How to choose a quilt design for fabric too beautiful to cut into

I’m back and ready to show you how to not be intimidated by beautiful fabrics. If you’ve been following along this blog post, yesterday I cut up all the lovely pieces of the Banyan Batiks Kayana Autumn Collection and am ready to begin a beautiful table runner project that can be done in a weekend. I bet you didn’t have any time to feel intimidated as I made you cut the fabric out of the main piece without really knowing where they would go in the project.

That’s one thing I truly love about this Kayana collection. Not only are the various fabrics beautiful on their own. But! The main piece featuring a gradation in the colorway from selvage to selvage is absolutely fabulous. Seeing this kind of fabric can sometimes overwhelm us as quilters.

So that’s why I decided to come up with an easy design giving the fabric front and center stage. We automatically think that the fabric is so beautiful that we couldn’t dare cut it. But this project is quite the opposite. At first there’s a huge piece that keeps the gradation levels as is. And then using some squares that have been fussy cut out of sections of the fabric to make solid – ish squares to use inside the project.

Now that all the pieces are cut, let’s get right into making the main six blocks.

Grab all the A and B pieces and arrange to form six blocks with your favorite color arrangement. Ensure that the color variation is strong enough to actually see the design of the blocks.

Now sew the three B squares together as established in the arrangement. Begin by sewing two B squares together, pressing the seams toward the darker fabric.

Then sew the third B square to the piece, again pressing  the seams toward the darker fabric.

Once I have the six pieces, sized 2½” x 6½”, I’ll sew the A rectangles on each side of the pieces ensuring the right color combination. Don’t forget to trim if needed to ensure the final block size is 6½”.

Great work! See how easy it is to enjoy playing with the beautiful fabrics of Banyan Batiks Kayana Autumn Collection without feeling intimidated or overwhelmed! Now come back tomorrow when I’ll show the importance of color alignments.