Ruby Goodness Table Runner - Free Tutorial

I received a pretty little Moda Mini Charm Pack of Little Ruby that was included in my order from Missouri Star Quilt Company. Who doesn't love this fabric line? And who doesn't love MSQC? What to make? What to make? So I started off just playing and making some little four patches.  

                   

Now, I could have taken these little 2.5 inch squares and stitched little four patches, but I wanted tiny four patches. Now you could cut these into four pieces and try to wrangle that through your machine but who wants to do that? Not me!  Here's an easy way to make tiny 2 inch four patches that we will work into a table runner.

Using a 1/4" seam, stitch ALL of your little squares together in ONE long row. That was easy, right? Now measure 1" from your seam and make your first cut, just like above.  Continue cutting 1" from your seam allowance along your entire row.

You should have a pretty pile like the photo above, that was easy!

Lay your pieces end to end as shown in the photo above, mix it up, have fun and sew these pieces together by twos as shown in the photo below.

Now sew these together by twos as shown in the photo below.

Continue in this fashion until you have one long strip as shown below.

Pretty easy so far! Now we are going to cut again, the same way we did before. You should be able to lay your ruler between your seams and they should measure 2". If they do, then you will cut as before 1" from your seam and continue across the entire row as shown in the photo below.

Quick as a bunny you will have a nice pile of tiny 2" four patches and you didn't even break a sweat! AWESOME Right?

Now, let's take these tiny little four patches and lay them out in a 9 patch configuration as shown below.

We have enough tiny four patches to make 4 of the 9 patch blocks. Take a moment and look at how your scrappy bits are and make sure they are mixed up good. Now take them to your machine and sew up your four 9 patch blocks as shown below. It helps to place a little pin beside the seams as you match them up. 

Your completed block should measure about 5". It will depend on the accuracy of your 1/4" seam allowance and your cutting. Now cut a 2" x WOF strip of Kona Cotton White. You will cut this strip into five 6" pieces. Stitch these to one end of your 9 patch blocks as shown below. You will have one piece left over. Trim your strips to the width of your blocks as shown.

Lay your blocks out as above and stitch the raw end of the block to the strip that is already attached to create one long strip. Sew the remaining strip to the end of the block, see below. Press to the white.

Cut Two 2" x WOF strips of your Kona Cotton White. This you will stitch to the sides of your strip set. Press to the white, making sure to open your seams with your fingers to make sure you have them fully opened before you press. Trim even with the ends. 

Now measure the width of your runner.  It should measure 8" or so, again depending on your seam allowance. What ever the measurement is, cut two strips that are 2" wide x that measurement. Mine is 8" so I cut two strips 2" x 8". 

You should have 6 tiny four patches left...pick four for your corner stones.  Stitch one to each end of your two strips. Press to the white and set aside.

Cut 2 strips that are 2" x WOF and stitch one to each long side of your table runner.  Press them open and cut them even with the end of your table runner, Press to the white.

Your end pieces with the tiny four patch will be sewn on now. You will find that the seams will nest nicely as they are pressed in opposite directions. You can place a pin if you need for accuracy and stitch these end pieces on.  

Now measure the width of your runner again and cut two 2" strips that width and stitch them to the end.  Press them open and then cut two final strips 2" x WOF and stitch those along both long edges, trim to square up. YOUR Done!  Cut your batting 2 inches larger than your finished runner and same with your backing fabric. Quilt as desired.  I just did a simple straight stitch where I liked it. 

Bind as desired. I have a pretty little red and white polka dot that I'm going to use as my binding. I'll update the photo later. Hope you enjoyed this little table runner tutorial and if you make one, please send me a photo, I love to see your work! This table runner finished at 32" x 13". You can reduce the number of squares to 2 or 3 for a shorter table runner and reduce it to 1 for a sweet table topper!