FREE Pattern – Patriotic Tablerunner

July 4th is almost here – you might be planning on grilling, or having a picnic, or maybe just enjoying some ice tea on the porch while you watch the local fireworks display.

Are you tired of ‘decorating’ by buying appropriately themed paper plates?  I thought a new tablerunner was in order this year – and I had been asked to make a June pattern for OLFA’s website, it was perfect – my pattern would be a tablerunner and I would post it here for my readers as well.  (If you haven’t checked out the patterns on OLFA’s website, you might want to.)

You’ll love this pattern – it really does make up a great runner in a hurry!

The key to how quickly this pattern can be made is that it uses the “Stitch & Flip” method of quilting.  Never used this method before – don’t worry, I’m going to walk you through the basics – then you can download the pattern below and try it out for yourself.

• Lay out the backing fabric for your placemat, right side DOWN against the table.
• Lay your batting on top of that, with the center point of the batting marked (as you will see in my pattern – I suggest folding the batting and marking the center with a pen)
• Take your first strip (for this pattern, it’s a red fabric strip), and lay it along the center line.   This is laid right side UP.
• Take your next strip (white in this pattern) and lay it right side DOWN right on top of the red fabric.
• Now, sew through the white strip, the red strip, the batting AND the backing – one line of stitching (on either side of the white strip), using a 1/4″ seam allowance.  This was the ‘stitch’ part of the “Stitch and Flip” method.
• Next, FLIP the white strip down (so it’s now right side UP), and iron flat. Yep, this was the ‘flip’ part of the method.
• It’s just about that simple – just repeat these steps, alternating between red and white strips to create the stripe pattern seen in the picture above.

It might seem a little tricky when you get to the stars at the edge of the table runner – and to be honest, those stars are why I rated this pattern as ‘intermediate’ for the OLFA website.  I suggest you try making one using scrap fabrics first – after trying the scrap version, if you decide the star is too frustrating, then consider making your placemats with applique stars instead.  Or use a blue/white star print for the edges of your table runner.

Pattern for Patriotic Tablerunner – I hope you enjoy it!

Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila