If you’re looking for a quilting project that blends creativity with relaxation, the Cake Stand Quilted Table Runner is just what you need. Featuring stunning needle-turn appliqué, this charming table runner offers the perfect opportunity to showcase your favorite fabric prints while enjoying a quiet, meditative stitching experience. Whether you’re an experienced quilter or just starting out, this project provides a soothing and rewarding way to unwind while creating a beautiful, functional piece for your home.
In this blog post, I’ll guide you through the process of creating your own Cake Stand Quilted Table Runner, sharing tips for mastering the needle turn appliqué technique and offering inspiration for fabric choices that will make your project truly shine. Get ready to settle in, slow down, and enjoy every stitch as you bring this delightful quilted table runner to life!
The Cake Stand Quilt Pattern is available for instant digital download.
This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission.
How this table runner came to be
I originally designed this for a client, and the project fell through, but I loved it so much that I couldn’t resist sharing it in the summer issue of the Canadian Quilter magazine. That got a great response, and so I thought I’d share the project with you, too!
It’s a sweet little project that comes with quilty options.
Quilting Techniques
First, let’s talk about quilting techniques. The Cake Stand Quilt Pattern was originally designed as needle-turn appliqué. There’s something really lovely about slowing down and enjoying some hand stitching. But I know slow stitching isn’t for everyone. So, if you prefer a speedier, less hand-sewing-focused route, then raw-edge appliqué will be your jam. All you need to remember is to use the inner line of the quilt pattern templates, and you’ll be golden. You can see that in action in this video tutorial.
Project Sizes
There are also quite a few sizes to choose from in the pattern, including two table runners, small and large, and baby through king to accommodate all your surface covering needs – ha!
The table runners also make adorable bed runners for a little girl’s room.
Scrappy & Pre-cut Friendly
Grab your scraps, as the backing of your Cake Stands can also be patchwork. Whether you use scraps, charm squares, layer cakes, fat quarters, or yardage, it all works out in the end! You can even deviate from the patchwork background and feature yardage to bring the focus to your favourite fabric prints. That’s what I did here, as I wanted to keep the focus on the Ruby Star Society prints, which I used for the cake stands. The large-size templates are perfect for showing off your favourite prints 😊
How to Needle Turn Appliqué Featuring the Cake Stand Table Runner
Needle turn appliqué (NTA) took me a minute to figure out and learn to love. When I first tried it, I found it super fiddly, and my results were less than stellar.
It wasn’t until I tried thread basting before attempting the needle turn appliqué that I finally found my NTA groove.
I’ve broken down the needle turn appliqué steps you need to take to help you achieve this quilting technique!
Gathering your materials
As always, it’s best to start by gathering your tools. You don’t need much, but the following essentials will come in handy:
- Cake Stand Pattern – I’m showing the Cake Dome, and the template is included in the pattern.
- Appliqué pins
- 50wt thread for stay stitch
- 50wt thread for blind stitch (match it to your fabric)
- Small scissors
- Pincushion
- Needle for needle turn appliqué
- Thread gloss (optional)
- Seam ripper (cause mistakes happen – ha!)
- Main thimble
- Finger thimbles – I use the large on my thumb and the medium on my index finger
- Erasable marking tool
- Seam gauge
Step 1
Once you have your notions and tools corralled, you can proceed to create your stay stitch markings. This will help you create a 1/4″ guide when it comes to the actual needle turn appliqué.
All it entails is using a seam gauge and an erasable marking tool to create little marks that will guide where you add your stay stitch.
This may seem like an extra unnecessary step, but I promise it’s well worth your time, as it leads to great results!
Step 2
With your markings done, align the Cake Dome with the Cake Stand Base so that it’s nice and centered. I like to fold my Cake Dome in half to find the center mark. Once you have it where you want it, use some appliqué pins to keep it from shifting around.
This is optional, but I’ve found it gives me lots of peace of mind when I’m working on Step 3!
Step 3
With your markings done, grab your contrasting thread and create a running stitch around the entire perimeter right where your markings are.
Tip – I’ve found it easiest to do this with my project flat on the table to help prevent puckering and rippling.
Make sure you leave a long tail at the start and end, and don’t knot your thread. This is a temporary stitch that will get removed once the Cake Dome is secured in place after Step 4.
Step 4
Now that your Cake Dome is secured in place and won’t shift on you, you can proceed to tacking down the Cake Dome using a blind stitch. It’s best to match your thread to your fabric, as this will help ‘conceal’ your stitches even more.
Take your time with this step; the more you practice, the easier it gets!
Step 5
With your blind stitch in place, now comes the fun of removing your stay stitch! Be gentle here, as you don’t want to pop any of your blind stitches!
Once your threads have been removed, give your project a good press to remove any stay stitch markings, and then step back and appreciate your handiwork!
Cake Stand Table Runner Details
Fabric
I picked up these strawberry fabric prints while I was visiting the Twist Fiber Festival last summer. I spotted them while visiting some of the fabric booths, and I couldn’t resist the strawberries. They instantly make me think of summer and the yummy strawberries my mum served us. Always a fave.
It was also my favourite item to snag in Memory Game. That and the heart were my ultimate goal – ha!
Since the berries are scattered with a little bit of negative space, I’ve been holding onto them for a project that would feature them in all their cute glory.
When I opened my fabric cabinet for this project, it didn’t take me long to zero in on these pretties.
In fact, at the time, I’d just finished quilting up the Lunar Eclipse and Pink Lemonade quilts in Sugar Cone and still had some of the straw print left over. I pulled that out with the deeper pinky/purple Speckled yardage (that I allllmost used for binding the Lunar Eclipse quilt – thank goodness I held off 😉).
Even though these are three different fabric collections, don’t they look cute together?! Honestly, I need to host a tea party and make strawberry shortcakes – ha!
Quilting
Once again, I deviated from the pattern – lol! I love showing you options, and sometimes it gets heavy to share them all in a pattern. That’s where the blog comes into play. This is where I love sharing with you the different takes I have on SFD patterns. Hopefully, this sparks new ideas of your own to bring to your quilty play!
All this to say, instead of needle-turn appliquéing the cake stands to the background fabric and then quilting, I opted to quilt the background and then needle-turn appliqué.
I love that this means the cake stands float on top of the quilting and the fabric remains undisturbed by quilting lines. I might still go back in and add some hand-quilting details to the cake stands for even more texture and dimension.
There’s no right or wrong approach here, just the look that resonates the most with you.
Since I wanted the quilting to show but not be a huge focus, I opted to go with my trusty grello thread in 40wt. This colour is surprisingly versatile and has been featured in so many different projects. Truly a workhorse in my quilting repertoire.
For more projects quilted in Grello, check out:
Binding
I messed up my plans!
When I decided to go with a binding that matched my background fabric, my rationale was two-fold:
- First, I wanted to keep the focus on the cake stands, and sometimes I find binding can be too much of a demarcation and takes the eye away from the central motif.
- Second, I had planned on attaching the binding to the back, then flipping it to the front, and big stitch hand quilting the binding down. That way, you would see the cute stitch work, and it would add another pop of detail without it being over the top. Buuuut, when I sat down to attach my binding, I was in autopilot and completely forgot my plan. It wasn’t until I started hand-binding it that I realized I’d made a booboo. As much as I would have loved to see that idea come to life, I was not loving the idea of unpicking all those stitches. So, an idea to keep in my quilty back pocket 😉
The final look is cute and streamlined, but I am sad to not see those stitches on the front.
Materials Featured
To make your own, here’s everything I used to create this Cake Stand table runner:
- Cake Stand Quilt Pattern – table runner size
- 3 fat quarters in strawberry prints
- Speckled in pink for the background
- Backing
- Batting
- Sewing Machine – this is why I love it so much!
- Sewing machine needles
- 50wt Aurifiil Thread for piecing
- 40wt thread for machine quilting
- 50wt Aurifil Thread in colours beige, black, white, turquoise, and light purple for needle turn appliqué
- 8wt pearl cotton thread for binding
- Rotary cutter
- Cutting mat
- Ruler
- Ruler
- Iron
- Wool pressing mat – Use code SHANNONFRASER15 to save 15% on your wool pressing mat(s) at The Felt Store Canada or The Felt Store USA. Offer cannot be combined with other discounts.
- Fine mist spray bottle
- Small scissors
- Pincushion
- Embroidery needle
- Needle for needle turn appliqué
- Thread gloss (optional)
- Seam ripper
- Main thimble
- Finger thimbles – I use the large on my thumb and the medium on my index finger
- Erasable marking tool
- Hera marker
- Walking foot
- Guide bar
- Seam gauge
- Appliqué pins
Whether you opt for needle turn or raw edge appliqué, this sweet Cake Stand table runner is perfect for bringing joy and whimsy to your next afternoon tea with the girls.
You can find the Cake Stand Quilt Pattern in the shop, and don’t forget to tag me @shannonfraserdesigns with #CakeStandQuilt on Instagram so that I don’t miss out on the version you make!
Happy quilting 😊
xo,
Shannon
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