The Table Runner for the Stanley and a Surprise Gift

I finally finished the table runner for the Stanley Stove. Here in Ireland, many of the cottages and bungalows have Stanleys in the sitting room. You can put turf or coal into the Stanley, and it will heat the whole house. There is also a hot plate on top and you can cook on it, but the table runner is covering that. Also, on the bottom of the Stanley is an oven,where you can actually bake cakes, etc. I don't use the Stanley, as I have an oven in the kitchen, and we use the storage heater to heat the house, as it is set to a timer, and it doesn't go on till the evening when the rates are much lower. It is therefore more economical than the Stanley. I do like having the Stanley in the living room, and on Christmas day, I may light it, as it will make the living room very cozy. I decided to decorate the Stanley a bit, thus the runner. I am pleased with how it turned out, and boy does it make a difference. Patches, my teddy bear, is quite pleased that I decorated the Stanely as yuu can see by his big smile. By the way, Patches is wearing the Donegal Sports Logo baseball cap....funny, huh?

Also today, I received a surprise gift from my friend Kath. She sent me the audio cds for the book The Time Traveller, which is a neat book about time travel and tells of a lovely romance It was written by Audrey Niffenegger. Thanks so much Kath. i will be listening to the audios while I sew.

Hope everyone had a great day! I have had a lovely long walk with Joe, and we are now relaxing in our cottage. Everyone have a great weekend!

PS: Colleen asked me about the pattern that I used for the table runner. It came from Patchwork and Quilting Magazine(UK version), December, 2008 issue. The pattern was in Christmas fabrics, but I wanted it to match our decor, so I changed the fabrics. Full sized foundation piecing patterns and templates were provided, and the pattern was mostly paper pieced, which I love doing. There was no name to the pattern, except that they called it Country Christmas. You could make either a runner, like I did, or also make matching placemats. I just fell in love with it!