the front or the back, quilt a second row using the side of the dual feed foot to gauge the width. 

Keep going like this until you have quilted the mat completely.

Time to trim! I like this bit because the project really takes shape when all of the daggy bits are gone. 

Begin by trimming the quilted mat square...

Now find something round and round off the corners with your water soluble marker for an even more retro 70s look....

A cup is good for this and remember that the smaller the item you choose, the sharper the curve and you need to bind this curve in a minute. Go for the saucer if in doubt! Cut the rounded bits off.
Binding now. Take your binding and machine sew it to the top. start by folding a bit under like this....

Lay the binding along the edge of your mat and pin....

Now machine sew going slow and concentrating, especially on the curves. Now before you cuss me out about the curved corners, remember that I could have mitred them! Sew just past the end (over the start bit) and then trim.

Now turn the mat over and hand finish. I know that you can do this by machine but I prefer to hand finish. more control and much neater.

And there we go! A little mat using the BOM for February! 

I made a runner too which meant making three more blocks up and putting strips of grey in between.

You can make your runner as long as you like too by adding more blocks and more grey strips.

I hope that you have enjoyed this make. I will look forward to seeing you again next time...might be time for another bag soon.

Hugs and kisses
Debs
xxx