Interlocking Herringbone

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik.

I mentioned in a previous post that all Island Batik Ambassadors were challenged to try a new technique this month.  Over the past couple of years, I have been whittling away at my "some day I want to try..." list, so it took some thought. Many years ago, I saw an antique quilt made in a herringbone pattern where the strips interlocked and joined together like magic. That quilt stuck in my head like a herring bone would in my throat.

Technically, the piece "builds" like a braid quilt, and I've done several of those.  But with the braid method, the sides of each column are squared off, creating a straight seam line up the quilt. You can see what I mean on Bonnie Hunter's braid, where the seam between the blue and white in the second picture is quite distinct. Easy to do, but not as aesthetically pleasing for those of us who want the patchwork to flow uninterrupted across the face of the quilt. (I almost wrote, "to flow seamlessly..." but that would be silly! :) Obviously there was a way to do this, and it was fun figuring it out. The best part?  I used up nearly every little inch of my beautiful fabric, except this small pile of trimmings:

I started with some Island Batik "Stashbuster" rolls.  Love the colours! The piece with gold was chosen especially to match a favourite pitcher.

Then I started building my patchwork.  The colours were all added in a random, scrappy fashion.

Because I have a penchant for odd-shaped, pointy things, I didn't trim off the points on the ends.I let the shape of the patchwork naturally determine the shape of the finished piece.

I chose a 50 weight Aurifil 4644 - Smoke Blue - for both the piecing and quilting. It blended right in.

Because the patchwork is fairly busy, I chose to quilt simple, straight lines, 1/4" away from all seams. The batting used is Hobbs Thermore, which you can purchase locally at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium. It was very easy to work with, and gave just enough loft to each little pillow.

Here's the finished runner;  you can see the points left on both ends.

It's a perfect size for my table with the extension leaf in.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning this technique, and...well...actually have a queen sized quilt underway, using batik scraps.

You can download the pattern for the runner here.  In addition to instructions for the runner, I've also included cutting charts for Lap, Twin, Double, Queen and King sizes.
Thank you, Island Batik, not just for providing the fabrics for this challenge, but for the challenge itself.  I thoroughly enjoyed learning how to do this.