Happy Birthday to me! Day One...

{come back everyday this week (March 23rd - 26th...contest ends midnight on March 31st) and find tutorials and wonderful giveaways from the Two Peas studio, and some of my friends, Bari J., Britt Lakin Photography and the crew at Where Women Create on posts all this week!}

Good Monday Morning everyone! This is day one of a week of what I hope will be lots of fun stuff for everyone.

Ready to jump in to a tutorial?

Alrighty then...today, we are going to set a pretty little table just right for a birthday celebration or Easter or just a Monday night dinner. And we are going to nibble on some delicious and really simple lemon bars.

If you chitter chatter away with me on Twitter you might recall last Friday night I was blabbering on and sharing photos from the Two Peas Sewing Bee class. We were making upcycled pillows from my hubbys old shirts...and table runners.

: ...shamelessly plugging the latest issue of Sew Hip {thank you Barb}

Our wonderful hostess Barb...she's my idol.

She's a great Mom who I frequently take parenting lessons from...

Barb's Mom is equally as awesome. I call her "Super Nova" (well, her name IS Nova and she IS super). Nova helps me sew sometimes when I get overwhelmed now again with orders. And she teaches me a thing or two about sewing. She rocks.

Barb put these together at our class for our table runner project. Gorgeous right?

Here's what you'll need to cut to make this table runner using 6 different fabrics:

Cut 2 of one color 2" x 21"
Cut 2 of one color 2" x 21"
Cut 2 of one color 2" x 21"
Cut 2 of one color 3.5" x 21"
Cut 2 of one color 7" x 21"
Cut 2 of one color 6" x 21"

You will also need some quilt batting and some fabric for the back. Because it lays on the table - no one will see the backside. I just use sheets that I find on sale for the backing. Find whatever you have that is inexpensive - why spend the big bucks for that back piece?

Once all of those strips are cut, lay them out until you get them in an order you like. Barb did a somewhat random order but matching the two end pieces.

: Here, I put mine in order at the ends and random in the center...for the place I was using it in, I decided to not use two of the strips to shorten it a bit. You're the designer - build it to suit your needs.

Once you have your design all laid out, starting at one end, take the first two strips, lay them right sides together, using 1/4" seams, stitch together.

Now take those two strips and add on the next in line. And so on until you have your top completely pieced together.

Press all your seams open. Lay your top down on a piece of quilt batting and cut the batting about an inch or so larger than your top.

Pin all over the place. Pin the edges and all throughout the top to hold the batting and top together. Now, we are going to do the lazy girl quilting. (Trish doesn't do anything that takes a long time so we are going to take some short cuts).

A nice 3 step zig zag, a wave stitch...your choice but stitch over your seams throughout the entire top.

Remove all your pins. Lay your top on your backing fabric, right sides together. Use your top as your pattern and cut to the same size of your top. Pin. Stitch all the way around with 1/2" seams leaving an opening for turning. {I stitched with the batting facing up...it's tricky a bit but it helps me to see where I'm going and to stay straight while stitching}

Turn right side out. Press all along just your edges (I think if you press all over you'll kind of press down your loft of the batting). Topstich. Barb and I both did a scant 1/8" edge stitch but you can do something decorative...anything you want, just topstitch. It gives it that polished finished look. And yes, no binding. That requires more time than I have with 3 kids. And that would mess up my slogan, "pea sized projects you can complete in 3 hours or less".

You might want to add Baxter to your table top too...he's super cute and perfect for Easter. You can find him here

Now, when I went back to Barbs to take a photo of her finished table runner, she had some of these waiting for me. Ok, not me, her girls, but I ate some because, um, who wouldn't? Look at these! They were just calling my name...

Lemon Squares. Warm. Loaded with powdered sugar. The most amazing simple flavored melt in your mouth wonderfulness for a crust. Dee. Licious! Want to make some for your own table? Follow the smell here... for the recipe and make some for yourself.

I think THOSE lemon bars and that aqua and pink table runner would look smashing on my dining room table...just sayin. (you're awesome Barb!)

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Trish