Table Top Swap

I'm playing along in the Table Top Swap.  Round 2 is table runners.  I was on a real table runner kick a couple of years ago, but this time, I just couldn't make up my mind.  My partner said she liked simple blocks, bright colors, trees and flowers.  No trees here, but I tried to give her a little bit of each of the rest.

Simple blocks?  Check.  Giant shoo fly blocks are pretty simple.

Flowers?  Check.  Embroidered flowers and print flowers.

Bright colors?  Check.  Primary colors should qualify as bright. 

 I was also trying to coordinate with the napkins she received in Round 1.  They had a lot of gray in them, which I'm sure you know by now isn't my favorite. 

I tried something a little different this time...

I used gray background for the two outside blocks...

And white for the middle block.


The blocks are pretty large - they each are 18" square - so the runner measures 18" x 54".

The center of the block was such a big empty space I added some embroidery.  It's pretty much free-hand, unstructured embroidery. 

I also wanted to add some extra color and make the blocks coordinate with each other, so I tried to pick up the colors from the other blocks in each one.

It actually made for a pretty leisurely Saturday afternoon to sit and just embroider the flowers.  Very relaxing.

 I used straight line quilting in the corners to echo the lines of the block and stipple quilting in the colored part of the block.  I think you can see it in the photo.  Just don't look too close at the stippling.    The centers are not quilted because I didn't want to compete with the embroidery.  I toyed with embroidering around the flowers, but in the end, I left them alone.

I also made my partner a couple of other coordinating kitchen-y things, but apparently I had the camera on the wrong setting and the photos didn't turn out.  Oh well.  You may just have to imagine a pretty green kitchen towel and a pinwheel pot holder to coordinate with the set.

And it's off in the mail.  Hope she likes it.