by Nancy
After I finished making my lunch box, I started pondering what to do with the extra flowered fabric from it. (I love this fabric – must use it! Or not…) Most pressing on my List of Possible Future Projects was a small seasonal table runner/table topper for the small table just inside the front door. (Ok, so more pressing than that might be working on some of my Unfinished Objects, but I was able to ignore this less crackpotty idea.) Currently the table still has this winter runner on it – and it’s nearly July – the horror! Although to be honest, I’m not sure how pressing this need really is, as the table is almost always completely covered with mail that Eric needs to sort through, so I’m not sure anyone but me actually knows that it has a winter runner on it. But I know, so it needs to be addressed! 🙂
I started by looking through Marcia McCloskey’s Block Party for block ideas that would let me show off the flower print. I found a few, but I also got distracted inspired by several of the other blocks in there that looked like they would look good in red, white, and blue solids for a 4th of July block. I settled on Stepping Stones, although my color placement is slightly different than what you see in the book or at the link. Next, I did a little looking through my stash for red, white, and dark blue fabric. The red that I chose was fabric that I received from the big box of fabric from Lorene. In fact, no purchases have been made (so far) for this crackpot project. After a little cutting and sewing, here are my blocks:
To get the runner to size it needs to be, I added some borders:
Now I’m ready to put the top, batting, and backing together and quilt it. But rather than using a single piece of fabric for the backing (not crackpotty enough!), I decided this might be the time to use up some scraps. To begin, I pulled out this heart block, which I made with scraps just to try making it (and because I was procrastinating cleaning bathrooms). Now, I’m adding 1.5″ strips of red, white, and blue around it until it’s the size I need. More reports as I progress…
