The Tale of the Table Runners!

I looked at the calendar today and discovered it was March 2nd already!  Huh?  Where did January and February go?  I was hoping to publish my list of things to do in 2017 in early January but obviously that did not happen.  The good news is that I did take inventory of all my fabrics, projects, WIPs and FANS (that's my new description of projects when the Fabric has been Assigned but Not Started).  I have more of those than I realized!  I will eventually list all of my projects for 2017 but for now, I will let you know what I have been up to so far this year.  If anyone asked, I could answer with one word: table runners. 

I must admit that as I started to go through my boxes, bins and bags of fabrics and precuts, I would lose focus and start to fondle my yardage, fat quarters, charm squares and layer cakes!  I found myself making piles of things to use in a future project, or two or three.  I finally smacked my head and screamed "focus, girl, focus!".   The ultimate goal at that time was to sort my fabrics into size and color so I could have a better understanding of what could be considered "a scrap" and what could be considered "usable yardage".  I am on a mission to organize my scraps into some kind of a logical system.  There are many systems out there but I have not yet found one that suits my needs.  At this point anything less than 2.5" inches square or strips less than 2.5" x 10" long is not kept.  I will save the discarded scraps in one bucket to make a doggie bed so really, nothing will go to waste.  But I digress - see how easy I lose my focus! 

Ok, so at this point in time I was in the process of finishing up a baby quilt.  I needed to spray baste it and then quilt and bind it.  That's now done and it is currently being hand bound and will be gifted next week.   I thought that while I had the table set up for spray basting that I would see what else was ready to get basted.  When I finally got around to taking down my Christmas tree, I had to put away the table runner on my coffee table in the room where the tree stood (all the other decorations were down and put away).  I loved that table runner!  I purchased the Christmas table runner as a kit and it came with the pattern so I thought I could make one in non-holiday fabrics.  It took me no time at all since the blocks were big and easy to make.  So this one went into the queue for spray basting.  As it turns out, I found another to baste, one more that was close to finishing and one that I started from scratch (remember those piles I mentioned earlier?).  So, here is my tale of the table runners! 

So, the most recent table runner has been on my list for a long time but I could never find the right fabrics for it.  The pattern calls for  forty-four 6 inch squares but I wanted to use charm squares since I have quite a collection of those and really didn't want to buy anything new.  The problem was that the pattern needed 44 squares and 99.9% of charm squares have 42 squares.  But when I sorted through my charm square collection I found exactly one that had 44 squares.  The top is done and it is now ready to be spray basted to the batting and backing which I made from 3 fat quarters that I also had on hand.  The binding is already made so it should be completed in short order.  The pattern is from the All People Quilt website.  It is one of their free patterns and is called Table Matters.  It finished about 16" x 78".  This one is for my foyer table. 

The next table runner is the one I made to replace the Christmas runner I mentioned earlier.  It is not only cut, sewn, basted and bound, it is actually in use on my coffee table!  I love this pattern!  I will certainly be making more for a variety of occasions and holidays!  The pattern came with the kit and is one of those 3.5" x 5.5" laminated cards you often find near a register in quilt shops.  These are gems!  Below is the inspiration runner next to the one I just completed.  The pattern name is Sew Square Runner and can be easily made from your stash.  It finishes at 15" x 55".  I had extra fabric from the rust color triangles so I used that for the backing.  All of these fabrics came from my stash.  I machine sewed the binding on the runner.  Not sure I like this method but I think with more practice, it might work out ok for me. 

The next runner is an oldie but a goodie.  I just happen to like this pattern and most likely bought the fabrics during a break from a class I was taking many years ago.  No clues to when or where (most likely the Quilter's Barn) but I love the pattern and the fabrics.  This one is now spray basted and the binding is made as shown in the photo below.  It will get a very simple stitch in the ditch quilting before being bound.  Since my Pfaff machine died, I have been using my Bernina exclusively.  I recently discovered the joys of using the #10 foot for doing SiTD quilting!  How did I ever quilt without this foot before!  This one will go on my dining room table as early as next Thanksgiving!  The pattern is called Regal Table Linen by Peg & Lil's Needle Patch.  The runner finished at 22.5" x 52".

The last runner is really an oldie and a goodie.  It was from a class given at the Quilter's Barn and I still had the class instructions.  The date and time of the class was recorded on the instruction sheet but I never recorded the year.  I guess I had big ideas of finishing everything in the year it was started - silly me!  However, the best lesson I learned from this project was finding anything about dates and calendars.  I knew the day and date of the class, even the time (9:30a to 12:30p) I just needed to find the year!  I found a website that can find that for you!  I started by asking Google "When did this date occur on a Saturday" and boy did I get answers!  Turns out it was 2002!  So this runner will celebrate it's 15th birthday in May of this year!  Isn't the internet fabulous?!  This pattern is called Waterwheel Tablerunner and finished to 22" x 77".  This will be my spring runner on my dining room table.  This one needs the most work since I need to either find the pink and floral fabrics in my stash or find suitable substitutes.  Two borders are needed before it can be basted and quilted.  The green in the photo is the backing and the yellow is for the binding. 

So, I have intentions of making 17 in 2017 (more about that in a future post), and these 4 runners along with the baby quilt will count as the first 5.  I have six others in the queue right off the bat so I am off and running, so to speak! 

Happy quilting!