Quilted Dresser Runner

I always end up using towels underneath TV's to protect our furniture...blah.  Being in my sewing mood this past weekend, I decided to make a runner for the dresser in Steel's room where his TV sits.  I had great coordinating fabrics to match his Disney Cars room.  I have made a couple quilts in the past but I have always just tacked them and never 'quilted' them.  I figure that my first attempt should be small and this would be a great place to practice.  (You won't be able to easily see my errors!  I can't see any, can you?)

How I Did It

1.  The top of his dresser's measurements are 36" x 20".  I decided that 3 rows of 8 - 6" squares would fit nicely.  

2.  I went to town cutting 12 - 6" squares of each fabric.  (I had 2 different fabrics.)  I didn't bother washing and ironing since this was just going to be a dresser runner.  

3.  I pieced together 8 columns of 3, alternating fabrics.  When finished, I had 4 of each pictured below.

4.  I, then. pieced each column to each other, being sure that the touching fabrics were of alternating patterns.  I paid special attention to the seams and made sure that since I wasn't ironing them flat that I pinned them so that one went one direction and one the other so it wouldn't be bunchy and lay as flat as possible.

Top piece complete...

5.  I laid out the bottom fabric (one only fabric, upside down) with ample size to allow for errors that I would trim later.  I did the same for the cotton batting and placed the top on top in the center.

 6.  I pinned the center and rolled each end so that it would fit in my sewing machine.  I really only needed to roll the right side but...

7.  Being that this was my first stab at 'quilting' I decided that basic straight lines would be best.  These straight lines would be approximately 1/4" from each seam.  I started in the center and worked toward the left.  I made sure to smooth out the fabric after each run so that both fabrics and batting did not bunch up.

8.  I, then, trimmed the access batting and bottom fabric and starting pinning the bottom fabric folding over to the top, one side at a time.  I pinned and sewed each side one at a time.

9.  At the corners, I folded the fabric at a 45° angle and folded it up the same way as the sides.

10.  I continued until all sides were pinned and stitched around the whole runner.

Done!

 In action...