Klaws that fabric is really beautiful. I am a new quilter too, and spend a lot of time trying to figure out these type of things. I am making my aunt a table runner, and have three large squares with strips of different patterns sewn together between them, and she likes white, but white wouldn't work in mine so I am using a cream color for the back and around the edges.
The french braid is pretty.
nhnative those are really pretty table runners. I think fabric like that would also be pretty with the second one.
Such pretty table runners. I think they are good for me too in learning to improve my quilting skills.