Sister's Choice Table Runner Precut Pod and Optional Layouts

Today let's do something a little different. You've probably seen the precut kits that are out on the market these days. Maywood Studio makes a bunch of them that they call "Pods". We're going to look at the Sister's Choice pod and how you can change it up.

Precut Fabric Pieces

The awesome thing about precut kits is that you don't have to do much cutting so you can get right to the sewing and get a project done so much faster. In this Sister's Choice pod you get precut patches, sashing, binding and backing fabric to make a table runner that is five blocks long and finishes at 13" by 58". Here you can see all the fabric pieces that come in the pod.

Long Table Runner

Here's a picture of the finished table runner.

Short Table Runner

If you're like me, 58" is too long for my table. So I made mine only four blocks long. And that gave me an extra block to make a hot pad. You could make it only three blocks long and have two extra blocks for potholders.

Square Table Topper

Then I got to thinking (I know, that's a dangerous thing!) - could I make a square table topper that would fit my table even better? So I pieced together four blocks and laid them out. There was plenty of fabric for sashing and borders. I did have to cut a square off the end of one of the border strips to put as a cornerstone in the middle of the quilt.

Here's a picture of it all sewn together.

This layout finishes at about 24" square and will fit my table much better! I did have to cut the backing fabric and piece it back together to make a wide enough piece for backing. I'm okay with the seam down the center - it won't be seen. Of course, if you wanted to make the topper bigger, you could use the backing fabric for another border and then use coordinating fabric from your stash for backing.

Extra Block

And once again I have an extra block for a hot pad! 

Other Options

Other ways to use the Sister's Choice pods would be to make an even bigger lap or throw quilt by buying more than one kit. So two pods would make 10 blocks and you could use nine blocks (3 x 3 layout) for a larger square quilt (should finish about 35" square). Three pods could be configured either 3 x 4 with 3 blocks left over or 3 x 5 blocks for a longer quilt. 

So if you don't like the layout of a particular precut kit but like the block and fabric, you may be able to reconfigure it more to your liking!

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Happy Quilting!

Elaine

P.S. I do have this Sister's Choice pod for sale. You can find it by clicking here.  And it's on sale!