Sew Cute Runner Series - May

Published April 2026

Join Jen as she shows you how to celebrate the seasons in style with our new Shabby Fabrics Sew Cute Runner Series. Petite and adorable, the May runner features two purple basket patchwork blocks framing a center panel filled with tossed pre-fused laser-cut appliqué flowers, bordered by sweet scalloped edges. Bursting with fresh spring color, this runner makes a lovely addition to your home and a thoughtful way to celebrate Mother’s Day, whether decorating for the occasion or creating a heartfelt, handmade gift. Check the links below for everything you need.

In this video, you'll learn:

• How to use a Creative Grid ruler’s framing marks to square up an oversized half-square triangle without any guesswork about how much to trim.
• Why pressing is not ironing — and how letting go of the iron instead of sliding it protects bias edges from stretching out of shape.
• A simple check-before-you-trim “insurance policy” for the basket’s corner seam, so a slightly off point never costs you fabric.
• How a tacky applique mat lets you merge a whole cluster of layered flower shapes into one finished unit before it ever touches your background.
• Why waiting to stitch the applique down until after quilting gives the finished piece a raised, embossed look.

Check the links for everything you need.

Introduction

May’s Sew Cute Runner block is a basket of flowers — a natural fit for Mother’s Day, pieced in beautiful plums and purples that read as far more sophisticated than a basic purple. There’s a bit more going on in this block than in some of the earlier months, thanks to the basket’s patchwork, but the same trim-and-press rhythm carries you through it.

Every kit ships with a full-color pattern. You’ll get all the fabrics shown here, the laser-cut flower and handle shapes already pre-fused, plus your backing, binding, pattern, and a video tutorial to follow along with.

Squaring Up With Confidence

This block leans on a half-square triangle cut oversized, the same way you’ve seen in earlier months — giving you room to square it up to an exact size rather than hoping your piecing landed perfectly.

1. On the back of your lighter fabric, either draw a line corner to corner and sew a scant quarter inch on either side of it, or skip the drawn line entirely and use a Creative Grid seam guide instead.
2. Sew, then cut apart on the diagonal between your two lines of stitching, and press both units toward the darker fabric.
3. Square each unit up using a Creative Grid ruler sized to the finished measurement your pattern calls for — framing the block inside the ruler’s numbered lines and its diagonal dashed guide, which sits right along your seam allowance once you’re positioned correctly.
4. Trim two sides, rotate the ruler 180 degrees, line the same numbers up on the two freshly trimmed edges, and trim the remaining two sides.

Most of us are more accurate sewing on a drawn line than measuring a quarter inch away from one. That’s exactly why a seam guide is worth reaching for — it removes the step of eyeballing a quarter inch to either side of a line and lets you simply sew directly on what’s already drawn for you.

Adding the Handle

The basket’s handle is a pre-fused, laser-cut shape, and getting it centered on your background fabric is easier than it looks.

1. Finger-press your background fabric in half to find its exact center, then finger-press your handle piece the same way.
2. Remove the paper backing from the handle, then line up the two finger-press creases so the handle is centered — the bottom ends of the handle run into your seam allowance, so there’s no need to compensate for that.
3. Press with a medium-heat iron to fuse the handle in place, then stitch it down.

Dial your iron back to medium any time you’re working with fusible webbing. The high heat you’d use for regular patchwork can actually work against a fusible product. Bring your iron down to medium whenever you’re fusing, then bump it back up when you return to piecing.

Building the Basket: Pressing, Not Ironing

With several diagonal cuts in this block, you’re working with a fair amount of bias — edges that stretch easily if handled the wrong way.

1. Set your unit in place, lower the iron, and lift straight up rather than sliding it side to side. Pressing sets a seam without dragging or distorting a bias edge the way ironing back and forth can.
2. Trim away the dog ears left over from each seam as you go — a small habit that keeps your block tidy and easy to read as it comes together.
3. Build your left and right sides the same way, pressing toward the handle once each side joins the center — the seam naturally wants to fall that direction once everything is sewn.

The Basket Corner: Check Before You Trim

One corner of the basket is set in with a stitch-and-flip seam, and it’s worth taking a moment before you commit to trimming it.

1. Draw a line corner to corner on the back of your corner fabric, exactly diagonal so the point lands neither too shallow nor too deep.
2. Fold the piece in half to confirm it hits the corner precisely, pin it securely so nothing shifts, and sew directly on the line.
3. Before you trim anything, press the corner open and take a look. If the point is sharp and sitting where it should, go ahead and trim away the excess underneath. If it isn’t quite right, you still have all your fabric to unpick and resew.

Once both basket blocks are complete, add your side borders, then your top and bottom borders — straightforward piecing after the patchwork you’ve just finished.

Layering the Applique With a Tacky Mat

This block’s flowers are prefused and laser cut, but with several overlapping shapes per flower, merging them into one unit before they reach your background makes the whole process far more manageable.

1. Working with a light pad under your printed layout diagram, place your shapes on a tacky applique mat in numbered order — the lowest number goes down first, and a dashed line on a shape means that edge tucks behind whatever sits on top of it.
2. Once every piece for that unit is placed, press for seven to eight seconds without sliding the iron, so nothing shifts out of position.
3. Let the merged unit cool completely before lifting it — removing it while it’s still warm is the one mistake that will make it fall apart.
4. Transfer the cooled unit to your background fabric, positioning it with a light pad underneath, then press to fuse.

A tacky applique mat is not negotiable when shapes overlap. Once you set the mat over your printed layout, it blocks your view of the diagram underneath — so it helps to snap a quick photo of the layout first, especially on a design with more pieces or a less obvious stacking order.

Finishing the Runner

You have a choice for when to stitch your applique down permanently, and it’s worth knowing both options.

1. Stitch it down as soon as it’s fused, if you’d like — there’s nothing wrong with that approach.
2. Or wait: sew your two basket blocks together, add your borders, then layer with fusible fleece as your batting and your backing fabric before stitching. Sewing through all the layers at once, rather than through the top alone, gives the applique a raised, embossed look.
3. If you wait, changing your top thread color for each flower or leaf (while keeping the same bobbin thread) lets you show off your color choices as you go — and quilts the project at the same time.
4. Square up the finished piece, trimming away excess fleece and backing, and finish with your binding of choice.

Between the ruler technique for perfectly squared units and a tacky mat that turns a cluster of tiny flower pieces into one easy-to-place unit, this block packs in a whole toolkit of skills you’ll reach for again and again.

Pick up this month’s Sew Cute Runner kit, and watch for next month’s installment in the series before this one even hits your calendar.