Ruler Quilting 201 – Super Simple Bed Runner

For the next few weeks I will build on all of my previous Ruler Quilting post.

RQ 101 was about using one ruler for a variety of designs.

RQ 201 is the reverse; Several rulers, one design. You might even get one or two Free Motion Quilting suggestions to complement the ruler design.

This week its about the quilt sandwich – something simple and manageable. In RQ 101, I made the blocks without a particular plan. It turned into a Sampler.

This time, I wanted to apply RQ to an actual, more practical quilted project. Placemats? Cushions? Table runner? Bed runner?

A look at my fabric stash for solids or near solids, helped with the decision. It seems I have collected a fair bit of grunge in the past couple years, and I decided to use an assortment of white and pinks – a little bit of yardage, some fat quarters, and a few pieces stolen from a Layer Cake. 

I have always liked the look of bed runners, with matching pillows but it is not something I make very often, so it became the project to practice my ruler quilting on. 

The pattern needed to be simple. The thread, not the piecing would be the star of the show. I cut all the pieces 10″, the same size as the Layer Cake; 12 white and 12 pink.

Pairing a pink and white together, I stitched around the perimeter and then cut the pieces diagonally in both directions to produce 48 half square triangles.

The eyes don’t work as well as they used to. The hands shake more, and every machine sews a little different. 1/4″ seams aren’t always 1/4″. Good thing we have tools to help us get it right. In this case, the Bloc_Loc helped square up the pieces to 6 1/2″.

Keeping it simple, I choose a herringbone pattern for the layout.

It is ready to think about quilting designs for this piece. That will be next week’s discussion.