Never Guesstimate - Completed Quilt Table Runner

I finished piecing the front and back of the patchwork table runner. 

Front. 

Back. 

And I was just going to post this information because I hadn't planned on finishing it right away, I had other things to work on. 

But before I finished the post I had had a little time and decided to get the runner ready to quilt and prepare the binding. Then I thought I'd quilt a little bit before doing something else. Then I was done the quilting and planned to finish the binding later. Long story short, I finished it in one sitting and it didn't really take that long. 

I really like how it came out. But there is one thing I should mention. My big Oops. 

It doesn't fit where I planned it to go. 

I made it for the top of a coffee table. I had 'guessed' the size I needed for the runner by counting the blocks in the width and the length on another table runner that was smaller but also 2" blocks. 

I guess I should have measured it instead. Quilts shrink in dimension, even little ones, when using cotton batting. And you can iron them after washing and get some of the original dimensions back but who does that! And maybe my other 2" blocks weren't 2" blocks. Seam width variations will carry over into all-over dimensional changes. 

Even with some shrinkage this new table runner is still larger than I wanted. 

And you can't see it in the photo but there are some fabric wrinkles on the back because I rushed when finishing it. I really should have stopped at one of those points I thought I should stop and double check everything. It's just so hard to stop when you're getting so close to finishing something. 

But I still like how it came out and will use it.  But now I need to make another one, slightly smaller, for this table. Without guesstimating! Or rushing!

Thanks for reading. 

Aileen