Winterkist Blog Hop - Table Runner

When Katie contacted me about taking part in a blog hop with Monica Solorio-Snow's yet to be released line, Winterkist, I couldn't have been more excited. Or so I thought until I opened the little bundle that arrived in my mailbox! The colors Katie chose were just perfect for me. At some point before they arrived I decided to make a table runner, and now with the turquoise/aqua colorway it would look festive and match my house!

Monica's Winterkist line for Lecien is not my first experience with these adorable little Gnomas, I fell hard for them in her Holiday Happy line too. 

I fully intended to write a step by step tutorial for a table runner, but then my camera broke.  I think I have pictures of the most crucial steps in case you want to make something similar.

Your first step is to make a strip pieced runner.  I cut strips 16" wide and anywhere from 2-5" tall.  Piece them together with 1/4" seams and press them open.  My runner is symmetrical, but your strips can be put in any order you like.

Once your runner is the size you like, take a gnoma for each side and think about where he will  look best.  Place a piece of freezer paper over the gnoma, shiny side down and trace the outline with a permanent marker.  Cut the gnoma out, taking care to keep the reverse shape intact.  Iron the negative shape to the underside of the runner where you want the gnoma to peek through.  Luckily I did a tutorial on reverse applique here so you can see what to do!

I attached the gnoma by leaving the freezer paper intact, pinning the gnoma in place and sewing an invisible stitch to secure the gnoma and then removing the freezer paper.

My next step was to baste the table runner front to the batting, but not the backing yet.  Then I used embroidery floss to stitch around each gnoma as well as a few lines 1/4" from the seams on the runner.

I wanted my runner to be reversible, so I did not want the decorative embroidery stitches to go all the way through.  I also couldn't decide on a binding fabric, so I just decided to sew it without one.  I placed the front with batting basted (and embroidered) right sides together with the backing, sewed all around the edge,  flipped and topstitched 1/8" from the edge.

 I know this is not as thorough as my usual tutorials, so please don't hesitate to contact me if you need more instruction!

On to the Winterkist Blog Hop details!

The schedule for the hop is below.  Each Friday Katie will draw a comment from one of the five posts that week (so five chances to win each week!)  to win a fat quarter bundle from the Fat Quarter Shop!

Aug 6  Katie at There & Back
Aug 7  Rachael at imagine gnats
Aug 8  Jennie at Clover & Violet
Aug 9  Courtney at mon petit lyons
Aug 10  Sara at Sew Sweetness

Aug 13  Bianca at Sweet Diesel Designs
Aug 14 Chelsea at Pins & Bobbins
Aug 15  Rebecca at Sew Festive Handmade
Aug 16  Diane at from blank pages
Aug 17  Allegory at {sew} Allegorical

Aug 20  Kim at My Go-Go Life
Aug 21 Di at Random Thoughts...do or "di"
Aug 22 Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts
Aug 23 Jenelle at Echinops & Aster
Aug 24  Katie at There & Back

I've been seeing sneak peaks pop up on flickr and the projects these bloggers are putting together are amazing!  I can't wait to see them all!