2 more finishes

I have 2 more runners finished!  I'm so happy to be making progress with my UFOs.  These are from the Island Batik Freedom quilts I made last year.  One went to a Triathlon participant, and the other was a Quilt of Valor given to Fr. Timothy.  You can see previous posts on those.  And since the Island Batik Ambassador challenge was also Free, I wanted to get more done for that, as well.  

The quilt for Fr. Tim used 10" squares, and I cut them down to make the star blocks.  These trimmed pieces were sewn together for the background of these runners.  I just kept sewing them together.  I think I used them all, but may find more in a pile somewhere (of course, there are piles).  I used them as leader-enders for chain piecing blocks.  That's one of Bonnie Hunter's ideas, and I love it.  It's better than sewing on scraps and tossing them away.  Anyway, I just kept adding to them last year, then set them aside. Then my friend Lily the Batty Quilter from Etsy's Quiltsy Team suggested a Patriotic challenge for June.  Since I had these started, I was hoping to finish them and list them for the challenge, but I wasn't done in time.  That's fine, since they're done and now in my Etsy shop.  

After looking at the blue and white/mottled stripes, I decided they needed some fun applique, so I put Wonder Under on the back of some red Island Batik Basic and ran it through the Accuquilt GO! die cutter, on the Stars die #55028.  It cuts 3 different sizes, so I figured it would be fun to use all 3. 

Since one runner is thinner than the other, I varied the placement and number of each size, then stitched them down with red Aurifil 40wt thread, on my Janome Horizon 9450.  I was thinking of using the embroidery file that comes with the purchase of the die, but had ironed them down first.  It's easier to have the program put a "placement" line first, which I forgot.  It was going to be a challenge to line up all the stars for the embroidery machine, so I took the easy way and just did the stitching myself.  I added more of the Red basic for borders.  I used 3 Tours Wavy Stars panto on the Prostitcher, and Auriful 40wt Liberty thread, a red, white and blue variegated.  I think it looks awesome! The stars echo the applique.  

When the wide backing was loaded, these were the first things I had quilted.  There was enough space to the side to quilt some mug rugs and a mini quilt, which are next to get binding.  I also quilted a flag, that will be bound soon, and the 2 yellow and blue runners for the Sunshine Stitching blog hop (see yesterday's post for that, and a give-away).  

Any progress is good!  What did you do for #justsewjune today?  Each day, just try to do something for 10 minutes or more.  It really helps to see progress!