It's all about Runners and let's run with Monica and her SIL house quilt ( with a giveaway)

This wall-hanging, which doubles as a play mat, features The Neighborhood by Monica Lee. The charming images remind us of a time when all the kids on the block would “go out and play.” Remember those many happy hours with pets, playing hopscotch, jumping rope and throwing jacks? We are pleased to bring you this collaboration of two Smart Creative Women, Monica Lee and her sister-in-law, pattern designer Carole Henell. They put their heads together to bring you this fun tutorial!

For this 36 inch by 36 inch project, you’ll need:

Fat quarters of each:

- tic-tac-toe orange (Monica-C8852-Orange)

- kitty toss white (Monica-C8850-White)

- kitty toss orange (Monica-C8850-Orange)

1/2 yard turquoise tic-tac-toe, includes binding (Monica-C8852-Turquoise)

1/2 yard red polka dot (Monica-C8938-Red)

1/2 yard stripe (Monica-C8851-Yellow)

3/4 yard kites (Monica-C8849-Sky)

1/2 yard green fence doggies (Monica-C8846-Green)

3/4 yard neighborhood yellow (Monica-C8845-Yellow)

1 1/4 yard of your choice for backing

40 inch by 40 inch batting

You’ll be cutting all the house blocks at the same time. To get started, stack the orange tic-tac-toe, turquoise tic-tac-toe, kitty toss white and kitty toss orange fabrics and line up one edge:

Now, you’ll want to even the edge, trim the cute selvages and cut a rectangle 10 ¾ inches by 5 ½ inches:

Cutting a rectangle 10 3/4" by 5 1/2"

From this rectangle, cut a 10 ¾ inch by 1 ½ inch rectangle. Trim to 10 ½ inches by 1 ½ inches and set aside for later:

Cutting 10 1/2" by 1 1/2" rectangle from stacked fabrics

Next, cut two rectangles 3 ¾ inches by 4 inches:

Cutting two 3 3/4" by 4" rectangles from the stacked fabrics

From the remaining 4 inch by 3 ¼ inch rectangle, cut two 2 inch by 3 ¼ inch rectangles:

Cutting two 2" by 3 1/4" rectangles

Go back to your original stacked fat quarters and cut another rectangle 3 ¼ inches by 8 ½ inches:

Cutting another rectangle from the original stack of fat quarters 3 1/2" by 8 1/2"

From this stack, cut one 3 ¼ inch by 3 ½ inch rectangle and two 3 ¼ inch by 2 ½ inch rectangles:

Each of our little houses will need a front door, so from the red polka dot, cut four 3 ½ inch by 3 ¾ inch rectangles:

I cut a 7 inch by 7 ½ inch rectangle, then cut two 3 ½ inch by 7 ½ inch rectangles and finally cut those rectangles into 3 ½ inch by 3 ¾ inch rectangles.

Now, we’re going to lay out the pieces for quick and easy assembly! Please take care and orient the pieces the way they are in the picture:

You’ll have four houses all cut out and ready to go:

To assemble the houses, use a ¼ inch seam allowance and sew in the order shown below:

Press towards the "house" fabric in all blocks. The seams will nest nicely!

All sewn together!

View from the back after being pressed

We’re going to trim the houses to give them their unique shape. First, fold the house block, matching the short sides and keeping the fold on the right. Place a mark on the bottom 3 ¾ inches from the fold as shown:

Line up your ruler with the upper left corner and the mark and trim with your rotary cutter:

Open up and here’s the main part of your house!

Assemble all your houses this way. Now we’re going to make the side sky around the house. Get your kite fabric and cut four 5 ¾ inch by 8 ½ inch rectangles and stack two pieces in two piles, right sides up:

5 3/4" by 8 1/2" sky fabrics

Cut each stack on the diagonal like the following picture:

The triangles on the left are all the same and the triangles on the right are all the same

Take a triangle from each stack and one of your house blocks for this next step. Place the sky triangle on the house block, matching the corner with the seam line like this picture:

The little red circle shows where to place the corner.

Stitch ¼ inch along the long side of the triangle. Repeat with other side and press towards the sky gentlysince you are working with a bias edge:

Trim straight across, so your house and sky look like this:

You can raise your roof using either of the following two methods. First, you can cut a 9 inch square and cut it once on the diagonal:

Or, for the stripe, you can cut a strip 6 ½ inches by 21 inches and try the technique mentioned in the second photo:

Line up the ruler so both 9 inch marks are along the edge of the fabric and cut up one side and down the other. Flip the ruler, line it up the same way and cut. You'll have two perfect triangles!

We’re ready to attach the roof. Fold the roof and the main house in half and mark with a pin or crease:

Line up the edges and the pins and sew ¼ inch seam:

Be careful with those bias edges!

Now let’s make the yard. Take your green fabric with the fences on it and cut a square 9 ¾ inches. Then cut the square on the diagonal twice:

At this point, I decided on a layout for my houses so I knew where to put the grass blocks, since the fabric is directional. Fold the house and the grass in half and either pin or crease. Line up the bottom edges of the house with the grass and match the pins. Sew ¼ inch seam:

Press towards the grass.

Congratulations! You’ve completed your house blocks. You should check to make sure each block is 12 ½ inches square and trim if necessary:

You’re ready to sew all four of your houses together! I pressed towards the red:

To make the setting triangles, cut the Neighborhood fabric in yellow into two 18 ¼ inches. I folded it in half and then made my cut, so when I cut once on the diagonal, all the images were going in the correct direction:

Opposite sides were sewn onto the house center square:

You can line up the triangle point with the center seam and it comes out perfectly!

Trim the dog ears and stand back to admire your work!

I thought it might be nice to add some embellishments after it was quilted; buttons for door knobs, iron-on appliqués to make window boxes and rick rack around the town. I like monofilament for quilting so there isn’t any competition with the fabrics.

Here’s what it could look like:

Use your imagination and personalize your neighbourhood!

and look if you would like to make your own table topper

here is a bundle that includes everything you will need...

Sew who is in your neighbourhood that you would like

to have over for coffee?

Winner announced WED morning...!

Sorry my morning just slipped right on  by..

CONGRATS TO 

GRANJoyce  This package

along with some needles and Presencia

in case you want to do some embroidery

on the houses... is on its way ....

Ohhhh the pattern too...

ON it's way to TEXAS.....

Thanks to Monica, for a delightful package!

and to Colonial Needle for all the extras...