always been friends

If you wrench open a closet door and bushwhack though overstuffed boxes, you may find a thing or two that was very out of sight and quite out of mind.

Last week as I sorted zippers and elastic and buttons and pompoms, I unearthed a small charm pack; a tiny two and a half inch stack of pre-cut possibility that had arrived in a long ago thank you gift.

I sewed the blocks together into four-patches, my sights set on a table runner. Brown and tan, rusty red and dusty blue. I love blue, and it seemed the perfect background color for a table runner with such heavy earthy colors. Add a bit of sky I thought.

I began by stitching a soft teal square between each of the pieced four-patches. Then I added setting triangles on each end and began to sew the rows together.

The runner grew, a sharp diagonal ever longer.

Longer and longer until it was the length of my couch.

As I pondered the fate of the corners, squared or angled, I began to snip off dog-ears. They were Basset Hound ears! I ended up with a handful.

I auditioned backing fabric and chose one with a graphic vibe. I liked the contrast between the tiny old fashioned floral chintz on the front with the pop of color on the back that made me think of computer keys and screens.

Angled ends won the coin toss and I sewed on corners and promptly snipped them to mere shadows of their former selves.

Ta da!! A table runner.

Even with all those tan and brown squares, the blue makes a statement.

The statement is full of light and flight I think.

And the backing is pretty fun.

I think dark brown binding would have been interesting but I didn't want binding to be the focal point.

I might have liked the binding a smidge more if it had been a solid but I used what I had. Remember the overstuffed closet?

Of course, the front and back will never be enjoyed at the same time but I think they look like they were meant to meet.

A decade ago, I made a quilt that is slung over my couch or slung over me on the couch and it was also made from a charm pack, a five inch charm pack, but there are quite a few prints in common. My table runner and quilt are distant relatives. Not too distant. Maybe cousins.

My new table runner has such a lovely familiar feeling about it as though we've always been friends.