QuiltBug Quilt Shop
169 Main St, Box 273
Spinning Stars TableRunner
This 23" x 46" table runner was designed to be made with the Square-in-a-square ruler. Unfortunately, they have since notified us that using their ruler for this pattern was a violation of their copyright. Fortunately, any 6-1/2" square ruler will work for this pattern. Please note that the rectangles are cut slightly oversize. That's to give new users a chance to make a mistake without ruining the block. You are welcome to cut them smaller (or use strips) if you prefer.
All these pictures are thumbnails. Click on them to see the picture up close.
Fabric requirements (please note that I am using the colors as shown in the picture below. Feel free to use your own colors:-))
1/2
yard Background
(1) 5 1/4" wide strip by the WOF (width of fabric) cut into (6) 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" squares and ( 1) 4 3/4" x 4 3/4" square.
(3) 2 1/2" x WOF strips for the floating border.
(1) 3 1/2” wide strip by the WOF, cut into (12) 3 1/2” x 3 1/2” squares
3/4 yard Red
(3) 5 1/4" strips, cut into (16) 3" x 5 1/4" rectangles and (3) 4 3/4" x 4 3/4" squares. Cut down any leftover strip to 3 1/2" wide so you can use it in the border.
(3) 3 1/2" x WOF (width of fabric) for the borders
1/3 yard Green
(2) 5 1/4" wide strips, cut into (24) 3" x 5 1/4" rectangles
Step One: Making the center of the stars:
Sew a 3" x 5 1/4" green rectangle to either side of the three red squares. (picture to the left) You can chain stitch these if you like. Press out toward the rectangle. Then sew a green rectangle to the other sides of the block. Note that it doesn't reach all the way to both sides. It doesn't have to! (picture to the right)
Lay
the block on your cutting board face up. Center a 6-1/2" ruler on the block so the point of the seam is 1/4" inside the ruler as shown in the graphic to the left. Make your cuts on opposite
sides of the block, then rotate the mat (or walk around to the other side of the table) and cut the other two sides. If you have a rotating mat, you will find this a very helpful thing:-))
Step Two: Making the HSTs (half square triangles)
Just as you did in Step One, center a 6-1/2" ruler on the block. This time you don't need to worry about the seam allowance - in fact, you WANT to cut it off. Make your cuts on opposite
sides of the block, then rotate the mat (or walk around to the other side of the table) and cut the other two sides. If you have a rotating mat, you will find this a very helpful thing:-))
Cut all four sides with no seam allowance, the cut the resulting block into quarters. (below) You should have four perfect 2 1/2" square HSTs.
Step Three: Making the Flying Geese
Start by
sewing a green rectangle to either side of the (6) 5 1/4" background
squares. (Picture to the left shows the chain stitching) This time,
instead of sewing on another green rectangle as you did above, you will be
sewing on a red rectangle. Make 6 blocks like the ones at the top of the picture
to the right. This time, when you cut them, you will be cutting two sides
with a 1/4" seam allowance (like you did in step one) and two without (like
you did in step two.) Cut these blocks in half through the center that has
no seam allowance. You will get two flying geese blocks from each square
in a square block. Click on the picture to the right to see what I mean.
Do you notice something odd about the picture to the right? Yes, I was careless when I positioned the ruler to cut off the seam allowance. I should have been careful and always kept the green to the right. Because I didn't, I now have four flying geese blocks with the green side on the left and eight flying geese blocks with the green on the right. Bummer, dude. I guess I will just have to make one block with the stars swinging in the other direction. I will put it in the middle so it looks like I *meant* to do that.
Step Four: Putting the blocks together
I didn't take a picture of this step, but you can see from the final step that I sewed a flying goose block to both sides of the square in a square block. (Press to the goose.) Then I sewed a 3 1/2" background square to both sides of the flying goose blocks that matched the two sides (press to the goose again) and sewed that unit to the top and bottom of the block. Because of the way you pressed your block, those seams should just nestle together, giving you a perfect intersection. Use pins and encouragement if it doesn't work out perfectly. Your block should measure 12 1/2" unfinished.
Now sew the blocks in a line of three as shown in the final picture. Remember I made a mistake in my sample - I put the "wrong" one in the center. It looks kinda nice, doesn't it? If I hadn't told you, you wouldn't have known.
Step Five: The borders
If all has gone well, you should have a strip of three stars that measures 36 1/2" unfinished. Cut two of the 2 1/2" background strips to this length and sew them to the top and bottom of the block. Press to the border. Cut two more of the 2 1/2" wide background strips 12 1/2" long. Sew a HST to both sides of this strip, matching the picture below. Press to the border again. Sew this strip to both ends of the tablerunner.
Measure your new quilt top horizontally through the center. It should be 40 1/2", but if it is not, use YOUR measurement. Cut two of the 3 1/2" wide border strips to this length and sew to the top and bottom. Press to the border. Measure again, this time vertically. It should be 16 1/2" but again, use your measurement. Cut two strips to this length, and sew to the two sides. Press to the border - and - you are done!
Here's what it was supposed to look like:
