Flower Pounding Table Runner

Did you know you can pound the color of flowers and leaves into fabric to create your own fabric designs?  I shared this project on Positively Splendid last month.  If you missed it over there, I'm going to show you how to hammer your way to beautiful botanic fabric creations.

Supplies:  muslin fabric, scissors, masking tape, hammer, board ( or other surface suitable for hammering) & flowers/leaves.  You'll want to gather a variety of flower petals and leaves.  Carrot tops work really well (as photographed at the top), petunias, geraniums, etc.  Pick some colorful stems and experiment.  Some flowers transfer better than others.

Step 1:  Place your flower or stem on the fabric and cover with masking tape:

Step 2:  place the flipped over fabric on top of a board (masking tape will be on the underside) and pound the masked area with a hammer: 

 Step 2:  Flip the fabric back around and peel the making tape away from the fabric:

Step 3:  Repeat by placing another flower with masking tap and hammering until you have your desired design.  Here are the discarded pieces of masking tape:

 We pounded 4 sections of fabric that afternoon:

 The 4 blocks were pieced together to create a pretty spring table runner:

 Close up of the quilting:

You can use the fabric for so many applications, but keep in mind if you launder the fabric, the colors will fade.

This is a great project to try with kids- especially if your kids like to gather wildflower bouquets when you are out on a walk or hike.  You can also flower pound on paper to make cards or frame a print.