Seasonal Table Runner and Giveaway

I love table runners!  I also love pretty tablecloths, but I have found, since having three messy children, that table cloths don't survive very long before getting a spill that requires the whole thing to be pulled off and put in the wash.  I don't have the luxury of having a separate dining room, so our table is used for everything -- it's my sewing table, the kids homework table, we use it for crafts, and, of course, meals.  Table runners can stay on my table for long periods of time, because I can just flip it back when the kids or I need the space, and then flip it back down when we are done.

Last spring I made a bright patchwork runner that I kept up through the summer, but as the leaves started to change, I wanted something a bit different.  I decided to make a matching one with a different color scheme.  Like my other one, I picked out six different fabrics -- three prints and three solid/patterns in coordinating colors.  I don't like too matchy-matchy, but I do like things to blend.

I cut four 8"x8" squares from each fabric, giving me a total of  24 squares.  You could make your squares smaller or bigger.  I have a friend who made her squares smaller so that she could have three squares across.  This tutorial is simply a guide.   I then paired each print with a solid (I varied which prints went with each solid, as I like the pattern, when put together, to look random), and sewed along one side with right sides together.  I did this 12 times, with all of the pairs.

I then pressed those seams open, and matched pairs with other pairs, sewing them together, with right sides together.  It looks best if you can alternate where your print is, first on the right, then the left.  Press seams open as you go.

You can see that pattern in the picture below.

Keep sewing your pairs together until you've used them all up.  Now you have several options.  You can hem the edges and leave it without a backing.  You can also attach seam binding.  Since I flip mine back quite often, I like to attach muslin to the underside and sew it like a pillow case.  I snipped and tore a piece of muslin to match the width and length of my patchwork, put right sides together and sewed it up, leaving a space, the size of my hand unsewn, so that I could flip it right side out.  Push out the corners and then iron it flat.

Top stitch the whole thing, sewing the opening closed.  Then I like to tack it down down the middle, where all of the four corners meet.  I do this by letting my sewing machine sew a couple of stitches back and forth, attaching the top to the underside all the way down the middle.

And my table runner is complete!  As you can see, my table is well-loved, so it's nice to have it a bit covered.  Isn't the mushroom print so cute???

I know not everyone likes to sew as much as Julia and I do, so, as luck would have it, I happened to make two of these and we would like to give one away!  There are several ways to earn a chance to win.  First, leave us a comment telling us the types of things that you would like us to feature on our blog.  That gives you one entry.  Next, go to Facebook and write a message on your wall, linking to our page, announcing the giveaway, then come back and leave a comment that you have done that.  There's another entry.  Post this page as a pin on Pinterest and come back and comment that you did that.  You just earned yourself another entry.  Link to it on your blog, and leave a comment that you did, and you can have another chance to win.  If you have a twitter account you can "tweet" about the giveaway with a link (then come and comment that you did this) and you can earn another entry in our drawing.

I will pick a winner at noon on Friday, using a random integer program, and will announce who won soon after.  The table runner will go out in the mail on Monday morning.    It measures approximately 15"x96".

Good Luck!

-- Amy