Easy 5-Inch Square Table Runner Tutorial for Thanksgiving

Hi friends!

This runner is on my table for Thanksgiving, and it's one of the easiest patchwork projects I know. It's just squares, a border and a little straight-line quilting. I even skipped making a separate binding: the backing folds over to the front and becomes the binding. The top goes together in about an hour, and the whole runner is an afternoon.

I started with our Season & Spice 10" stack from Art Gallery Fabrics and cut it down to 5" squares for a scrappier look. You can do the same, or grab our Season & Spice 5" Square Stack, already cut.

Prefer to watch? See the whole runner come together in our quick video on YouTube.

What you'll need

Supplies for the Season & Spice table runner: 5-inch squares, border fabric and backing

36 five-inch squares (one Season & Spice 5" Square Stack has 42, so you'll have a few extra)
Border fabric: I used a Moda Grunge from my stash. I think this one was Yam. You'll need 1/4 yard.
Backing: 1 yard (it also becomes your binding). I used Petalush by Kiley's Quilt Room for Moda in the Pine Rustic Stripe colorway
Batting, cut 3–4" larger than your runner top on all sides
Pins or clips, rotary cutter, ruler and mat
Helpful but not required: a walking foot for quilting and a bi-level (edge-stitching) foot for the binding

Finished size: about 18" wide × 58" long.

Step 1: Cut your squares

If you're starting from 10" squares, cut each one into four 5" squares. Mixing the quarters up gives you a scrappier look. Using 10" squares then leaves you plenty of extra fabric for other items like mug rugs, pot holders, coordinating tea towel trims, etc. A 5" square pack will do the table runner, leaving 6 extra squares.

Step 2: Lay out your runner

Season & Spice 5-inch squares laid out 3 across and 12 down

Lay out your squares 3 across and 12 down, moving them around until you love the order. Count your rows before you sew! It's easy to end up with 11 instead of 12. Or make your runner a little shorter or longer if you have a specific table you're going to display the finished project on.

Step 3: Sew the rows

Sewing a row of 5-inch squares together

When you're happy with your layout, sew the squares together one row at a time. Press each row's seams, alternating direction from row to row: toward the center on one row, toward the outside on the next. That sets you up for nested seams in the next step. Chain piecing can be a real time saver here!

Step 4: Join the rows

Joining the rows with pinned, nested seams

Sew the rows together, nesting your seams. I like to pin at every place the seams meet, so the fabric doesn't slip and my corners line up as well as they can. (But remember--'finished is better than perfect!') When all the rows are joined, press the whole top again. You're finished with joining up seams, so pressing direction isn't critical.

Step 5: Add the border

Adding the border strips to the table runner top

Decide how wide you want your border, then figure out how many strips to cut:

(width of your runner × 2) + (length of your runner × 2) ÷ 40 = the number of width-of-fabric strips to cut

The 40 is the usable length of one strip cut across the width of the fabric. Round up. In my case, I cut 4 2 1/2" strips.

Join 2 strips for your first long side, sew it on, and trim off the leftover. Repeat for the other long side, and press the seams to the outside. This will reduce some of the bulk you would get pressing toward the blocks at your seam intersections. Follow the same process for the two short ends of the runner.

Step 6: Prepare the backing and batting

Measure your top's new width and length. Cut the batting and backing about 3–4" larger than the top on every side, so there's plenty of room while you quilt.

My backing took just 1 yard of fabric. Because my top was 18" wide, I could cut the width of my runner twice from a WOF. Sewing them together end to end, gave me enough length for the length of my runner, so the backing has one seam across the middle of the runner. Match up the backing patterns as best as you can so the seam isn't as noticeable. (Or, don't worry too much about a perfect seam match--it IS the backing, after all!)

Step 7: Layer the quilt sandwich

Layering the backing, batting and runner top into a quilt sandwich

Lay the backing pretty side down, then layer the batting, then your runner top pretty side up. Smooth everything out so there are no wrinkles or folds in the top or bottom fabrics. Spray Baste or pin the layers together.

Step 8: Quilt it

Straight-line grid quilting along the seam lines

Quilt as desired! I moved my needle position to the right (7.0 on my machine) and stitched along each side of my seam lines, which makes a neat grid. A walking foot helps all three layers feed evenly.

Step 9: Trim for a self binding

Trimming the top and batting, leaving extra backing for a self binding

I used the extra backing fabric as my binding. To do that, fold the backing out of the way and trim just the top and batting. Then trim the backing so it extends beyond the top and batting all the way around. How wide you want your binding will determine how wide you trim up your backing. I trimmed at a hair under 1", which gave me a nice size binding--just a bit over 1/4".

If you'd rather use a traditional binding, just trim all three layers together.

Step 10: Fold and clip the binding

Backing folded over to the front and clipped as a self binding

Fold the backing toward the front of the runner, then fold it over again so the raw edge is tucked inside, and clip it to the runner. If you'd like to see this step in detail, Becky at Patchwork Posse has a helpful walkthrough.

Step 11: Stitch the binding down

Stitching down the self binding with a bi-level foot

Take your clipped runner to the machine. I used a bi-level foot to keep my stitching right along the edge of the binding. Stitch all the way around, taking your time at the corners to get a nice, crisp point, and cross over your starting point to finish.