The Summer Savannah Table Runner

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What do you do when you have some great fabric in your stash, but not quite enough of it to make a full quilt? You make a quilted table runner, of course! 

Today on the blog I am sharing a quick tutorial on how to use three Savannah quilt pattern blocks to make a sweet little summer table runner. These blocks look complicated but come together very quickly and can be made using pre-cuts, yardage, or scraps to create this modern quilt.

Get your copy of the Savannah Quilt Pattern in the Wild Plum Lane Pattern Shop!

TABLE RUNNER QUILT PATTERN

This quilted table runner was made using just 3 blocks from the Savannah quilt pattern along with some border background fabric and a scrappy backing.  While there aren’t instructions in the pattern specifically for this table runner, if you grab the the Savannah quilt pattern, you can easily modify from there by reading through this blog post! (And check out my FREE “12 ways to use a 12” quilt block” printable if you’d like to see more ways you can use one block from a pattern!)

TABLE RUNNER FABRIC

The fabric I used is from the Trixie fabric line by Heather Ross. Those little mice still have my heart! Since I’d been hoarding this fabric for the *perfect* use, I decided to feature the mice smack-dab in the center of the Savannah quilt blocks. It’s the perfect fabric for a summer quilt project! I also used some Kona Cotton Snow 1.5” precut strips for the sashing and borders, which made fabric cutting go verrrry smoothly!

But…since there wasn’t enough fabric for another full Savannah quilt, how would I adapt the pattern to make a table runner? And how would I make sure those mice ended up just where I wanted them? A little math, some masking tape, and a great square ruler, my friends.

TABLE RUNNER SIZE

Since Savannah quilt blocks finish at 9” square, with 1” sashing and a 1” border it is just the right size for a centerpiece on my dining room table. If your table is bigger or if you’d like a table runner that hangs off the sides of your table, just add a few more blocks to get your desired length. With three Savannah quilt blocks plus the sashing and borders, this table runner quilt ends up being 12” x 32” in size.

To make this table runner you need:

• (3) Finished Savannah quilt blocks

• Background Fabric - ¼ yard, subcut into:

  • (4) 1.5” x 9.5” strips background fabric

  • (2) 1.5” x 32” strips background fabric

• Binding: ¼ yard, subcut into: 

  • (3) 2.5 “ strips pieced end-to-end to make 108” of binding

• Backing: ½ yard

PIECING THE TABLE RUNNER

To pull this all together, simply sew the (4) 1.5” x 9.5” strips between the three Savannah blocks as well as on the two ends with a 1/4” seam allowance.

Then piece the (2) 1.5” x 32” strips on the top and bottom, again with a 1/4” seam allowance. That’s it!

QUILTING THE TABLE RUNNER

Because it is fairly small, this table runner is easily quilted on your domestic sewing machine. I’m absolutely no good at free-motion quilting, but took a class from Jacquie Gehring at the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival last year about quilting with the walking foot, and I’m hooked. Her books, WALK and WALK 2.0 (Affiliate links) are super-helpful and great resources when determining how to quilt your quilt. After sandwiching together the backing, batting, and pieced quilt top, I quilted it using the Simple Diamond pattern from her book. It works perfectly with this quilt pattern!

SIDE NOTE: A CONFESSION

For years, I thought that a walking foot was the regular ol’ foot that was originally on my machine. One day my quilty BFF Louisa was raving about quilting with the walking foot on her Bernina. I finally asked what in the world she was talking about and why she liked the walking foot so much…so she went ahead and set me straight. If you don’t yet know what a walking foot is, do yourself a favor and Google it. See if there is one available for your machine. Buy it. Seriously. (Some machines come with them…but others don’t. My machine at the time did not, otherwise I might have known what it was!) Essentially, a walking foot has feed dogs that work on top of the fabric in coordination with the feed dogs from below to help your fabric “sandwich” (the pieced top, batting, and backing) move through the machine evenly and avoid puckering. They are absolutely brilliant.

BACKING FABRIC

I pieced together a fun backing from the leftover fabric after cutting out my blocks as well as a few more fun Trixie prints. I love doing a pieced backing to use up all the fabric that was purchased for a quilt project to minimize waste, lower the cost of buying yardage for the entire backing, reduce my scrap piles, and move on fresh to the next quilt!

QUILT BINDING

This solid orange fabric from my stash became a fun pop of color on the binding. If you need some quilt binding ideas, head over to the Tutorials page for links to some of my favorite resources.

MATERIALS USED ON THE SAVANNAH QUILT TABLE RUNNER

• Quilt pattern: Savannah quilt pattern by Wild Plum Lane

• Fabrics: Trixie by Heather Ross for Windham Fabrics

• Binding: Solid orange Kona color

• Backing: Pieced using Trixie by Heather Ross for Windham Fabrics

• Pieced and quilted on my Janome Memory Craft 9450 QCP (Affiliate Link)

THE SAVANNAH QUILT PATTERN

If you’d like to read more about the Savannah quilt pattern and a little bit of the “behind-the-scenes” of writing a quilt pattern, just hop on over to my earlier blog post about it. Using simple shapes like squares and rectangles, this is the perfect modern quilt pattern for the confident beginner quilter.

LET’S START QUILTING!

I hope you enjoyed this post on how to modify the Savannah quilt pattern into a fun and quick table runner project. You can head on over to the shop to grab your copy of the pattern and get started on your own quilted table runner today!

Are you interested in seeing some other ways you could use a block from a quilt pattern to make something new? Or how you could repurpose your project’s orphan blocks into a new creation? Check out my free “12 Ways to use a 12” Quilt Block” today for more ideas!

Catch you next time!