When my grandma passed in 2016 many of her sewing supplies, projects, and textiles came to live with me, including a pile of very finely constructed doilies. I had an idea to put them on quilts for my family members, but four years later those doily quilts hadn’t made it to the top of my to-do list. It finally occurred to me that table runners might be just as appreciated and a far more attainable goal for me. I spent a week working steadily on these (and one for myself that is almost done) and finished them just in time for gift giving. They were opened over video call in true 2020 style.

I felt a little uneasy about cutting these lacy things that had clearly taken a lot of time and care to make. But I finally decided to go for it... Doilies aren’t exactly popular as home decor these days, and I thought chopping them for these runners was a better fate for them than staying packed away in boxes or drawers. Hopefully these runners will get plenty of use. And I think they really highlight her work. I hope she would approve.

I quilted these (very densely!) on my Juki. I wanted all the sections to get tacked down to prevent any snags during use. Lots of imperfect, organic echo quilting. Took a lot of time and thread, but I love the effect.