Placemats for all seasons

Many years ago my Mother made us a set of blue placemats.  The pattern is so simple and easy to make.  I've made a few more from the same pattern over the years, and today I had a chance to quilt awhile on some that I cut out a few weeks ago.

I traced the blue placemat on a piece of newspaper, or tissue paper and used that as my pattern.  Start with a 12 x 17 rectangle.  Fold it in half, then in half again so the four corners all match up.  Use a plate, bowl, or even an ice cream pail lid, to get a nice curved line to round off the corner.  Cut along the line and unfold.  There you have it...Easy pattern.  Check to see that it's the right size for your dishes.  They're making the plates bigger now than they used to. 



St. Pat's placemat



You will need fabric for both top and bottom.  You can get both out of a 12 inch length of fabric, or use two different fabrics to have a reversable placemat.  Preshrink everything because these will probably be in the washing machine on a regular basis.



A few years ago I made a set for St. Patrick's Day.  Just a checked fabric top, muslin bottom and quilt batting scraps in between.  I quilted along the vertical lines of the fabric design and used my serger to finish off the edge.  I went around twice to get a thicker edge band.


Valentine placemats



In late January I made a Valentine's Day set.  I used purchased bias binding for the edge on those.  Today I quilted up the Autumn placemats.  Just for something different I used some polar fleece for the batting instead of quilt batting scraps.  I think even a heavy flannel would work well for batting.

They turned out great! Two down and eight to go.  And they're an especially nice way to show off those fresh Oatmeal Cookies I made this afternoon.  Yummm..



 

Autumn placemats