Magazine Review: Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting July/August 2015

Today I received my July/August issue of the Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting. I am addicted to quilting magazines and have been known to put back a piece of fabric in exchange for a quilting magazine.

I enjoy reading Love of Quilting because of the way it is geared for new to intermediate quilters. The directions are really spelled out for the quilter, with lots of illustrations and detailed measurements. To me the best features that make this magazine worth its weight in gold is the Sew Easy sections, which show step by step photo instructions of how to do various quilting techniques. Each Sew Easy technique also has an accompanying online video that can be found on the Fons & Porter website.


A bonus that this magazine has is at the very back of the magazine. If there is a quilt in the magazine that you really want to make just as you see it, then chances are good that there is a kit for the quilt listed on the back pages. To be able to buy a kit with all the fabric needed to make a quilt saves a lot of money and travel in trying to locate the individual fabrics yourself.

I'm eyeing the Cosmic Stars Table Runner that they have in this issue. I have some diamond shapes that I cut out a long time ago that I have yet to figure out what to do with. This just may be the perfect project for them.

I'm also digging the Jelly Roll Pillows, which make a quick and simple use of those jelly rolls that you buy on impulse at the fabric store but then get it home and wonder what you are ever going to do with it. I can see making several of these to give to college bound students this Fall for their dorm rooms.

As usual, a great magazine full of the type of projects many quilters have come to expect from Fons and Porter. Take a look through it the next time you are at the bookstore or your favorite fabric shop.

(This is NOT a sponsored post. This is just me sharing information for information sake. Why? Because I'm just cool like that.)

Table Runner Surprise

This week we have been pulling out the Christmas decorations. My in-laws are coming over for the holidays I want to make sure our home is all decked out with Christmas cheer.

As I was pulling out the table runner that we use for the Nativity Set, I realized that I had made the runner. It was a quilted runner.

Table runner on hallway table

How could I have forgotten that I made this? I had originally made it for my mom to use on her dinning room table during the holidays. But when she decided to change her color scheme she gave it back to me. I have been using it every year since my husband inherited his great-grandmother's Nativity Set. An now today it just occurred to me that this runner was quilted.

Backside fabric of the table runner

The runner is made from shimmery rayon fabric with a solid piece of the same fabric covering the back side. There is no batting on the inside. I'm thinking of maybe opening up the runner, adding a fusible interfacing to it and then hand quilting the the piece for more stability.

I can tell that I worked the piece in two sections and then joined them in the middle

Looking at the runner, something tells me that I may have copied the design from something I saw in a quilting magazine, but I'l not completely sure.

All the pretty little triangles

I'm now wondering, "Where did I get all this shimmery rayon from?"

I think I had meant to add tassels to the ends of this runner. I think the ends will hang a lot better with a little weight on them.