Decorative stitches sparkle on black bow tie quilt blocks

Are you ready to piece? This week is all about preparing for a party by making quilted table decor. In yesterday’s post I used decorative stitches to create stitched fabric. The stitched fabric will be used with a neutral fabric to create a quilted table runner. The PFAFF quilt expression 720 will help me sew the blocks together with precision.

Let’s get started!

For the table runner, approximately 1 yard of neutral fabric is needed. I used the same fabric for the pieced blocks, the plain blocks, the backing and the binding.

material (for 1 bow tie block)

(2) 2½” squares of matching stitched black fabric
(2) 1½” squares of matching stitched black fabric
(2) 2½” squares of neutral fabric

If you want to cut all of your neutral fabric now, cut

(1) 12½” x 20“ piece for backing
(2) 2½” x WOF strips to sew together for approximately 80“ of binding
(4) 5“ squares (subcut into a total of (16) 2½″ squares)

(7) 4½” squares for the plain blocks

To make a bow tie block I will first need to sew a black 1½” square on the angle to each of the neutral squares. Before I stitched, I put the small square right side down and then turned it over to check the stitch direction. I matched the stitches for each of the two small squares on the block, switching which stitch would show on each bow tie.

Sew the small black square on the diagonal on one corner of each neutral square. Trim the excess seam allowance and press the seam to the neutral fabric.

Next, decide on the orientation of the two black squares – I kept both of mine in the same direction. Sew the block together in two rows, pressing the seams to the neutral square. Then sew the two rows together, nesting the seams.

Repeat the bow tie block making steps to make a total of 8 bow tie blocks.

Now it’s time to decide on the layout. You can see mine below; I chose to sew all of my bow tie blocks going in the same direction. With the plain blocks in between, I could sew the corner bow ties oriented towards the center or try something else!

Once happy with the layout, start sewing the blocks together. I sewed them in rows pressing the seams to the neutral squares. Then I sewed the rows to each other.

The bow tie runner should measure 12½” x 20″ when sewn.

The bow tie blocks come together quickly using the PFAFF quilt expression 720. This runner fits my coffee table and will get lots of use there. If you would like a longer table runner, you could simply double this pattern. Tomorrow I’ll quilt and bind the table runner!