Making a modern quilt design using traditional quilt blocks

In my QUILTsocial posts from April 30 – May 4, 2018 and July 2 – 6, 2018, I showed you how to make some modern quilts using fat quarters from the Northcott Banyan Batiks “Feathers”, and Visual Sound collections.

This week, I’ll show you how to use 8 fat quarters from the Banyan Batiks “Tie One On” collection in the Ventura colorway, along with some coordinating fabrics from the Ketan collection, to make table runners and placemats.

All fat quarters are not created equal! Most fat quarters are 18″ long, but if you’re buying fabric in metric measurement, they will be 20″ long. Similarly, some fabrics are not a full 44″ wide. Fortunately, all the Northcott Banyan Batiks that I have used are 44″ wide. It’s nice to know you have that extra little bit of fabric in the width. For the projects this week, all the fat quarters are 18″ long and 22″ wide.

The plan is to use up all the fat quarters and not have little pieces left over. Let’s get started! Here are my fat quarters from the Tie One On collection. Not showing in the picture is one gray print fat quarter.

I’ll be using 3 different gray Banyan Batiks Ketan fabrics for bindings and accents #442 Steel Gaze, #441 Silver Lites and #639 Midnight Caller.

Let’s start by making this table runner. The finished size is 22″ x 38″.

Cut each Tie One On fat quarter, on the lengthwise grain, into 3 – 5″ strips and 2 – 2¾” strips. There will be a narrow strip left from the fat quarter, but don’t throw it away – you’ll be using it too! The strips will be approximately 18″ long.

Choose 3 different fabrics from the 5″ strips. I used 2 pink #1 strips, 2 pink #2 strips and 3 gray strips for a total of 7 – 5″ strips

Cut each strip into 2 pieces, varying the length of each piece.

4 patch blocks

These will be used as accent pieces with the strips. Choose 4 or 5 – 2¾” strips that are not the same colors as the 5″ strips.

• Cut the strips in half so they are about 9″ long.
• Sew 2 different strips together, joining the long sides. Try to make as many different combinations as possible. Don’t press the seams yet.

• Cut the strips into 2¾” segments.
• Sew the segments together to make 4 patch blocks, finger pressing the seams as you are sewing, so they nest together. Try to have 4 different fabrics in each block.
• The blocks should measure 5″.
• You need a total of 7 – 4 patch blocks. There will be some segments left over, and they’ll be used in the next project.

Come back tomorrow and learn how to put all the Banyan Batiks Tie One On pieces together to finish the table runner.