So since I have such a large family, I decided to make a lot of cloth napkins -- the number is currently at thirty-two, though I do have more fabric in my stash that I could quickly turn into napkins. I also decided I didn't want them to be extremely matchy-matchy, but I did want them to work well together. Since I had recently purchased all blue (unbreakable) dinnerware for my boys, and since I had several red accents in the dining room already, I chose to work with red and aqua and picked my fabrics accordingly.
There was enough fabric left over that I decided to make a runner simply to beautify the table. I don't have much experience with patchwork, but after a little trial and error, I came up with the exact runner I wanted.
Hopefully this tablescape will help my little ones to learn to wipe their hands on napkins (not shirts) and also give our whole family a greater sense of the importance of sitting down at meals together (and staying seated, if at all possible).