A Round Tablecloth from Scraps

I recently made a small Linus quilt with red/white/blue scraps I had accumulated.  I was determined not to put the bag of scraps back into storage and was looking for other fabric to use to make another project.  I found a ½ yard piece of a fabric I’ve had for about three years and never wanted to cut into.  I used this as the centerpiece of a large round tablecloth.

I used a pattern called New Water Wheel and adapted it to use the size pieces I had the most of from my scrap bags plus a few pinwheel blocks left over from the Linus quilt.  Even the binding was cut from strips of red scraps.  Backing was made from some scrap curtain material.

I used small pieces of the focus fabric combined with red/white/blue scraps to make two large mats that can be placed over the tablecloth to cut down on laundry.

 

The Best of 2010

It’s been another fun year of blogging and on this last day of 2010, I revisited the 10 most popular of the past year’s posts.

Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt

Round Patchwork Tablecloth

The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford Dessert

Irish Lemon Blackberry Sponge Pudding

Pork-Apple-Sweet Potato Casserole

Peach Crumble Pie

Creamy Ham Tetrazzini

Vintage Hanky Heart Pillow

Light Pineapple Cheesecake

Tasty Gingerbread Muffins

Happy New Year to All!

Round Patchwork Tablecloth

Recently, my oldest daughter moved back home and one of the items she brought with her was a great Bob Timberlake drop-leaf kitchen table.

It even matched up well with my 1930s era chairs.

When the leaves are extended, I have a round table about 47″ diameter.  There is also a handy drawer that opens from two sides.

The problem was I’ve never owned a round table or round tablecloth.  I thought I might use this as a good excuse to use up a lot of scraps and make a patchwork tablecloth.  I basically made a piece of cloth 52″x52″ from every scrap I could find in the colors of green, yellow and pink.  I started out using all the small pieces, cutting 2″x2″ squares.  When that fabric ran out, I started cutting strips 2″ wide, sewing them together and then sub-cutting them in 2″ wide pieces.    It wasn’t difficult work, but I hadn’t counted on how much time it would take to put together enough  2″ squares/strips to make a 52″ square of fabric.  I finally completed it, cut the pieced fabric in a circle, and sewed it to a backing fabric with stitching going across the cloth in 6 places.  Then, I put on a binding and had a tablecloth that I really like and that cost nothing but time – a lot of time.

My daughter reminded me that I have a set of dinnerware, also by Bob Timberlake, called Emma’s Rooster.  I’ve been using the dinnerware for about 20 years, but it should look even better and feel right at home on the new table.