Embroidered Patchwork Table Runner

Cheer up your home with a delightful spring-themed table runner. Change the designs and fabrics to suit any style or season.

This beautiful table runner was specially created to coordinate with the patchwork placemat, March's installment of the Placemat of the Month series.

Read below for these free project instructions, then click here for instructions on how to create coordinating patchwork placemats.

You love the Placemat of the Month series, so once per quarter, we're creating a bonus coordinating table runner to spark your creativity. The patchwork table runner is the first installment of 2011 and perfectly complements March's patchwork placemat. Get started today!

Other table runner projects in this series include:

January - Snowball Block Placemat

February - Lots of Love Placemat

April - Spring Pinwheel Placemat

May - Sunflower Fiesta Placemat

June - Summertime Trapunto Placemat & Summertime Trapunto Table Runner

July - Crafty Cravings Placemat

August - Puppy Love Placemat

September - Autumn Abundance Placemat & Autumn Abundance Table Runner

October - Sumi-e Embroidered Placemat

November - Give Thanks Pocket Placemat

December - Rudolph's Run Placemat & Rudolph's Run Table Runner

Supplies & Materials:

Supplies Needed:

1 1/2 yards solid-colored quilter's cotton (for embroidered pieces and back)
1/4 yard print quilter's cotton (for borders)
Small pieces of print quilter's cotton (for front panel)
Batting or extra-loft batting
Medium-weight or light-weight cutaway stabilizer
Temporary spray adhesive
Air-erase pen (or other marking tool)
Straight edge
Quilting cutting mat
Rotary cutter
Nylon monofilament thread
Needle and thread for some hand sewing

Designs used:

Vintage Jacobean Flower 5 (Medium)

Vintage Jacobean Flower 8 (Medium)

Blue Flax (Vintage) - (Medium)

Hollyhock (Vintage) - (Medium)

These designs are also available in design packs:

A Vintage Jacobean Floral Design Pack - Large, Medium, Small

A Flowers of the Holy Land (Vintage) Design Pack - Large, Medium, Small

Finished Size:

51 inches inches wide by 12 1/2 inches high

Gather Materials:

To begin, prepare the fabric for the embroidered pieces. Using an air-erase pen (or other marking tool), draw a 6 1/4 inch wide by 10 1/4 inch high rectangle on the solid-colored quilter's cotton - leave a couple of inches of excess fabric around the shape. Measure and mark the center of each side of the shape by measuring and dividing by two. Draw lines to connect the marks. Where the lines meet is the exact center of the shape.

Hand holding a white pencil drawing straight lines on light green fabric using a wooden ruler, with a rectangular grid sketched on the fabric.

Create a paper template of the design by printing it at full size using embroidery software. If you don't have embroidery software, you can cut a piece of paper the shape and dimensions of the design to help with placement and centering. If you'd like a recommendation for an embroidery program that can make templates, consider Embird from www.Embird.com.

Poke a hole in the center of the template and align it with the center point on the fabric. Make sure the design fits well within the shape - there should be at least one inch of space between the edges of the design and the edges of the shape.

A hand holding a pencil is tracing a flower design from white paper onto a larger green fabric piece with drawn rectangular borders.

Start Embroidering:

Spray a piece of medium-weight or light-weight cutaway stabilizer with temporary adhesive and smooth the fabric on top. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together by aligning the marks on the hoop with the lines on the fabric. Attach the hoop to the machine and load the first design. Move the hoop so that the needle is aligned with the center point on the fabric. Embroider the design.

Light green fabric hooped in an embroidery frame with white edges, held by a hand on a wood-grain table surface.

After the design has finished, trim away the excess stabilizer on the back of the embroidery.

Hand cutting green fabric with orange scissors next to white fabric sheets, one has a drawn embroidery design of a stem with leaves, on a wooden surface.

Cut out the shape.

Hand cutting green fabric with a blue embroidered flower and green stem design, marked into squares with grid lines on a wooden surface.

Prepare the remaining embroidered piece by drawing an 8 1/4 inch by 8 1/4 inch square on the solid-colored fabric.

Follow the same process of measuring, hooping, and embroidering as you did for the first embroidered piece.

Light green fabric square with colorful floral embroidery including blue, yellow, red, and green threads, placed on wooden surface next to orange-handled scissors.

Cut a 6 1/4 inch wide by 2 1/4 inch high piece of print quilter's cotton and align it with the top edge of the first embroidered piece with right sides facing. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge only.

Hand with red nail polish holding orange floral fabric over green patch with blue embroidered flower on green cutting mat with yellow grid lines.

Press the back seam open with an iron. This is the left front panel.

Close-up of fabric pieces for patchwork with a blue-stitched flower on white fabric, orange floral fabric, and green fabric, alongside a white and blue iron.

To prepare the the center panel piece, cut a piece of print fabric 4 1/2 inches wide by 9 1/4 inches high and another piece 4 1/2 inches wide by 3 1/4 inches high.

Rectangular floral fabric piece with orange, red, blue flowers on white and blue paisley square near rotary cutter and ruler on wooden table.

Align the smaller piece with the bottom edge of the larger piece with right sides facing. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge, and press the seam.

Person's hand lifting corner of blue fabric with floral pattern, revealing orange, red, green floral fabric underneath on wooden table next to green cutting mat.

To prepare the right front panel, start by cutting a 4 3/4 inch by 4 3/4 inch square piece of print fabric. Cut the square in half diagonally from one corner to the next.

Close-up of two orange floral fabric triangles on a green rotary cutting mat, with a wooden ruler and an orange rotary cutter placed nearby.

Cut another piece of print fabric 4 3/4 inches by 4 3/4 inches and cut it in half diagonally as you did with the first piece.

Two green fabric triangles with white floral print on a grid-patterned cutting mat, a wooden ruler, and an orange rotary cutter are shown.

Align two of the pieces together with right sides facing and pin in place. Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the long edge and press the seam.

Hand holding layered fabric pieces in green floral, white with leaf pattern, and orange floral prints on a green cutting mat with grid lines and rotary cutter.

Cut a piece of print fabric 4 1/2 inches wide by 4 1/4 inches high. Align the pieced square along the right edge of the square you just cut, with right sides facing. Pin in place along the right edge and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge only. Press the seam.

Hand holding folded fabric pieces in green with white dots, orange with white dots, and blue with floral print over a cutting mat with grid lines.

Next, align the pieced squares along the bottom edge of the remaining embroidered piece with right sides facing. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge only. Press the seam.

Close-up of a hand folding a piece of yellow fabric with floral embroidery under a light blue fabric square with a pin, next to an orange fabric square with white polka dots on a green cutting mat.

Lay the left embroidered panel flat and align the middle front panel on top with right sides facing. Pin in place along the right edge and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge only.

Hand holding two stacked quilt fabric pieces, one folded back, showing floral embroidery on green fabric beneath and multicolored patterned fabrics above.

Lay the assembled left and middle panels flat and align the right panel on top of the center panel with right sides facing. Pin in place along the right edge and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge only.

Hand holding three layered fabric squares over a green cutting mat. Top fabric is light green with blue embroidered flower, middle and bottom fabrics have floral patchwork patterns.

Create as many front panels as you'd like depending on how long you want the runner to be -each panel is about 19 inches wide and the end pieces will add about 16 inches to the total width. We prepared two front panels for our runner.

Two embroidered fabric patchwork pieces on a wooden table. Embroidery includes flowers with stems and leaves in colors like blue, yellow, and red. Patchwork uses green, orange, blue floral, and patterned fabrics.

Now we will add a fabric piece in between the panels. Cut a piece of print fabric 1 1/2 inches wide by 12 inches high. Align it with the right edge of the left panel with right sides facing. Pin in place, and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge only.

Close-up of a fabric patchwork piece with floral embroidery on a green square, surrounded by blue, orange, green, and floral patterned fabric pieces on a wooden surface. A hand with copper rings holds the fabric corner.

Align the right panel on top of the assembled left panel with right sides facing. Align it with the right edge of the piece you just added. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge only.

If you will be using more than two front panels, repeat the last two steps.

Folded patchwork table runner on a wooden surface, featuring green fabric sections with embroidered flowers and various orange, blue, and patterned fabric patches.

Now, we will prepare the fabric for the triangular ends of the table runner. Cut a piece of print fabric 4 1/2 inches wide by 9 1/4 inches high. Then, cut another piece 4 1/4 inches wide by 9 1/4 inches high. Align the second piece (smaller piece) on top of the first piece with right sides facing and pin in place along the right edge. Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the right edge only and press the seam.

Hand holding corner of fabric showing two layers: a green fabric with small white dots on top and a floral fabric with red, blue, green on bottom.

Cut a piece of print fabric 8 1/4 inches wide by 3 inches high and align it with the bottom of the assembled piece with, right sides facing. Pin in place and sew a seam along the bottom pinned edge only. Press the seam.

Person's hand lifting corner of a fabric piece showing a floral patchwork with red, orange, blue flowers, green leaf patterns on a wooden surface.

Measure and mark the center of the right edge by measuring and dividing by two. Then, measure and mark in 1/4 inch along the top and bottom edges by starting at the top left and bottom left corners.

A person's hand marks fabric with a pencil near a wooden ruler; three fabric pieces in floral, blue, and green patterns are stitched together on a wooden surface.

Draw lines to connect the corner marks to the center mark on the right edge.

Close-up of a fabric patch with floral, blue, and green prints on a wood surface. A hand holds a ruler and pencil, marking a diagonal line on the fabric.

Cut out the shape along the lines you just drew. Then, repeat the piecing and cutting process so you have a total of two end pieces.

Patchwork fabric pieces with floral, blue paisley, and green patterns arranged on a green cutting mat. Rotary cutter and wooden ruler nearby.

Now, align the end pieces with the short ends of the assembled panels with right sides facing. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge. Press the seams.

Hand holding corner of a multi-patterned fabric table runner with blue embroidery on light green fabric, floral and paisley prints in orange, blue, and white.

Now we will prepare the fabric for the borders. To start, cut four pieces of print fabric 15 inches long by 1 1/2 inches high. Measure and mark the center of one long side of each of the pieces of fabric by measuring and dividing by two. Then, measure and mark the center of each side of the triangular ends by measuring and dividing by two.

Align the border pieces on top of the triangle ends with right sides facing and center points aligned. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edges starting and stopping 1/4 inch in from each corner (align the border fabric with right sides facing at each end point so it will not be sewn over).

Hand holding a finished corner of a colorful patchwork table runner with floral embroidery and white fabric binding on a dark wood table.

To miter the borders at the pointed ends, press the back seams open and continue the fold to the ends of each border piece. Align the ends of the border pieces together at the end points and fold the triangular end in half widthwise. Pin in place.

Hand sewing a patchwork fabric piece with floral and patterned sections; green fabric is folded and pinned for stitching on a dark wood table.

Align the straight edge with the bottom fold of the triangular end piece and draw a line across the border pieces. Sew a seam across the line.

Close-up of a hand holding a red pencil marking fabric on a wooden table using a 12-inch wooden ruler. The fabric has light prints and a green edge with pins.

Trim off the excess fabric next to the seam leaving about 1/4 inch of excess.

Close-up of fabric patchwork corner with floral and solid prints in orange, green, white, and blue on a wooden surface, next to silver scissors.

To prepare the top and bottom borders, measure the length of the table runner from corner to corner along one of the top or bottom edges and add add 4 inches (this is the length of your top and bottom border pieces). Ours measured 36 inches, plus 4 inch equals 40 inches. So, we cut two pieces of print fabric 40 inches long by 1 1/2 inches wide. Measure and mark the center of one of the long edges by measuring and dividing by two. Then, measure and mark the center of the top and bottom edges of the front panels by measuring and dividing by two.

Align the border pieces on top of the front panels with right sides facing, and the center points aligned. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edges starting and stopping 1/4 inch from each corner (again, align the border with fabric right sides facing at each corner point so it will not be sewn over).

Partially completed table runner on a dark wood table, featuring embroidered floral patches in green, blue, and orange fabric, pinned with red-headed pins.

To miter the corners, align the border fabric and seam of the triangular end with the top border fabric and seam of the front panel. Fold the front panel. Then, draw a line out across the border fabric as you did earlier and sew a seam along the line. Trim the fabric and repeat this process for each corner - align each corner with the top and bottom border fabric respectively.

Close-up of a corner of a colorful embroidered patchwork table runner with floral and geometric fabric patterns on a dark wooden surface. A wooden ruler is placed beside it.

To prepare the fabric for the back of the table runner, lay the assembled front panel on top of the fabric, pin, and cut out the shape. Also, cut a piece of the batting just as you did for the back.

Lay the batting flat and align the back fabric on top with the right side facing up. Align the front panel on top of the back fabric with right sides facing (wrong side of the front panel faces up). Sew a 1/4 inch seam around the outer edges of the table runner leaving about 7 inches open along the bottom for turning.

Partially folded patchwork table runner with embroidered floral squares in pastel green, blue, and orange tones on a brown table.

Turn the table runner right side out between the front and back panels (the batting will end up inside the table runner), and press the seams. Also, turn the fabric of the opening in 1/4 inch and press. Hand-sew the opening closed using a needle and thread.

Close-up of a sewing project with embroidered floral patches and patterned fabric strips being pressed with a white steam iron on a gray surface.

With nylon monofilament in the needle and matching thread in the bobbin (thread that matches the back fabric) quilt through all the layers by stitching along the existing seams of the front panel.

Close-up of a sewing machine stitching a green floral embroidered fabric with a darker green patterned border, under the presser foot.

We also quilted around the edges of the embroidered pieces. To do this, first measure and mark 3/4 inch in around the edges of each piece. Draw lines connecting the marks and then stitch along the lines through all the layers (we used a decorative stitch).

Hand stitching on a green patch with an orange and yellow flower embroidery on a patchwork table runner, next to a wood ruler and blue fabric.

Get Inspired:

Your table runner is now complete! Click here to learn how to stitch coordinating patchwork placemats!

Long table runner with five embroidered green panels, each featuring different colorful floral and nature-themed designs, bordered by orange and blue floral patches.