Flora Blog Hop! Tutorial by Lisa at “Love to Color My World”

Here is our first tutorial on our Flora Blog Hop tour!

Hello! My name is Lisa and I blog over at Love to Color My World...I hope you’ll stop by and say hello!

I was super excited to get my hands on a fat quarter bundle of Kelly Ventura’s Flora line. I love the watercolor look of the prints, and the colors really seem to pop. I decided to sew a few table items–four placemats and a runner. Because the fabrics just have a light, summery feel to them, I opted to make these pieces batting free–I simply used a basic pillowcase technique and then topstitched the edges.

I wanted to keep these designs simple. The fabrics, especially the large florals, are so pretty that I didn’t want to cut them up too much. The placemats are truly fat quarter friendly; with careful cutting, two FQs make each placemat. I made the table runner using six FQs, plus scrap from the placemats, plus three FQs for the backing, though yardage would work as well.

Let’s get started!

You’ll need 17 Flora fat quarters to make both the placemats and table runner.

Each placemat is made with one of the large floral prints and one of the mottled solids. Here’s how I paired them up.

To make a placemat:
Cut 14″ x 21″ strip from the floral fat quarter. The remainder is scrap. From the strip, cut one 2-1/2″ x 14″ strip, one 2″ x 14″ strip, and one 9″ x 14″ strip. Save the last section of the strip for the table runner.

Cut an 8″ x 18″ strip from the solid fat quarter. Trim it to 14″ long and cut two 1-1/2″ x 14″ strips and one 4-1/2″ x 14″ strip. Reserve the rest for the placemat backing. Lay out the floral and mottled solid strips as shown:

Sew the strips together to make the placemat top. Square up to measure 18-1/2″ wide x 13-1/2″ tall.

To finish the placemat, trim the mottled solid backing piece to measure 18-1/2″ x 13-1/2″. Layer right sides together with the placemat top and stitch around all four sides, leaving a 5″ opening for turning. Clip corners, turn right side out, and topstitch around the outer edge with a 1/8″ seam allowance. This will also close the opening. Make three more placemats in the same way.

To make the table runner:
Cut thirteen 1-1/2″ x 14″ strips for sashing–I used the small coral print for mine.

Set aside three fat quarters for the runner backing. From the remaining fat quarters and the placemat scraps, cut the following:
three 5-1/2″ x 14″ pieces
four 4-1/2″ x 14″ pieces
four 3-1/2″ x 14″ pieces
two 2-1/2″ x 14″ pieces

You can cut and lay out your pieces randomly, follow my layout, or make up your own.
Here’s what mine looks like on my design wall:

The order of the various sized pieces is simple.

When you’re satisfied with your layout, sew the strips together to make the table runner top. Tip: Don’t press the seams until all the strips have been stitched together. This helps reduce any warping of the narrower strips.

Now assemble your backing piece. If you’re using fat quarters, sew three together along the short sides. Cut a backing piece to measure 14″ x 59-1/2″. Layer the backing and runner top right sides together and pin.

Stitch around all four sides, leaving an opening on one short end for turning. Clip corners, turn right side out and press. Topstitch 1/8″ from runner edges, which will also secure the opening.

Enjoy your Flora table setting! My table isn’t nearly as picturesque, but I’d love to use these pieces on a shady porch with tall glasses of lemonade and chicken salad sandwiches. What could be more summery?

Thank you so much Lisa!

You, lucky readers now have a chance to win a Fat Quarter bundle of Flora!

Flora by Kelly Ventura Fat Quarter Bundle

Be sure to “like” our Facebook page Follow my blog with Bloglovin and comment on this post and tell us what you would do with the bundle! We’ll choose the winners at the end of the blog hop! Good Luck!