A Runner for Jo

Most of the things I sew end up becoming presents when I get done with them, and oftentimes the recipient is my sister.

I saw this tutorial for a table runner at Lella Boutique and desperately wanted to make one for myself. I used scraps of fabric I had leftover from the Boxed In quilt that I made for Grandma. I wanted the background of the runner to have an organic look to it, so I bought some muslin because I liked the little flecks throughout it.

 The tutorial advised to sew down the circles, which I skipped because I bought the heavy weight Heat 'n Bond. Sadly, as I ironed blocks together, the circles didn't stick as well as I had hoped. I ended up sewing them down which proved to be a bit more difficult once all the blocks were sewn together.

The original tutorial did a free motion quilt (which I suck at) so I ended up just sewing X's through the blocks.

 I was running out of time to get it done before we headed out to eastern PA for Easter. I think I was awake until 1 or 2 AM working on this. I stopped once the binding was sewn on and headed to bed.

The next morning, I made sure to pack a needle and thread so I could finish hand stitching the binding as we traveled on the PA Turnpike. I tend to get carsick doing anything but looking out the window, so that idea got tossed aside.

I gave up the idea of a grand surprise and I was tired of sitting in the guest room by myself sewing, so I sat with my sister and her boyfriend and stitched away.

I'm pretty happy with the end result. As it gets washed, the edges of the circles will get fuzzy, which I think will look cute.