Time to get back to what’s been happening with the ‘Crooked Path’ table runner. It took some time to get used to the Westalee template and ruler foot, as I found it easier to do them a few at a time, and not be ambitious in ‘getting it all done now!’ I improved over time, gradually getting the hang of it, and can see how it fits in between using a walking foot and free motion quilting.

Completed quilting with the Westalee ruler foot ‘Spin-e-fex’ motif.

I needed to unpick a few of the ‘petals’ that had got ‘squished’, and a couple of the inner circles (that are formed as the template turns around on the pin), as they were more like mountains and valleys. With persistence each square patch had the pattern quilted on it. However a few of the circles were still a bit wobbly, which I would notice but others may not – and I was over the unpicking, so what to do? Simple, appliqué a circle over the centre of each square! After all it does look like a ‘flower’.

Centre circles – colour choices.

After auditioning fabrics from the stash, it came down to only a couple of pieces. The strong pattern of the squares, along with the yellow background and contrasting red, clashed with so many choices. So these were it. Next was what sizes and which colour to put where – and another day went by.

Inner circles glued down ready for appliqué

‘Roxanne Glue Baste It’ kept the circles in place until I had time to start the appliqué. I chose to use a matching thread and a narrow zig zag on the Bernina 801.

‘Crooked Path’ appliquéd centres.

An unexpected effect was that the circles tended to ‘puff’ up – possibly due to all the quilting underneath them, flattening the lower layers.

Crooked Path

Well, ‘Crooked Path’ began as a pattern for International Quilt Day (seen by chance while wandering the web), and ended up as a gift for a special lady. I’ve enjoyed making this table runner, juggling the choices along the way. And it’s sooooo good, knowing that I’ve actually finished something – and on time – instead of it going into the bottomless pit of ‘UFO’s’!

I hope you too are joining me in this slow journey, and stitching to ‘get it finished’!