...that makes me feel at home. When I was little, we often had table runners on our table, especially for special occasions, or we used them as dresser scarves. I still have one that my grandmother made me, embroidered with flowers and edged with crochet - it made me feel so grown up to receive table linen.
Table runners instantly dress up a table or buffet. I had a lot of fun making a table runner/dresser scarf for myself a couple of years ago:
These are the individual fabrics:
I recently finished a table runner for my cousin and her new husband. I pieced it similarly to the one above, but then added hand stitching to secure the layers and as a decorative element:
The individual fabrics came from a fat quarter collection from purl:
It is hard to see the hand quilting in this picture, but I used an olive green DMC linen thread that matches the green in the striped fabric. 
I like the look of the thread, but I wouldn't use it again for a quilting project because it breaks more easily than cotton and so it is hard to pop knots through to the inside of the work. The thread is lovely for embroidery though.
Next project? A runner for Eid Al Adha with drawings by the kiddos, a la Amanda Soule.