This table runner is a great gift for a loved one for Valentine’s Day – or even yourself – for some festive February decor.  I participated in a Valentine’s Day swap on an online quilt group and designed this pattern from scratch.

This tutorial combines two basic techniques: the half square triangle and quick corners. Let’s get started!

Mirroed Heart Table Runner for Valentine's Day

About the Table Runner Tutorial

You’ll need five fabrics for the design.  One red background fabric and four pink focal fabrics. The finished table runner will be 11″ x 317/8″.

Materials:

  • Backing Fabric: bare minimum 33″ x 12″
  • Batting: bare minimum 33″ x 12″
  • Red Background:
    • Cut 4 squares @ 45/8″ each
    • Cut 1 rectangle @ 7″ x 17/8″
    • Cut 2 rectangles @ 7″ x 21/2″each
    • Cut 2 rectangles @ 21/2″ x 317/8″ each
    • Cut 16 squares @ 17/8″ each
  • For each of your four pink focal fabrics:
    • Cut 1 square @ 45/8″ each
    • Cut 2 squares @ 33/4″ each
  • Binding Fabric: approx 21/2″ by 96″, joined where necessary

Creating the Bottom Pointed Half of the Hearts

I’ll use my favourite half square triangle technique for this section of the block.  Check out my guide for pictures of these steps, otherwise simply follow along below.

Take one of your red 45/8″ squares and place it right side up on a flat surface. Take one of your pink 45/8″ squares and place it on top, right side down.

Hold a ruler from one corner to the corner diagonal from it and mark this line in disappearing fabric marker or a pencil.

Sew a 1/4″ seam down either side.

Repeat for your remaining three pink fabrics; you can chain piece these if you’d like.

Cut along the marked line, then press all your half square triangle units open with the seam towards the darker fabric. Snip off the little dog ears.

Mirroed Heart Table Runner for Valentine's Day

Creating the Top Rounded Half of the Hearts

We’ll use a quick corner technique for the tops of the hearts.  This may also be called the “snowball” technique because it’s a technique used to create a very common quilt block, the snowball.  We are essentially making half of a snowball block for our top half of our hearts.

For each of your 33/4″ pink fabric squares: layer 1 pink square right side up on a flat surface.  Take one of your red 17/8″ squares and place it face down in the top left corner.  Pin in place.  Take a second 17/8″ square and place it face down in the top right corner.  Pin in place.  Draw a line diagonally across each of the squares as in the picture below then sew along this line.  You can also be a rebel and eyeball it (I won’t judge, I eyeballed mine!)

Easy Snowball Corner Technique | Craftcore

Assembling the Heart Blocks

Arrange your hearts in a pleasing layout to your taste.  I chose to set up alternate prints in adjacent positions.

Mirroed Heart Table Runner for Valentine's Day

Start by chain piecing pairs of bottom hearts with the corresponding top of the hearts, right sides together.  Snip these apart and press.

Now sew those heart halves together, right sides together.  Press.

Mirroed Heart Table Runner for Valentine's Day

You now have four heart blocks!

Putting it All Together

The hard part is behind you – time to join all the pieces together.

You have three small rectangular strips from your red background fabric.  Sew strips and your blocks together, right sides together, in the following order:

  • 1 rectangle @ 7″ x 21/2″
  • 1 heart block, rounded end facing up
  • 1 heart block, rounded end facing up
  • 1 rectangle @ 7″ x 17/8″
  • 1 heart block, pointed end facing up
  • 1 heart block, pointed end facing up
  • 1 rectangle @ 7″ x 21/2″

Press all seams.

Sew the two remaining long border strips to the outside of your table runner top.  Press the seams.

Mirroed Heart Table Runner for Valentine's Day

Finishing Touches

Your table runner is nearly complete; all that’s left is to sandwich your backing, batting, and table runner top.

Mirroed Heart Table Runner for Valentine's Day

Quilt it however you would like (I chose to do a simple diagonal all-over design). Sew on the binding and you’re done!

Mirroed Heart Table Runner for Valentine's Day

The Completed Table Runner

Here are some shots of my completed project.  I made a ton of mistakes while sewing – that’s what you get for sewing when you suffering from major headaches, but I had to get this project out the door and to the post office so that it would make it on time to its recipient. The ol’ noggin doesn’t always cooperate under stressful conditions.
Mirroed Heart Table Runner for Valentine's Day
You may notice that my binding looks a little wild.  I normally machine bind my quilts, so I’m supposed to sew the binding to the backside of the quilt, then flip it over and machine sew it down to the front of the quilt.  In my headache-induced haze, I sewed it to the front side by accident.  I decided to move forward due to my deadline, but my stitching wasn’t as great as I would like for the front side of the quilt.  I decided to do some decorative stitching on top of my binding to give it a more intentional look.  In red thread, I sewed a line of stitching approximately 1/8″ from the outer edge of the binding, then another line of stitching 1/8″ from the inner edge of the binding.  Then, I sewed a wavy line of stitching between the inner and outer edge of the binding.

In the end, I was happy with how the binding turned out, but may this be a lesson to me to not procrastinate so much!
Mirroed Heart Table Runner for Valentine's Day Mirroed Heart Table Runner for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day, quilters!

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