The Matching Wall Hanging

Here's the matching wall hanging for those pretty red placemats.

Originally, this was going to be a table runner, but I have since concluded that my table is not runner worthy.  Something about it's shape--it's oval.  And I like to have placemats for everyone.  Put them all together, and my table gets crowded.  Might as well make a tablecloth!

Anyway, I thought I'd give the pattern a modern twist and add the different sized pieces on the sides, instead of making them even.  Adds more interest.  I must be on a trend, as a few days after I did that, Angela Walters posted a quilt she was working on that used the same concept.  And I thought I was being creative!

Here's some closeups:

I kept the quilting simple in the open areas, as I wanted the keep the red as the focus.  Using a homemade template, I marked those areas with a water soluble pen

then stitched on the drawn lines.  Normally, I don't mark, but I decided to take the plunge on this quilt.  Plus, I didn't have a ruler for this shape!!

I'm happy to say that the marks came out easily with a spritz of water after I was done stitching those parts.  And if any came back, a wash of the finished quilt with plain water took out any residual.

The rest of the design utilized my favorite tool, blue painters tape.  Here I'm checking that all the lines are straight.

For a bit of interest, I added in squares on point within those lines, again using the water soluble pen to mark the squares.  Sorry, forgot to take a picture of that part--I was too into the quilting!

The placemats and wall hanging have the same quilting, doubled continuous curves in just 5 squares of the nine patch, and a coordinating design in the other blocks.  Crosshatching unites everything.

Here's the back for a better look

So don't let those projects that don't quite work out as expected become UFO's.  Think about what other ways they can be utilized--the options are endless!

Happy Quilting!