Placemats

I need some placemats. The mini guild that meets at my house has grown to seven and I don’t have that many placemats that are the same. I need to make at least eight.

I had been cutting my leftover scraps into 2 1/2 inch by 4 1/2-inch pieces. They were for a future Potato Chip quilt. I had enough to make the placemats with the potato chip block.

Years ago, Woman’s Day magazine had a log cabin quilt pattern that sewed a seam and flipped the fabric over. The sewing was done on a batting and backing. It quilted the block as you sewed the logs. The potato chip block is sewn like a log cabin, and I thought that it could be made the same way.

I pressed the three pieces in half horizontally and vertically to make sure it was centered. The backing is at least 2 1/2 inches larger on all sides than the batting.

Rectangles were added to the top and bottom. they were pressed away from the center.

Two rectangles were sewn end to end and then sewn to both sides of the piece. Then they were flipped and pressed.

The first row was light fabrics. The next row was darker fabrics. Two rectangles were sewn end to end and then sewn to the top and bottom of the piece. They were sewn, flipped and pressed.

The next row was another dark row. Three rectangles were sewn end to end. The strip was sewn to both sides of the piece, flipped and pressed.

Another Three strips were sewn together end to end and sewn on the top and bottom, flipped and pressed.

The backing was trimmed to 2 inches all around. It was pressed to the front. One inch was pressed under. The corners were mitered. Then it was topstitched to make a binding. The yellow line is the light hitting the binding, not a flange. That might be a possibility if I make more.

Now I have eight coordinating placemats.

The Trip Around The World is finished.

It took one hour to cut the batting and backing. Thirty minutes to place it on the basting frame. Six hours to baste. I was watching TV while basting so it probably would have been less time if I didn’t look up from time to time. Seven hours to quilt. I quilted with an even foot. Forty-five minutes to trim the edges. One hour to cut and sew the binding. Then another four hours to tack down the binding. Again, while watching TV. Adding in the ten- and one-half hours before, it makes a total of thirty hours and forty-five minutes. It was a simple quilt.

I like an easy quilt that looks complicated.

Have a great day and happy quilting.