:: May 2004 
Review
Special-Occasion Table Runners
For a book that maximizes ideas, photos, and templates, Special-Occasion Table Runners, by Janet Carija Brandt, is a good choice. Ms. Brandt is able to cover the topics of table runner design, tools and supplies, fabrics, techniques, and finishing tips in the space of eight pages. In the rest of the 96-page book, she describes and illustrates ten table runner designs for use throughout the year.
Ms. Brandt's timesaving approach to appliqu?© involves the use of the blanket stitch to finish raw edges of the fabric shapes. To make cotton appliqu?© as easy as wool appliqu?©, Ms. Brandt has devised a technique which she calls cotton mini-fuse. This technique results in a thin band of fusible web around the outer edge of a cotton appliqu?© shape.
Ms. Brandt points out to her readers that the kitchen and the dining room in most homes are centers for family activities. She advocates creating and using table runners to add seasonal designs and pleasing colors to these meaningful life spaces. CyberFibres endorses this sentiment