What can I do with all these scraps? Have you ever looked at a pile of fabric bits and thought that? This quick table topper can help use up a few, and you can make it in any theme you want. For Christmas in July, I pulled Christmas scraps and set to work.

The one that really caught my attention was the peppermints on the black background. So festive! So I pulled from those colors and stitched out a fun center block. Then I added some brighter prints with white background for contrast.

I took this project with me on retreat last weekend. I put the elements up on my design board to see how it was going to look. Almost everyone in the room were in agreement that the peppermint was stealing the show, too bright and the design seemed busy. It grabbed attention, and took away from the embroidery.

Of course, I had brought more fabrics, LOL! So we tried one with a softer navy background and a smaller scale print. The other prints still seemed to go well, and so I went with this one.

I framed the embroidery with the print in one inch finished strips. Next will be to add squares.

It wasn’t hard to figure out the math, since the squares all finish at 2-inches.

Using the Fibonacci sequence (1-2-3), I put a three inch border on as a final border. Quick and easy, done in just an afternoon. I just need to quilt it and then bind it.

Here’s the pattern –
Center square – 6-1/2-inches square – make this an embroidery or a fussy cut
First border – two 1-1/2-inch wide x 6-1/2-inches long strips, and two 1-1/2-inch wide x 8-1/2-inches long strips. Apply shorter strips first to opposite sides, then add longer strips to the remaining sides.
Second border of Squares – Twenty 2-1/2-inch squares. Sew two sets of four squares in a strip, and two sets of six squares in a strip. Apply shorter strips first to opposite sides, then add longer strips to the remaining sides.
Third border – two 3-1/2-inch wide x 12-1/2-inches long strips, and two 3-1/2-inch wide x 18-1/2-inches long strips. Apply shorter strips first to opposite sides, then add longer strips to the remaining sides.

Download the pdf – Christmas in July Quick Table Topper.

Quilting took less than 30 minutes. It almost took more time to load it. But a nice rainy day was perfect for inside sewing.

I used a fairly dense pantograph called Cinnamon Swirl by Apricot Moon Designs for Urban Elementz. I used Glide thread in the top in an ecru color, with Bottom Line in the bobbin.

Trimmed up, and ready to bind. Make yours in the colors of your kitchen, and take advantage of Milk Street’s Christmas in July Sale. Save up to 75% on a selection of best selling favorite tools, equipment, pantry, linens and more. Exclusions apply. Sale Dates 7/25-7/28.

I have the binding attached here, but it is only pinned to the back. I want to finish it by hand, and I’ll save it for Sunday Slow Stitching while watching racing or Canadian football.

I already want another one for Thanksgiving. This may be the answer for those honey and bee scraps I have leftover too. Any theme works! What are your ideas?