Running with the idea

RUNNERS.  And I am not talking athletes.  I mean Table Runners.  I always wonder if they should run off the table, go to the end of the table or stop just shy of the end of the table.  They are available in various designs: plain, or fancy, with tassels, lace, quilted and/or bound. They also come in various sizes and widths, see here. I started researching runners because I wanted a festive one for my dining room table that is extra long now, thanks to the 2 leaves that stay attached the whole year. 

My mom gave me this really pretty ceramic house to put tea lights in for Christmas. It’s has trees and snowmen standing outside, it was last year’s “HOUSE FOR SALE” at Bath and Body Works. (The previous year, they had a Gingerbread House and I missed it!)  The house looks great on the dining room table but it didn’t “show” enough. It needed to sit on a runner.

While my dining room is formal, I always like a little whimsy in my décor. Elegant is nice, I appreciate it, but it’s not me.  I like red and green and Santa and happiness, joy and a little fun.   Since I couldn’t find the look I wanted, I decided to make a runner myself and incorporate my newly acquired quilting skills.  The next question is what size should it be?  I didn’t want it to hang over because you don’t really see it fully, especially if there are chairs at the table.  And if I quilted it, it would have binding around it. So I decided it would be about 6 inches shy of the table ends on each side. 

Since I wanted the house to sit in the middle, I thought a “brick” looking base would be nice. I found the fabric at Joann fabrics online.  I selected scroll design in each red and green with gold accent to make the checkerboard pattern for the center block of the runner.  On either side of that block, I used a red base with Christmas trees, also with gold accent and had the trees run in opposite directions on either side. I liked the designs because while they were a little “fancy” with the gold, the patterns still had a little “whimsy.”

For the center checkerboard block, I quilted in criss-cross design and I quilted a stippling (squiggly stitches) pattern throughout and around the trees and left the sashing and borders plain. While I worked on it practically until the guests arrived on Christmas Eve 2010, I had to finally give up and put it down due to frustration.  It did, however, become one of my summer crafts this year, I finished it in July. 

Here is the finished product with house and everything!