Hi quilty friends!  My name is Shelley from Cora’s Quilts and I’m so happy to share one of my Gifty Galore 2015 projects with you today! Introducing … the Argyle Runner! Now, in addition to seriously being addicted to quilting and fabric acquisition, I am actually a budding knitter.  I love the look of a classic argyle pattern, but I just can’t figure out how to get my fingers to knit holding four different strands of yarn at once … plus I’m the world’s slowest knitter, so I would have to start years in advance to actually finish a gift in time for Christmas!

Luckily, this style of knitting translates very easily – and quickly! – into quilted projects!!  My Argyle Runner, finishing at a generous 51.5″ x 13.25″, was put together in just about eight hours, start-to-finish.  I wrote the pattern so that the majority of the blocks are strip-pieced, which cuts the construction time down drastically.  Plus, all the blocks along the edges are pieced as full blocks and then trimmed down to size once the whole runner has been put together.  You end up with a few fabric scraps, but I think that only having to put one type of block together makes it totally worth it!

And don’t let those small strips scare you!  The blocks are cleverly pressed so that all those intersecting seams nest together perfectly … you almost don’t even need to use pins!!  If you have a little bit of extra time, you can whip the fabric remnants into a cute little mug-rug, or even make a few extra blocks and make a wider runner.

If you have a little bit more sewing time before the holidays, check out the Argyle Quilt pattern.  Finishing at 72″ square, it uses the same speedy strip-piecing and trim-down methods as the runner.  Our pattern sample was made using Winthur Sempliner’s Christmas Glitz fabric line.

If you’d like to make your Argyle project, you can find the Runner pattern in the Fast, Fun, and Gifty book, or can download the digital table runner pattern or full-sized quilt pattern directly from Connecting Threads! Check out my other pattern downloads also available at Connecting Threads.

We would LOVE to see how your projects turn out. Head over to the new Gifty Galore Flickr page and post your project photos there for everyone to enjoy! Of course, we would also love to see your pictures on our Facebook wall. Please post any questions about this project below in the comments and we will gladly respond to you directly.