Free Christmas Project - Broderie Perse Table Runner

I just can't make enough table runners it seems.  Here is one I designed for a class and it turned out so easy to make that I have made several.  The pattern is adaptable to any seasonal fabric so you could make one for valentines day, easter, oh heck, just about anything.  It relies on using seasonal fabrics with at least one having large floral or seasonal motifs which you can cut out and fuse on.  This really is a quilt-in-a-day project (with apologies to Eleanor Burns) because you can complete it from cutting to quilting in one day.

Yea yea, I know I took a lot of heat about my 4-hour bag.  But I can make it in 4 hours!  But that's another story.  Here is the Holiday Table Runner.

What could be easier?  The center section is cut the size of your ruler!  LOL  I love easy stuff like that.  My ruler is 6.5" x 24.5".  The borders are added next and then the flowers are cut out of great fabric and fused onto the corners of the table runner.   Here is the pattern.

At this point I layer the top, batting and backing and use basting spray to hold it together.  I stitch in the ditch around each border to stabilize the quilt top then the fun begins.

The fun part of this pattern is the quilting.  I did double cross hatching 1" apart with gold thread on the center section.  It reminds me of a frosted glass window in a big wooden front door panel.

Next I used gold thread (rayon thread with a nice sheen) to blanket stitch around the flowers.  I did each petal to make it look more like applique.  That is what makes it look less like a cut out from fabric and more like real applique.  I love shortcuts like that.

Then I used a curved feather stencil to mark the quilting lines for the plain corners and sides.  I quilted those in gold thread as well.  In addition I did a double row of straight lines 1/4" inside of the edge of the large border.  On the outside of the feathered curved lines I did micro stippling.

In the white speaces between the flowers I did some MacTavishing in gold thread.  I did all the quilting on my domestic Bernina.

Oh and I almost forgot.  I did a strip of red piping around the binding.  I love the Piping Hot Binding Tool by Susan Cleveland, and I use it on table runners all the time.  It makes binding so easy to do.  Altho I have to say that the key to success for me is the Bernina zipper foot.  Yup, that's right.  I tried the Bernina piping foot and it works ok, but it is not as good. . .to me at least. . . as the invisible zipper foot, which has a tight groove for the zipper to ride in.  The groove fits the thin nylon cording exactly and holds it in place both when you make the piping and when you attach the piping to the quilt top.  The Bernina Piping foot is good when attaching the binding over the piping, however.  So both feet are a good investment.  Enjoy the free pattern!