Turning Corners Table Runner

I am so excited to be one of the Moda Bake Shop’s latest designers! I’m John and I blog at http://www.quiltdad.com/. This is my first project for the Bake Shop, but hopefully not my last!

This tutorial is for a very versatile table runner pattern. I don’t know about you, but I like my table runners to be l-o-n-g. (I just think they’re more dramatic that way.) This pattern will yield a table runner that’s approximately 6 feet long! The great thing about this pattern, however, is that you can split the blocks into two shorter table runners, or a 36″ square table topper. Any format you choose is sure to be a stunner!

OK, so let’s get started …

• 1 Moda Honey Bun — I used Deb Strain’s “Fresh” (note: you will need 36 honey bun strips, so be sure your honey bun has at least that many)
• 1.25 yards of a backing fabric
• 0.5 yards of a binding fabric

Step 1:
Separate your honey bun strips into four sets of 9 strips apiece. Because they followed the colors of the rainbow, the fabrics I selected separated nicely into red/orange/yellow strips, and blue/green strips. You might also group the strips by lights and darks, by colorways, or by tone. They key is to look for similar tones within each strip set, but contrast between them.

Step 2:
Sew your strip sets together. Press seams (I press mine to one side). You should have four strip sets of 9 strips apiece, and the strip set should measure approximately 9.5″ wide.

Step 3:
From each strip set, cut four blocks measuring 9.5″. Square up your blocks to 9.5″ square each. You should have 16 total blocks. Separate them out into two piles, each containing 8 blocks. Here is where you will separate the blocks by contrasting colors, tones, colorways, etc.

Step 4:
Line up all of the blocks so that the strips are running horizontally, from right to left. From the first pile of 8 blocks, cut each along the 45 degree diagonal line from the block’s bottom left corner to the top right corner.

From the second pile of 8 blocks, and this is important, cut each on the diagonal from the top left to the bottom right of the block. Don’t cut all 16 blocks the same way — 8 have to be cut on one diagonal, and the other 8 have to be cut the opposite way.

See the picture for a visual explanation:

When you swap half of one block with half of the other, the strips from each should line up to form a 90 degree angle, like so:

And now you know why I named this the “Turning Corners” table runner!

Step 5:
Sew the blocks back together. Each new block should contain half from your first pile, and half from your second pile. Be sure to line up seams so that the strips match up when they “turn the corner” — pin them if that is your preferred method.

Square up your blocks again. They should square up to about 9″. If yours are a little smaller or a little larger, that’s OK … as long as you square them all up to be the same size.

Step 6:
Now for the fun part. Audition different layouts for your blocks. The contrast you created will let you create stripes …

… or diamonds …

… or pinwheels. I decided on pinwheels.

Step 7:
Sew all of your blocks together. For the full table runner, lay them out 2 blocks wide by 8 blocks long. To make two shorter table runners, lay each out in a 2 x 4 block format. For a square table topper, lay the blocks out in a 4 x 4 grid.

Step 8:
Baste, quilt, and bind as desired. I free-motion quilted mine with a meandering stipple pattern.

A beautiful new addition to your decor, or a perfect hostess or holiday gift!

I hope you enjoy this tutorial. If you make one, I’d love to see it! And be sure to add it to the MBS Flickr pool.