For the Christmas Table

This year I tried my best to make most of my gifts, and it ended up being one of the busiest Christmas ever, sewing-wise. I have a few more projects to blog, but this is what I made for my mother – a table runner.

I really wanted to make a table runner, and I thought it would make a nice gift, but involve a manageable amount of work.

This fall, I was lucky enough to win this cute table runner kit from Mad About Patchwork. It includes fabric from the Acacia line by Tula Pink, Kona solid for the background and binding and a pattern for the Seaside Table Runner by Jaybird Quilts.

This project is a bit of departure for me, since I haven’t really sewn quilts from patterns much before. This pattern was really easy to piece. It involves repeating diamonds and goes together quite quickly. The only change I made was to add a couple more rows of diamonds to the bottom to make it a smidge longer.

The kit calls for five strips in various prints, each 2 1/2 inches wide, but the kit included seven prints, which adds a nice bit of room for error. And of course, it looks prettier too. The pattern recommends using the Sidekick ruler (which I don’t have). However, it also tells you how to make your own template. I used an equilateral triangle ruler that I already had instead, and that worked well.

I did some simple straight-line quilting in the solid areas and left the prints unquilted.

The back uses Raccoon in Canyon. Cute!

I’m really happy with how this turned out. I can honestly say that I would not have chosen to put these fabrics together in this way on my own. I think fabric selection is always the most challenging part of quilt-making. But I really like how the prints look in the finished table runner. I hope my mother does too!

Acacia Table Runner

Quilt Pattern: Seaside Table Runner (JBQ 134) by Jaybird Quilts using a kit from Mad About Patchwork.

Size: 15 by 44 inches. The pattern makes a 41 1/2 inch table runner, but it is easy enough to add extra rows.

Fabrics:

The prints include Canyon Raccoon, Olive Pineapple Slices, Sugar Arrowheads, Raspberry Diamonds,
Butterfly Wings in Nectar, Sunset Hummingbird, and Pixel Dot in Pomegranate, all from the Acacia line by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics.

Binding & Background: Kona Herb.

Backing: Raccoon in Canyon.