A little fall fabric, some favorite Peanuts characters, and an embroidery machine—that was our recipe for a fun evening in the craft room! In this live, I worked on the Chunky Pumpkin Table Runner and shared a few projects, ideas, and real-life embroidery hiccups along the way.
If you missed us live, grab your favorite beverage and stitch along with the replay.
Watch the live replay
Watch: Are You Ready for Fall? Let’s Make This Chunky Pumpkin Runner!
A pumpkin runner with a little Peanuts personality
I had two blocks finished and worked on a third during the live. The wood-grain background gives the pumpkins a lovely setting, but the little surprise is in the fabric: Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and Woodstock are printed on the fabric, rather than embroidered characters!
By choosing which part of the print sits inside each pumpkin section, you can give an appliqué design your own personality. I used the machine’s projector to help check placement, especially in the smaller areas where the final satin stitching takes up some room.
Find the ITH Chunky Pumpkin Table Runner design at Designs by JuJu. Check the design’s hoop requirements and follow its instructions for your chosen size.
A few things we talked through
Check the final stitching area. A favorite character needs to fit inside the finished pumpkin section, not just the initial placement outline.
Make use of small scraps. The little flowers and pumpkin pieces are a satisfying way to use fabric that might otherwise sit in a scrap basket.
Think about light and dark fabrics. We talked about how darker fabrics recede and lighter fabrics come forward as we chose pumpkin colors.
Keep learning your machine. There was some experimenting with the scan and projector features. The replay includes the troubleshooting as well as the stitching.
More from the craft room
I shared progress on the woodland baby quilt, which still needed some quilting and a little repair work. We also looked at viewer projects, including a November mini quilt, a finished quilt, and a handmade sweater. I love seeing the different things everyone is creating!
We checked in on the Shindig quilt sew-along, too. The fabric-planning discussion included 12 fat quarters, background fabric, and a 60-degree equilateral triangle ruler. Use the pattern in Home: Piece by Piece for the complete requirements and cutting instructions.
How do you organize your scraps?
I’ve started putting my scraps into baskets by color, and it’s making those little appliqué pieces easier to find. Do you sort by color, cut scraps into ready-to-use sizes, or keep another system? Tell me in the comments on the YouTube replay.
The pumpkin runner was still in progress when we signed off, so this is a relaxed stitch-with-me session rather than a start-to-finish tutorial. Come enjoy the process with us!
Have a great day, eat some chocolate, and be kind to everyone. Until next time—bye!
April
