1930's Table Runner Tutorial

Hi there! Today we have a lovely project to share with you today! Melissa, from Missouri Mel is stopping by today to show us how to make this darling 1930's table runner!  If you are a fan of 1930's prints you are going to love this!

Hello! My name is Melissa and I blog over at Missouri Mel. I’m married to my high school sweetheart. We have a daughter just out of high school herself and a rescued Greyhound named Krackle. You’ll see me refer to my husband as That Man, which is from the 1937 movie The Awful Truth — the best screwball comedy in my opinion.
I try to squeeze in what I can the other hours of the day when I’m not working. If the weather cooperates, I enjoy taking in the beauty of nature by hiking, running and cycling on trails. When I’m inside I enjoy genealogy, making all sorts of things, watching classic movies and reading. I also love giveaways — entering, hosting and sharing them. You’ll find a weekly link up on my blog that I call my Giveaway Roundup.
Today I’m here to show you an easy table runner to make. It’s nothing revolutionary or terribly original but it can be easily modified and adapted. Plus, there are no seams to match up!

I chose these fabrics from Fort Worth Fabric Studio’s outstanding 1930s section. They’re all from the Toybox IV collection from Blue Hill Fabrics. It’s no secret I love 1930s repro prints. I love them so much that I host a 1930s fabric swap. We’ll be finishing up the second round this week. I have a general love for vintage but my affection for these prints originates from a grandmother’s flower garden quilt I have that was made by my grandmother. I plan on making one myself one day.





Based on my little kitchen table, I figured the approximate size I wanted my table runner to be and then started doing some calculations. In my mind I pictured a strippy layout with the red prints concentrated in the middle. I ended up cutting 36 strips measuring 2 1/4″ x 8.5″. Six strips of each of the six prints.



I then chain sewed them together end to end in a semi-random fashion. The red prints needed to alternate with the yellow, green and blue prints but not have the same print at each end of a red one. After I finished sewing them together I pressed the seams toward the red prints.



Next I cut the strips apart. I cut each strip with the red print in the middle and the pieces on each end varying in length. The overall length I chose to cut each strip was 15 3/4″. Later this will be trimmed down a little bit more after it’s all sewn together and quilted. For the first strip I cut a chunk off the piece at the end. I sewed the piece I cut off to the red strip at the other end of the chain.


Once I had them all cut, I determined my layout. I did a repeating order for the red prints but made sure none of the end prints next to each other were the same.



Then I sewed all of the strips together. The thread I used was Aurifil 50wt color 2021 in both the needle and bobbin. The needle I used for piecing was Schmetz microtex 80/12. After sewing them all together, I pressed the whole thing with the long seams going in the same direction.



I kept the quilting simple by using my walking foot and stitching a straight line on either side of each seam. I lined the edge of my foot up with the seam and had my stitch set to the longest length. The thread I used to quilt with was Aurifil 28wt color 2021 with Aurifil 50wt color 2021 in the bobbin. The needle I used for quilting was Schmetz quilting 90/14. The batting and back fabric I used were from what I had on hand. Warm and White for the batting. Kona solid color PFD Bleach White for the back.



After quilting it I trimmed it down to 15″ x 31 3/4″ and attached the binding. I cut binding straight (not bias) in 2 1/2″ strips that I fold in half, press, machine sew to the front and then hand sew to the back. I think most people tend to have a favorite binding method.



I’m so pleased with how it turned out. So bright and cheery! It makes me happy when I walk in the kitchen.
This table runner could easily be made with any type of fabric. Using more or less prints and/or solids. You could make it very scrappy by not repeating any prints. Adjust the width, length and quantity of strips as necessary. I cut my strips but you could easily use a jelly roll.



I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial and found it useful. Thank you to Fort Worth Fabric Studio for letting me share this with you today and for supplying me with the fabric I used.

I want to thank Melissa for stopping by today and sharing this charming little table runner! I hope you all stop by her blog Missouri Mel and say hello! :)

Talk to you soon,