Emma

So many things worked together to inspire my newest pattern. Emma and Mr. Knightley. The beauty of finding the one you want to spend the rest of your life with. Beautiful fabrics and soothing hand-work. This was the perfect combination for the table runner I had been wanting to make for an antique dry sink my husband and I bought years ago.

I am fairly new to English paper piecing but I find it relaxing and satisfying. It doesn’t require a ton of fabric and it is very portable. I also love the precision the die-cut paper pieces produce.

I think my fabric selection motto is “the more the merrier!” I love pulling all my boxes of fat quarters and finding just the right fabrics for what I am working on. I picked the striped border fabric first and the rest was easy. Actually, it may have been a little difficult narrowing down the choices a bit but I think the result is just right!

I chose hand quilting over machine quilting. I felt the Dresden plates and classic fabrics called for traditional hand quilting. I started by quilting between the blades and around the perimeter of the Dresden plates. The background fabric is tone-on-tone and had a tiny diagonal pattern so I didn’t have to mark my quilting lines at all. I quilted around both sides of the inner border then quilted along the stripes in the outer border. I love the look and feel of hand quilting so I don’t mind adding a good amount to what I’m working on.

Whether you start with the perfect border fabric or you fall in love with a charm pack at your local quilt shop you are sure to love your version of this small table runner. The pattern is available here in my shop.

Thanks for taking a look today. I’ll be back in a couple days with a bit of encouragement and a little peek at my next pattern in the works.

Blessings,

Michelle