Emergency table runner

These past few days have been crazy hectic. Our house is on the market and the first open home is this weekend. A few weeks ago there was an incident involving a bottle of '30 Seconds Indoor Mould Remover', a kitten, and my French oak dining table. I thought I could polish out the offending blemish, but the finish was gone and there was bare wood showing.

What's a girl to do? I had a quick run to some nearby shops looking for a suitable table runner to cover up the problem. I could find nothing so ended up foolishly deciding to make one - how long could it take?

Inspired by the Coke-bottle coloured glass tiles in my kitchen, I made a runner in similar tones mixed with grey. The brick pattern also matches the tiles. I decided to buy some insul-bright for batting to make it heatproof.

I admit that this whole project was doomed from the start: I was rushed, I did straight-line quilting which I am surprisingly bad at, I overlooked things I should have redone... So, my stitching is crooked and the binding is wavy. I'm hoping if I toss it in the wash it will sort itself out, but I think that unlike my usual cotton batting that has some give, the insul-bright is giveless.

The runner was on the table in time for the photos for the ads and signs. I have yet to decide if I will keep it there for the open home. Sometimes projects just don't meet up to my standards and in hindsight I should have done something different - like hemmed a nice piece of linen as a runner - maybe there's still time...