Christmas in July Tutorials: Day 2

It's Day 2 of our Christmas in July blog hop...sit down with a refreshing glass of lemonade steaming mug of hot cocoa and enjoy! Today's tutorial, presented by the Benartex Blog Design Team, uses holiday colored Bali batiks in a strippy herringbone table runner--easy to sew and fast to finish!

Our strippy runner, in all its green and red glory:

The batiks we used light and dark reds and greens with a few golds mixed in for contrast: 

Materials and Cutting:

• 1/4 yard each of 6 batiks
• 3/4 yard of a green batik (for strips, center square and binding)
• 1 yard batik print for backing
• 18" x 70" batting piece

From the 6 batiks, cut strips in a variety of widths (ours were between 1-1/2" and 3" wide)

From the green batik, cut (1) 10-1/2" square, (5) 2-1/4" x 42" strips for binding, and a few various width strips for piecing

Step 1: Choose your first strip and sew to one side of the 10-1/2" green square. Press open and trim.

Step 2: Sew the remaining strip to an adjacent side, press open, and trim.

Step 3: In the same manner, sew strips to the remaining sides of the green square. Line a ruler up so the 45-degree line aligns with the seam between the red and green and the ruler straight edge is 1/2" past the green corner. Trim as shown. Repeat on opposite corner. This will give you a cushion for trimming later after all the strips are added.

Step 4: Choose a different color and width strip and sew to one side of the the unit. Press open and trim just past the trimmed corner.

Step 5: Repeat on adjoining side using the remainder of the same strip. Press open and trim past the trimmed corner. 

Step 6: Continue adding strips in colors and widths desired, trimming each strip past the trimmed corners. Tip: For more efficient piecing, work off both sides of the center square at the same time. (In other words, do as we say, not as we did!) You can sew a strip to opposite sides of the center square, press open, trim, and then return to your sewing machine and sew the coordinating strip to each adjacent side.

Step 7: As you add strips, line up the ruler along the original trimmed corners and mark the extended line with chalk. This way you'll know that each strip is long enough without too much waste. 

See the digitally enhanced chalk lines?

Step 8: Continue adding strips to both sides to make the runner the desired length. Our runner measures approximately 64" long, using 10 strips per side. You can either eyeball the length on each side of the center square to ensure they're similar, or you can measure and trim the outermost set of strips so the pieced ends of the runner measure the same length. Tip: As you add strips in pairs, use a ruler to ensure that the "points" of each strip set remain aligned with the points of the center square.

Step 9: Align the ruler so the 45-degree line aligns between the red and green and the ruler's straight edge is 1/4" past the green point. Trim. Continue trimming along this line the length of the runner. Repeat on opposite side.

Here's a close-up of half of our pieced runner:

And the entire runner again:

Step 10: Layer the runner top with batting and backing fabric cut and pieced to fit. Quilt as desired and use the (5) 2-1/4" x 42" green strips for binding. Enjoy decorating your holiday table!


Would you like to win a fat quarter bundle of Holiday Balis? It's easy! Simply sign up to follow the Benartex blog (use the email or Bloglovin' buttons in the right hand side bar and leave a comment letting us know that you do). In the comment, let us know--how often do you sew with batiks? For a second chance to win, follow our Sew Interesting page on Facebook and leave a comment here letting us know you do. The giveaway is open through Saturday, July 26 at 11:59 EST and the winner's name will be randomly selected and announced next week on the blog. 

Check out the rest of our Christmas in July tutorials:
Day 1: Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts and Season's Greetings

Day 3: Lisa from Stubbornly Crafty with Christmas Pure & Simple
Day 4: Wendy from Ivory Spring with Holiday Magic