Placemats on your dining table make any day special and you can make these simple placemats for any holiday, special occasion or just to brighten your breakfast. Simple to make whether you are a beginning quilter, or have been quilting for awhile.
Needed for 4 reversible placements:
- 2 1/4 yds fabric
1 1/4 yds thin batting
Sewing machine
Walking foot
Thread to match fabric
Cutting mat, 24 inch see-thru ruler
Rotary cutter
Safety pins, long straight pins
Quilting marker
(Most of the methods for making this placemat are outlined in detail in my article "Mini-quilt in NinePatch" so if you are new to quilting you may want to read that article again or perhaps copy it into your word processor and print it out.)
First fold the fabric selvage to selvage, fold again, and again, making certain the folds are smooth and even. Trim the left raw edge so that it is straight (Right raw edge if you are lefthanded.)
Cut 4 strips 13 1/2 inches long. (Each 13 1/2 inch strip will yield 1 placemat)
Re-fold a strip and measure 18 1/2 inches. Cut 2 such pieces from each strip.
You now have 8 pieces that measure 13 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches.
Measure in 2 inches from all 4 corners on all sides, make a mark at the 2 inch spot. Lay the ruler across the corner at the points marked and clip off each corner. Be sure of the measurement before you cut!
Cut 4 pieces of thin batting 14 x 19 inches.
Layer one batting, one placemat fabric face up on top of the batting, and one placemat fabric face down. Smoothing carefully, matching the 2 fabric pieces exactly, pin the layers together around the edges and in the center. Mark two spots about 5 inches apart on one end with long straight pins. Using a walking foot on your sewing machine and with the batting on the bottom, stitch a 1/4 inch seam around beginning at one of the marking pins with a few backstitches. Continue around until you reach the other mark, backstitch again.
Trim the excess batting and clip off a tiny bit of the corner at your angled corners. Remove all pins. Now reach inside between the two fabric layers and pull the mat right side out, squaring all corners. Slipstitch the opening closed.
Back to the sewing machine, make a stitching line around the mat the width of your pressure foot still using the walking foot. I stitched another line about an inch from the first one, making a border. The center of the mat must be quilted down in some fashion so that the mat will launder well. I made crisscrosses from the corners. The entire center could be grid-quilted or with any pattern you choose.
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