Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Summer in the Country Blog Hop

I'm 

 Welcome to my day on the Summer in the Country blog hop with Island Batik. This is my first official Island Batik Blog Hop as an Island Ambassador. I am so excited to have been given the opportunity to create with these beautiful fabrics from the Wishing Well Collection. 
My passion is English Paper Piecing (EPP), so I thought I would share how I EPP  this Hexagon Table Runner which is inspired by Charming and Cheerful from Designer Sherri McConnell (www.aquiltinglife.com)

Hexagon Table Runner


40 - 5” squares assorted prints
40 - 2" hexagon templates (2" is the side length) 
2 – 1 ¼  x 28 ¼” inner border strips
2 – 1 ¼ x 15 ¾” inner border strips
2 – 3 ½  x 29 ¾” outer border strips
2 – 3 ½  X 21 ¾”outer border strips
3 – 2 ½  x 42” binding strips
7/8 yard for backing
28 x 42” batting

First I needed to baste and whip stitch together my 40 hexagons. 
This is how I baste my hexagons, I use plastic templates, but paper ones are just fine too. I like to use coated paper clips to hold the fabric in place while I bast around the hexie to hold the shape. 

Tiny whipstitch the hexagons together about 20 stitches per inch.







Trim the table runner center and stay stitch 1/8" from raw edges. (When I trim the edges, I sew the cut hexie to the other side, to keep the length.  

Add borders.

Layer, quilt and bind. 

I can't wait to hand quilt this! 



My Summer Recipe


Banana Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cup of mashed overripe bananas
Optional - walnuts and chocolate chips 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar
Stir in the eggs and mashed bananas until well blended
Stir banana mixture into the flour mixture; stir just to moisten.
Pour the batter into the lightly greased loaf pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes.

If you have missed any of the stops on the hop, here is the list.  (There is a lot of eye candy (gorgeous fabric) to see and delicious recipes at each stop.) 
8/17 – Island Batik
8/18 – KISSed Quilts – Part 1
8/19 – Kauffman Designs
8/20 – Adele Mogavero
8/21 – MooseStash Quilting
8/22 – Pamela Quilts
8/23 – Freemotion by the River
8/24 – The Patchwork Pearl
8/25 – Fun Threads Designs
8/26 – For Quilts Sake
8/27 – Lemon Tree Snippets
8/28 – Bejeweled Quilts
8/29 – Tamarinis
8/30 – KISSed Quilts – Part 2
8/31 – Beaquilter
9/1 – Purrfect Spots Designs
9/2 – Maria Michaels Designs
9/3 – Mary Mack Made Mine
9/4 – Made In Scraps                  ME!!!
9/5 – Happy Cottage Quilter
 

I would like to thank you for stopping by so I am having a giveaway of three Island Batik fat quarters from the Wishing Well Collection. 

To enter the giveaway please leave me a comment telling how your summer was. I will pick a winner at the end of the blog hop. I would also love it if you would like my Facebook page, Christine Mccrann Martinez Quilts.
Thank you to Island Batik for arranging such a fun hop! 
Thank you for visiting!

Christine 






 [M1]


57 comments:

  1. Gorgeous runner, and the recipe sounds great. I'm so glad you got me into EPP! Great post!

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  2. Great runner!
    My summer was mostly cold and wet, but finally the sun burst through and gave us a couple of warm weeks.

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  3. I love your runner and the colors are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
    What Summer? LOL The time went by so fast that it doesn't seem like we had one. It was nice though, but the temps were very hot. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  4. Love the color choices in your runner. Thank you for the tutorial and the giveaway.

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  5. your table runner is so pretty. love the fabrics. ?do you leave the plastic template in when you sew them all together, or do you take them out? confused, LOL. our summer was confusing weather wise, hence our garden really didn't do good this year. Other than that it was a great summer.
    quilting dash lady at Comcast dot net

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  6. Very impressive! Using the paper clips to hold the fabric to the template is genius!

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  7. My summer was way to short. We need so I need to set up my new quilting room. Then I get to quilt for my first grand baby. Love the fabric. Batiks are my favorite. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  8. You do make it look easy. I've never tried EPP. We love banana bread here! ;-)

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  9. Long and Super hot moved to AZ. Great paper piecing this is the first thing I learned to do many years ago.

    clemonssarah7 at gmail dot com

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  10. Lots of smoke here again today. Intrigued with your trimming technique. So do you just fold them over until even with the next one and then stitch 1/8" around vs actually cutting fabric?

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  11. EPP is so far out of my comfort zone, you make it look so simple! Summer was awesome. We had amazing thunder storms and ate lots of smores.

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  12. My summer was very productive and I finished two large quilts.

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  13. My summer was so very very grey and wet, worst summer in years, upside was I did plenty of quilting.

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  14. I love EPP! I have a project I've been working on for over a year, that will be quite a few years in the making. I had a very busy summer, we moved in March and have been working on the house, plus we've had quite a bit of company. Thanks for sharing your EPP process and for the giveaway.

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  15. Love love love Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips!! Very lovely table runner, love the colors! My Summer has flown by way too fast. I haven't even had time to really enjoy it. We'll be shoveling snow way too soon!!!! LOL

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  16. Our summer has been wet! Looking forward to escaping for some sunshine at the end of September x
    Iain.ross30 at gmail dot com

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  17. Marybeth from central IowaSeptember 4, 2015 at 1:51 PM

    Love EPP and your table runner ! Summer went too fast

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  18. Summer was good. We moved again, but it is really nice to be starting to settle back in.

    determineddebby at gmail dot com

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  19. looks great! I want to start another hexie EPP project, just joined a mystaaahry one on FB, also admire the "la passion" quilts, and anything hexie :)

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  20. Was? I don't want it to be over yet; I think there's at least 16 days left and I'm going to hang onto everyone of them. Thanks for the tutorial on hexi piecing. That's on my to do list and I need to get one started. Where do you get the plastic templates? I've seen paper ones but then I don't think they are basted the same way as the paper is flimsy and I can see by using the plastic templates, one can get the fabric tighter. Karen kthurn@bektel.com

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  21. Love the hexies! Summer has been hectic...on the go...all the time...and hot!!!

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  22. We had a lovely summer, with lots of visiting relatives. When kids come to the farm it is so much fun to see how excited they get over the little things. Since I remember being the kid from the suburbs visiting country relatives, I especially enjoy being the "aunt on the farm" now.

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  23. My summer was fantastic! I loved having the kids home from school, and our days were filled with swimming, friends and the library. sarah@forrussia.org

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  24. Pretty table runner. My summer went by fast. 24Tangent@gmail.com

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  25. Summer went too fast as usual and lots of house projects didn't get done! There's always the Fall though so not a total loss!
    Very cute pincushion~

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  26. I had a wonderful summer. The weather was very pleasant, not too cold, not too hot, lots of time with friends and family. Love your table runner. Hexes are fun aren't they?

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  27. Surprisingly, this summer has been pleasant, temperature wise. It has also gone very quickly. That said, I have been able to get some quilting done and that is always a good thing. Love to do EPP.

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  28. Christine, my summer was awesome. I got to visit with my brand new grandson several times a week

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  29. My summer was really good, my town has several free events going on in the town centre that I managed to go to, there was a mods and rockers bike show, a '40's day and a free music festival that lasted several weekends.
    jen dot barnard at btinternet dot com

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  30. My summer was hot, but nice. I bought myself an above ground pool and have been enjoying it. Thank you for the lesson and the recipe
    llamance@hotmail.com

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  31. I had my brother out from michigan for the first time so it was a great summer....happyness04431@yahoo.com

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  32. Love your Hexie's! Have never made one..but love them! & it is on my Gotta Make! List too giggle... Thanks for sharing...and the recipe too! We love banana bread round here! Yum!

    My Summer has been great...watching our new Granbaby while mommy & daddy are workin...since he was 6 wks old...is 5 months old now! What a delight! I confess...am a reallllllly spolied Gramma!!! Nice! :)

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  33. A beautiful table runner, the colors are so peaceful and calming. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.

    My summer has been frustrating. Shopping for cars for both my husband and myself is not my idea of a good time.

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  34. My summer has been lovely even though we have had a lot of strange weather. I found time for a lot of sewing this summer, which always makes me happy.

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  35. Great table runner. I had a great trip to Florida for my brother's wedding and then my sister brought my mom from MN to KS for a week visit with us.

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  36. What a gorgeous table runner! I love the soft colors and your design. Thanks for sharing! I had a wonderful summer, playing with my five-year-old granddaughter every weekend. We did some sewing together too. And we are going to make your banana bread together next time were are together. Yum!

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  37. Thank you for the tutorial and awesome photos of EPP hexagons. They are on my "learn-to-do" list, so I will come back here and follow the steps! My summer was fabulous! We saw 3 concerts this summer and traveled quite a bit. We saw Kenny Chesney and Eric Church in Atlanta, then saw the Rolling Stones in Kansas City and lastly, we enjoy seeing Shania Twain in Moline! All were great! I hope your summer was memorable too!

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  38. Lovely! I love hexies...they are even move lovely in batiks.

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  39. My summer went well with warm weather and sunshine. Grew awesome tomatoes this summer. The cool air is already here!
    nikilsend(at)outlook(dot)com

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  40. I love hexies! My summer was and is very very hot! I'm ready for some fall temps! Thank you for the giveaway!
    Dmac5958ataoldotcom

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  41. I spent it babysitting Grandkids while my husband went to school.

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  42. I made a picnic quilt, but it was hard to work on it as it was really hot here. It was hard to get in the mood to quilt. ndfromsd@gmail.com

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  43. Summer was warming then usual and felt never ending, now that it is I am not ready to see it go!

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  44. Summer was great! Lots of time with family and friends. :)
    craftyccain@gmail.com

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  45. Summer was great. Got to go to a quilt retreat.

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  46. We had a great summer. We got to visit with extended family and friends at my daughter's wedding. We also visited with family on vacation. Thanks for showing how you use those plastic Hexie templates. I haven't tried them yet. I am just starting to learn about the Hexie so. Am glad to see some cute ideas to use them in small projects. Are the plastic templates hard to get out of the fabric?

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  47. Summer was not what I had hoped for after a car wreck, have a fractured sternum and torn ligaments in my left arm. So not getting to quilt like I wanted and am off work for unknown amount of time. But I can cut the fabric with my electric BIG, so I am enjoying sitting at home, Now thanks to your hexie project, I have more to cut, Summer here in TEXAS has been shorter than usual and doesn't seem quite as HOT!
    Thanks again
    Linda Benton mrstbenton@verizon.net

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  48. It's true! I haven't seen an Island Batik that wasn't just gorgeous. Thanks for sharing this hexie project - I love hand-sewig...and Island Batiks.

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  49. We spent our seeing Dr.s and at the hospital, hubby had surgery one month ago today

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  50. I spent my summer at my new job, which turned out to be a great fit. So, I have really enjoyed my summer.

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  51. I had a bad summer spent most of it in the hospital so I didn't get any quilting done.

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  52. Besides sewing - watching the birds out my window at the birdbath and feeder. Some even come hang on the screen to look in at me. Had a broken toe and not getting around much. I see the hole in your templates, do they pop out easily after you are finished. I love the idea of reusing them. crystalbluern at onlineok dot com

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  53. Summer started out ok,then we had a tragic accident in the family. My daughter had an ATV accident. She broke her back in 3 places and an pelvis in two places,four broken ribs ,two compressed disc, and a concussion. Praise God that she's still alive and on the mend.
    Dmac5958ataoldotcom

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  54. Summer was too short! Love the hexie runner

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  55. My summer went by way too short. I love your hexie runner thanks for the tutorial also

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  56. My summer was HOT but still way too short.

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