Rosalie Table Runner featuring Charley Harper Fabrics
Charley Harper is one of my all time favorite artists. Imagine my excitement when I discovered an entire line of Charley Harper fabric had arrived. Happy dance doesn't not even being to cover it.
I immediately knew I had to do something that showcased Charley Harper's amazing talent, and showed this beautiful fabric at it's best.
Valori's pattern, Rosalie, fit the bill perfectly. Large hexagons to display the prints, and strong graphic lines to compliment the art style. The table runner is one quilt row using the larger size templates with a one inch border (finished size) added to each long side. I have a long table, so my runner has seven hexagons. You can easily change the length to fit your table, by changing the number of hexagons.
Construction is simple (no Y seams!) and I was able to put mine together over a weekend. I love how it turned out and can't wait to have it on my table.
The pattern includes templates for the hexagons & triangles that make up the body of the quilt. I want to show you how to accurately copy and use the templates... First, gather your supplies. You'll need template plastic, a fine tip Sharpie (or other permanent marker), a ruler, and some painter's tape.
Place the template plastic over the pattern template and secure with tape. Make sure you tape the template plastic to both your work surface and the pattern. Then using your ruler and Sharpie trace the template.
Remove the tape and rotate the template plastic 180 degrees. Line up your template with the dotted line on the pattern template (see above). Secure with tape, and trace. Using your ruler add a vertical line (not on the pattern template) so your template lines cross in the center. This will help you line up your template with your fabric, and center it, when it comes time to cut.
You can cut your template out with scissors, but I find you get more accurate, and straight, cuts with a rotary cutter. However, don't use your fabric blade/cutter on the template plastic. I keep two sets of rotary cutters in my workroom, one for fabric and one for other items. Beside working wonderfully with template plastic, I use my non-fabric cutter for wrapping paper, ribbon with wire, freezer paper, card stock, poster board, etc... Don't forget to label your cutter so you don't mix them up!
Now that your template is ready it's time to cut out your hexagons. Template plastic is translucent so it is easy to use the center lines to place your template, and ensure the print is straight and features the elements you want. In this case, I used my template's vertical line and matched it to the bird legs (see above). With such strong lines in the fabric pattern it would be very noticeable if it was cut askew.
When cutting your fabric with a plastic template use a quilting ruler along the edge. Template plastic is meant to be a guide not a surface to cut against. I make my first cut, then secure the template and fabric with a bit of tape to ensure an accurate cut. Taking time with your template and cutting will make your sewing a joy and improve your results.
Once my row was complete, I added a one inch (finished size) boarder to each side. Instead of binding the sides, I made my quilt sandwich then sewed a quarter inch seam down both long sides. I turned my seamed sandwich right sides out, pressed it, and added binding to both ends.
We have all the Charley Harper fabrics used in the runner, and the rest of the collection, in stock.
To make our runner you'll need:
1/3 yard of five prints (I used Upside Downside, Lovey Dovey, Snowy Egret, Magpie, and Cardinal)
2 yards backing & background fabric (I used Twigs Black)
20" x 116" batting
1 sheet template plastic
As always send us your pics or bring in your finished projects. We love to see them! If you post your project on social media be sure to tag us with #stitchinpost or #sewmuchinspiration.
Cheers,
Samantha
