Rainbow Table Runner for a Tunisian Feast!!

So, recently Karen had a bunch of us over for a Tunisian feast!! She and Miled cooked SO MANY delicious things!! I really wanted to contribute food but she said she had it covered. So I decided to make her a table runner instead, for fun! I didn't manage to finish it in time for the feast, but (just like the last gift post), I gave it to her a few days later. :)

I was absolutely inspired by the table runner shown here! I liked how it was simple, quick, yet also GORGEOUS with all the rainbow colors, leaving lots of room for designing it however I wanted. It's really just 2.5" mini charm pack squares turned "on point" I believe is the term. I had a pack of rainbow batik 5" squares that was perfect for the project! I cut the tan border out of some scrappy fabrics I had, and bound it in some bias tape.

Let's go through my process, shall we? YES!

So like I said, it called for 2.5" squares. How convenient that cutting a charm square gets you four of these! Besides batiks, I threw in some other charm squares as well, for more variety.

This is the colors laid out the way I wanted, first half!!

And here's the second half! I wanted to have a rainbow, but I also wanted to accentuate that lovely blue color of Tunisia, on the doors and so forth. And the tan of the stone walls for the border. Karen had sent around some photos of their neighborhood there, so I was inspired!

I chain-pieced the rows in two halves (ever so carefully!). I wrote myself a note that these rows are "backwards" and I needed to actually assemble them rotated 180 degrees and the other way around. Ha! (If you know, you know.) (LOL)

Here I'm carefully clipping up and sewing my actual rows, one row from each half at a time. It was fun!

The pieced top!

Then I cut it into a proper rectangle,

Then I cut some batting and found a good backing, and there's that roll of bias tape!

Here it is, sandwiched and pinned up for quilting.

The quilted table runner! I did the same quilt lines as in the inspiration post. Now to bind it!

Sooo, I did try binding this thing "properly"; that is, I sewed the bias tape down, folded it over, etc. etc., but it was so painfully narrow that I just couldn't DO it. I mean, I could have, but it would have been really sloppy AND not that great-looking. So, I left the tape flat on the one side (so, sticking out 0.5"), and simply ADDED ANOTHER LAYER OF BIAS TAPE on the other side, to cover it! Hah!!!

I didn't fold over, or unfold, or do anything to this second layer, other than COVER UP the raw edge and other side's tape. Then I went down the outside edge to close it. I hope this makes sense. I used flat bias tape like ribbon trim, essentially.

The finished piece!

Ooh, ahh, it looked so nice in the evening light! Blue side, and . . .

. . . warm tone side!

I also sewed up a quick label from a scrap, wrote a nice message to them, and sewed it on the back, following the angle of the quilting lines.

Here it is, behaving like a table runner (?!) on my coffee table (the only uncluttered table at the time of taking the photo) with my plant on it for decorative effect. ;D

If anyone offers to cook you a Tunisian feast, SAY YES!! Thanks, Karen and Miled!! <3