Hello my dear crafters! This post was originally to Sugar Bee Crafts as part of Mandy's Holiday Guest posting extravaganza. To see the original, please look there, but this one contains updated photos.
Materials Needed:
1 yard each of four different
coordinating fabric
2 yards of a coordinating fabric for
the back side of the placemats and runner
Interfacing, iron on or sewn in (I used about 5 yards since it is only 20 inches wide)
6 packs of ½ inch double fold bias
tape
Sewing machine
adjustable binding foot like THIS
Or, alternatively, patience in
attaching binding without one
Step One
Pick out a pile of gorgeous fabrics
from your local store. I suggest four for the top of your place mats
and then one for the backing. I purchased one yard of each of the
top fabrics and two yards of my backing fabric.
The bottom fabric is my backing and the top four I used on the top
Step Two
Pre-wash, dry, and iron your fabrics.
Then trim your selvedge edges.
Step Three
Let's talk math. My place mats are 14
by 18 inches. This pattern uses quarter inch seam allowances so the
strips are cut to 3 ½ x 14 inches to allow for seam allowances. I
decided to make six place mats and a table runner that is five feet
long. You need fourteen 14 x 3 ½ inch strips of each of the four
“top” fabrics to make what is shown.
Note Here: In a perfect world,
everyone who have a cutting mat, rotary cutter, and quilting ruler.
Mine is currently in the mail so I completed this using a yardstick,
scissors, and a carpenters square.
Step Four
Press each piece and place the pieces
in the order they will be sewn together. I then grouped them so I
had six pieces for each place mat and twenty pieces for my runner.
My fabrics nice and cut, ironed, and organized.
Step Five
Start pinning. I prefer to pin all of
my seams together for each place mat and then sew everything at once,
rather than pinning as I go. Pin wrong side to wrong side, going in
a row as shown below.
Place your second piece on top of your first, wrongsides out. Pin along top.
Open up the fabric
Pin piece three to piece two and repeat the process until all pieces are pinned.
Step Six
Stitch each seam, removing pins as you go and then press all the seams and if you, like
me, were less than perfect with your measuring and cutting, trim the
edges so they are all even.
My seams, some pressed and others waiting for my nice hot iron
Step Seven
Cut your interfacing and fuse to place mat according to package directions
The wrong side of my place mat with interfacing fused on. Word to the wise: Make sure the side with all the little dots is facing your fabric. I almost fused this to my iron...
Step Eight
Cut backing fabric to match and then pin all layers together. At this
point, use safety pins in the middles of your rectangles since you
are going to be quilting soon.
See all my layers just waiting to be sewed together? So close to finished!
Step Nine
Attach your binding. There are many tutorials that explain this much better than I can. THIS one explains how to use a binding foot and THIS tells you how to attach double fold binding tape using a standard presser foot. It takes patience.
Step Ten
"Quilt" your place mats. I chose to do a simple outline of each block.
Ain't it purty?
Bonus: Step Eleven
If you like the detailed edge finish of my final place mat, I achieved this look by using one of the embroidery functions on my sewing machine. I have a Singer Confidence.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and will visit me at my blog Songbird Takes Flight. If you like the "snowballs" in the centerpiece, there is a tutorial to make them and faux mercury glass ornaments in my blog.
~ Caitlin
P.S. Special Thanks to Mandy for the opportunity to share this tutorial with all of you. :)
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