When I first saw the My Japanese Garden collection by Stof Fabrics, I loved how pretty it was. I am not usually someone who gravitates towards fabric with floral prints, but this collection isn't the typical floral collection. I knew I wanted to make something with this fabric, and thought a Japanese Garden table topper would be a great project for it. The colours in this collection include lighter greens, blues, purples, creamy beige, and darker reds and blues. The deep reds and blues reduce some of the softness of the lighter colours, and help add some dimension and drama. The colours all blend really great with each other.
This table topper mostly consists of half square triangles. There are 72 squares in total, including 64 half square triangles and 8 solid white squares. The half square triangles are half print, half white. I made this table topper with one My Japanese maple squares pack, and I cut 40 white squares. This pattern works with a charm pack that has at least 10 doubles. The 40 white squares can also be bought as a charm pack, which would make this project easier and quicker.
For the borders and the backing, I used Stof's Melange 4509 in light green, light beige pink, and light purple. In total, I needed about 1/2 meter of each of the Melange 4509 colours.
I cut the pink fabric into 1" strips for the border, and the green into 1 3/4" strips. Since the 1/2 meter pieces of Melange weren't big enough to do a solid backing, I did a colour block. I kept the purple fabric in one piece., then added 4" strips of the pink and 3/4" strips of the green.
I stuck with quilting around the patchwork pattern, quilting 1/4" from the seam. To finish this off, I added binding using the Melange 4509 light green.
My finished table topper measures approximately 27" x 50".
My Japanese Garden table topper was quick and easy to make. Originally, my plan was for this to be a Spring item, but I think it is perfect for any time of the year.