Blast From the Past (2011 Japanese Print Table Runner)

It's been two years since I told you about my plans for a table-runner quilt, made from Japanese prints.  I had the fabric, came up with a design, all ready to go, but somehow... ..well... it just never happened.

But now it HAS!

I've adjusted the design slightly - simplified it, really.  There are 9 rectangular blocks with the blue/gold mums, each with 2 half-inch borders of cream/gold fabric.  They are framed by a coffee/gold print.  Here's a segment so you can see the colours:

(Double click the photos below to see larger images)

There's just enough of the flower print to use as the binding:

For bedspreads, I've been using plain unbleached muslin (aka: "homespun").  With printed calico costing anywhere from $15 to $25 a meter, I just can't justify the expense of a print, when I can back a bedspread with something that costs $6 a meter instead.  But for this project, well, a print makes more sense, so the table runner is backed with this Japanese writing print:

It only took me 2 years to get around to this... and the quilting and finishing on this project will go very fast.  I'm going to stitch inside the flower blocks and then around the edges, but not much more than that.  I'm using a cream thread, which shows up nicely, gives just the effect I'm wanting for this project.