GO! Spring Time Renewal Table Runner

Ahhh, spring. It has been a long time coming here in the midwest, but a few tulips were blooming this morning so I just had to share them with you. Terri here, from Lizard Creek Quilting join along with me as I show you how I gave the GO! Morning Star block a fresh modern vibe. Also an unexpected way to use the limited edition GO! Nautical Medley die.

Dies You Need

To get started you will need the following dies:

• GO! Morning Star (55556)
• GO! Nautical Medley (55497)
• GO! Spring Medley (55494)
• GO! Circle (55484)
• GO! Strip Cutter 1½" (1" finished) (55024)
• GO! Strip Cutter 2½" (2" finished) (55017)
• GO! Strip Cutter 6½" (6" finished) (55086)

Fabrics needed for table runner that finishes 16" x 89".

• Background–1½ yards
• Light cream–¾ yard
• Multi Blue–¾ yard
• Aqua–½ yard
• Wool in assorted robin egg blues, dark brown and cream–10" x 10" each
• Batting–18" x 91"–Warm & White from The Warm Company was used in project
• Backing–20" x 93"
• Fusible Web–8" x 18"–Lite Steam A Seam 2 from The Warm Company was used in project
  Fabrics used in project are from Island Batik.

Cutting Your Fabric

Shape B

Cut 24 Background

Background

• Cut two strips, 1½" x width of fabric (WOF), subcut into five 1½" x 12½" sashing rectangles
• Cut five strips, 2½" x WOF for upper and lower borders
• Cut one strip, 6½" x WOF, subcut into two 6½" x 12½" sashing end rectangles

Light Cream

Cut 6 strips, 2½" x WOF for binding

The precise engineered corners are just one of my favorite things about the GO! Morning Star BOB die. 

• Instructions for piecing the blocks can be found HERE. 
• Make 6 blocks total. Refer to the two color ways shown below.
• Pin and sew GO! Morning Star blocks, sashing rectangles and sashing end rectangles as shown. Press to sashing rectangles.
• Pin and sew top/bottom border strips together along short ends. Measure table runner and cut 2 border strips to that length. Pin and sew to top and bottom of table runner as shown. Press to border strips.
• Layer table runner with batting and backing.
• Quilt as desired. I used the walking foot to quilt long wavy lines that cross over each other along the length of the runner.
• Bind.

As you can see in the drawing above, by using the background color in selected parts of the Morning Star blocks along with the side triangles and sashing rectangles the Morning Stars take on a whole new look. They appear to float on the surface of the table runner, giving them the fresh modern vibe I was going for.

Next up, my favorite technique!

AccuQuilt Appliqué Dies + Wool

When using wool for appliqué, I like to conserve my stash as much as possible. So to prepare the wool for fusing first, I measure the shape on the die that I am going to be using. Then I figure out how many shapes I will need. That will tell me how big of piece of Lite Steam A Seam 2 to cut and apply to the back of the wool.

I am only going to be using the bottom part of the sail boat on the GO! Nautical Medley die, so I covered that part with two layers of fused wool and a small 6 x 6 mat. Cut four sail boat bottoms.

Cut an assortment of robin eggs using two layers of fused wool on the GO! Spring Medley die.

Remove paper backing from two sail boat bottoms and arrange as shown above to form the "dough bowl" which will soon be filled with eggs.

Arrange an assortment of robin eggs, using two of them to cover up the space between the two sail boat bottoms. I cut the edge off a few eggs so they would lay nice inside the dough bowl. Fuse into place per manufactures' instructions. Make this arrangement on both ends of table runner.

Using a matching dark thread color, freemotion stitch around each shape to hold in place.

Now the final step, filler hydrangea flowers. Use two layers of cream wool with NO fusible to cut many ¾" circles.

Thread a sharp needle and knot the end. Fold and pinch a wool circle in half. Slide needle through both halves at the bottom of fold.

Continue adding three to five petals onto needle. Pinch and hold petals together. 

Pull thread through all petals. Then stitch back through them all again, keeping the petals tight together. Leave thread and needle attached to petal unit.

Place petal unit in desired position among the robin eggs. Use needle and thread from petal unit to attach to table runner. I stitched all the way through to the back, did a few hand-stitched and knot thread. Continue making petal units and attaching them to table runner until desired fullness. Check out my post HERE for another way I used these filler hydrangea flowers.

"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature-the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter." –Rachel Carson

I hope this inspires you to create some Springtime renewal into your life. I would love to see your finished project so be sure to share your creations with us on social media. Tag me @lizardcreekquilting and @AccuQuilt on Instagram and always use the #AccuQuilt hashtag so we can see them! If you're not on Instagram, share with us on Facebook, too! Give us a follow while you're there and you'll be the first to know what we're making.

Until next time, peacefully quilting,

Terri