Today I finished the quilting for the bright QFAH quilt(the second QOV of 4). When I got the the end I realized that I had about 20 inches of extra backing and batting left. It seemed like a good opportunity to make some placements. All of mine are getting a bit ragged and I really need new ones. I also had enough of the backing fabric left to make matching napkins. I looked through stash and found a gray print batik that goes really well with the backing fabric. Here's how I made them:
Cut the batik fabric to the finished size of the placemats. Mine are 12" x 18". Arrange them on the batting with at least 3 inches between each placemat. Stitch each placemat around the edge to hold in in place and then quilt the inside of the placemant. DO NOT STITCH OVER THE EDGE OF THE PLACEMAT FABRIC. (This step goes really fast unless the power goes out with 8 inches of quilting left on the last placemat. If that happens this takes about 2 hours but you get a nice nap break.)
Trim the batting to the edge fo the placemat - do not cut the backing. This is really easy to do with applique scissors if the fabric is still mounted on the quilting frame.
Trim the backing leaving about 1.5" on each side.
Now comes the only hard part - pressing up the hem. These directions are for mitered corners. Press the backing over the front with a double fold.
In this photo the bottom edge is folded up twice. Fold the corner of the next side to create the miter.
Open out the diagonal fold and trim about 1/4" from the folded edge to remove some fo the bulk on the corner. Remember to cut this to the outside of the fold!
Double fold the hem of the next side and then place a triangle of fusible web right on that mitered edge. I did this so that I would not have to stitch the miter.
Fold and press all 4 corners and sides and then topstitch next to the folded edge.
For the napkins I cut an 18" square of fabric,double folded a narrow hem (no mitering) and then topstitched the hem. Here are the final placemats and napkins. I quilted each placemat with a different motif so I think I could also use them with the back up.
Just another good reason to use extra wide backing fabrics! Not including the 2 hour power outage and taking instructional photos, I think these took about 2 hours to make, start to finish.
That was a neat idea to use the extra backing and batting.
Posted by: Wanda | June 23, 2008 at 12:16 AM
great placemats! I like the way you did the binding - very clever.
Posted by: Sue B | June 23, 2008 at 04:36 AM
What kind of batting did you use for these? I've wondered if quilted placemats would be too lumpy and bumpy to acutally use? I suppose it depends on the batting and how densely you quilt.
I've been wanting to make some. I'm probably get to it around...2012?
Posted by: Suzanne | June 23, 2008 at 08:04 AM
Thanks for the tutorial. Great idea! These came out looking very nice. And the tie-dyed T-shirts had the sixties and seventies calling my name.
Posted by: Jeanne | June 23, 2008 at 09:06 AM
Hi Vicki,
Your batik placemats and napkins are lovely.
And thanks for posting the DVD info for doing tie dye! I recently took a shibori class, which I loved. We didn't do any tee shirts though. I had never done tie dye before when it was popular, and bought an inexpensive booklet on the subject from Dharma and recently tried it out. I made a bunch for relatives. They came out fairly well, but not as good as yours! You did a great job. I had some problems with the dye migrating on some of them. I will probably get the first DVD, so thanks for the recommendation!
Kristin in SC
Posted by: Kristin Farwig | June 23, 2008 at 10:18 AM
Gotta try this! I am in desperate need of new placemats!
Posted by: TerriW | June 23, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Great idea! I love the orange trim. Did you ever make the chicken placemats? I saw some chicken ribbon in Manchester last week and thought of that fabric you bought.
Posted by: Summerset | June 23, 2008 at 12:20 PM
Oh for cryin out loud! Your stuff is so darned cool. Lordy I don't know how you do it. Love, love LOVE the placemats and napkins. And I love your blogs with the great pics and inspiration.
Posted by: Ginger Brown | June 23, 2008 at 01:12 PM
Love your placemats! I always make them n the longarm with leftovers....but I always bind them the traditional way...your way would be faster...must try it!
Thanks!
Posted by: Deb Levy | June 23, 2008 at 08:17 PM
What a cool idea! Sometimes I have extra at the end of a quilt, and I've never thought of making placemats! I think I need to plan having extra soon -- and I'm going to try your binding technique too! Thanks...
Posted by: Sue H | June 24, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Lovely placemats! Thanks for the tutorial! I noticed some blue clips on you bar, why do you use them? Enquiry minds want to know! ;o) Have a great day!
Posted by: Carole Meier | June 25, 2008 at 07:57 AM
Great Idea! And you make it look so easy!
Posted by: Alycia Carmin | June 26, 2008 at 05:10 PM
Great tutorial, Vicki! I think that I need some new placemats now.
Posted by: Jo Ann | June 27, 2008 at 01:23 PM