Secret Garden Tablerunner - A Tutorial

I have made another project using this beautiful "Secret Garden" fabric. Lynette Anderson sent me this gorgeous fabric a few months ago to play with, and I have been busy making toiletry bags and other small projects with it. However, I have decided to be creative and I have designed my very own table runner, using a mixture of “Secret garden” fabric, linen and vintage lace. This is my own design – please feel free to use it yourself.....

REQUIREMENTS
Selection of Secret Garden fabric, cut into 36 x 3” squares  
Binding fabric – approx ¼m
Linen - approx ½m
Vintage lace –  1m
Wadding - (such as pellon) ½m 
Backing fabric – ½m
Co-ordinating quilting thread
Usual sewing equipment – rotary cutter, cutting board, ruler, and general sewing supplies.
Sewing machine in good working order – a walking foot is useful.

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.....begin by cutting 36 x 3” squares of your fabric. Use a quarter inch seam for all your piecing. Sew the squares together randomly, to form a 9-patch block, this should measure 9½" square. Trim any loose threads. You will need to make a total of 4 blocks..... 

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.....sew these 4 patchwork blocks together, to form a panel. Trim any loose threads. Your panel should measure 9½" x 36½".....

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.....prepeare the linen so it is easier to handle. Do this by ironing some soft, fusible Vilene such as H180 to the back of the linen – this will make it much easier to cut. Once you have prepared the linen, cut 2 strips, the first strip 3½”  wide, the second strip 6 ½” wide. Trim both strips to 36½” in length. Join the 2 strips to either side of the patchwork panel. Layer the backing, wadding and runner – I have used fusible pellon wadding which has been ironed to the wrong side of the backing fabric, and I have used 505 basting spray to baste the runner to the wadding.....

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.....now it is time for the quilting. I have used a neutral coloured Mettler quilting thread to compliment the linen, and have used a longer stitch length than I would use for general piecing. I also prefer to use Schmetz topstitch needles in my sewing machine for quilting. Quilt “in-the-ditch” along the length of the panel in the seam lines, then quilt in a cross-hatch design  across the fabric squares and the wider linen panel. I marked this grid with a Clover Hera marker and my ruler, measuring so that the lines cross the squares exactly. Finally quilt straight rows along the length of the narrow linen panel ½" apart. I used the edge of the walking foot for this. Add the vintage lace taking care not to stretch it, and either pin in place first or use a few drops of Roxanne's basting glue, and stitch close to the edge of the  lace, as shown in the picture.....

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.....cut strips of fabric 1½” wide across the full width of the fabric for the binding strips. Join 3 strips of binding together using a diagonal seam. Bind the runner with a single-fold binding, making sure the corners are mitred as you go. Press the binding over, pin, and slip-stitch into place by hand, taking care at the corners to keep the mitres neat. I have used a Mettler quilting thread in a similar shade to the binding fabric for handsewing this to the back of the runner.....

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.....can we have a little drum roll please – what do you think?? This layout would work with smaller patchwork squares, strips of fabric, or even a plain panel of fabric with linen either side. Once I have sewn some more samples, I will post the pictures on here. Shhhhh - don't tell my mum, but this will be her present for Mothering Sunday on March 18th.

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