Sue Shattuck (@Grabacupandsew on Instagram) turns out the best block of the month projects for your Brimfield Blocks. Here’s what she has up her sleeve for March. Enjoy this free tutorial! Thank you Sue!!
Brimfield Block BOM – St. Patrick’s Day Table Runner
Supplies:
Self-Healing Rotary Cutting mat
Rotary cutter of your choice
Assorted green fabrics
Brimfield Acrylic Set
Papers to make 3 Brimfield Blocks
White fabric cut to 18 x 52 inches
Backing fabric cut to 19x 53 inches
Batting of your choice (I use 100% cotton) cut to 19×53 inches
Binding strips of your choice (1/4 yard)
Thread – white and green
Tape measure
Curved ruler
Cardstock
Aluminum Foil
With all the holidays to choose from, it can be hard to choose just one for a project! I’ve always wanted something for home decor to honor St. Patrick’s Day. My husband is partly Irish, and we’ve pretty much ignored that fact for many years so this was my opportunity. I decided to make a table runner for home use using three Brimfield Blocks in a row. I really wanted to do something for Pi day since our daughter is a high school math teacher, but I’d just made her a nice gift and didn’t want my other kids to know that she’s my favorite! (Just kidding….)
I wanted to stick with the traditional green and white theme. One of my favorite online shops – Sunny Day Supply – has a gorgeous green fat quarter bundle. Not one to hold self control when it comes to fabric, I ordered a bundle and paired it with one of my favorite fabrics of all time: Yuwa’s Cotorienne Sheeep by Anyan in green.
The reason I adore this fabric is that it features a darling Border Collie in the background who appears to be herding flocks of sheep. Since we have our fourth Border Collie and are completely in love with the breed, I decided to use this fabric in honor of our beloved Sophie Skye. Note: this fabric is double gauze, which is NOT the easiest for EPP. I recommend a 3/8 seam allowance. Not wanting to waste a lot of time, I cut my pieces randomly for all three blocks, but used a bit more of the Yuwa fabric I wanted to highlight.
I cut one piece of plain white fabric 18 x 52 inches and one of the backing ( Yuwa triple gauze). Once all three blocks were fully assembled, I put them on the white backing, measured the center, matched the points and hand-sewed using blind stitch appliqué.
Once all three blocks were appliquéd, I fussy- cut three circles of the sheep and three border collies. Using the foil method, I cut a circle out of card stock, sprayed each circle with starch, pressed, then wrapped the fabric around the card. Then I took a piece of aluminum foil and carefully finger-pressed around the edge. I let it sit for a few minutes as I continued to finger press. Carefully remove the foil and card stock, and your fabric will be nice circle to appliqué on the quilt top. Set aside.
I used a matching green thread to sew 1/4 inch around each of the Brimfield blocks. Once this was complete, I changed my thread and FMQ the table runner, keeping each Brimfield center unquilted. I used a bias stripe for binding ( I really like diagonal striped bindings), and bound the edges.
Then I applied each of the three dog/sheep circles randomly on the quilt top. I decided to use a decorative stitch to symbolize the dog “herding” the sheep. I used a curved ruler and erasable fabric marker, and simply followed the line on my machine Voila! My table runner is complete!
EPP Tip: The Yuwa fabric I used is double gauze. I DO NOT recommend this for beginning English Paper Piecing – if you do use this fabric, give yourself extra seam allowance because the fabric tends to shred when you whipstitch the pieces together.
