Driving On The Left

I've been held captive by my oven for the last two days baking for the Holly Bazaar and realized that I haven't shared the items that I've sewn for the craft table with you, so here's a start. A few lousy weather days back in September was all that I needed to get most of the items together and off to Roberta for quilting which saved me from lots of last minute binding.

There were two prints in my holiday stash that I've been trying to use for the last couple of years and haven't had any success, so I resolved that this was going to be their year. This navy Christmas deco piece - so dark that it's almost black - was the first one that I tackled.

I opted for a simple gold poinsettia and holly centre panel bordered on all sides with the decoration print to really let them shine, and spruced it up a bit with a narrow border. The piece of green that I found to work with was even smaller than the blue print, but there was just enough. 

At a quarter of an inch wide it's easy to make a mess of it, but with the proper technique it's easy peasy and always gives a nice finish.

Cut a 3/4" strip and pin it to your runner/quilt, right sides together, raw edges matching, as you would normally join two pieces; sew a 1/4" seam. Press towards the runner so that the border lays flat because you'll want to be able to see your seam for the next step. 

With the wrong side facing up, pin the next border, right sides together, raw edges aligned. Now, instead of lining up the raw edges with the right edge of your pressure foot like you usually do, line up the LEFT edge of your foot with the seam that you have just sewn (a.k.a. driving on the left) and sew your seam.

Ta da! Your second seam is an even distance from your first. 

Press towards the second border, and that's it!

At 16" x 48" this runner is a good size and will make a nice impact on someone's table.

Jingle Bells seemed like the perfect panto to quilt this with and I bound it with the same blue print and the outer border so as not to detract from the simplicity of the layout. Finally, this fabric has found it's purpose!....M