Adventures with Placemats

Is it just me or are placemats like little quilts?  Somehow, I decided to make a set of placemats for each of my sisters for Christmas.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.  But, wow! I felt like I was making 14 mini-quilts!  It kept me busy and out of trouble, I guess.

My sister, Mo, started the whole thing when I went to visit her last summer.  She was kind enough to let me visit and drag her to the quilt show at Sisters, Oregon.  She is not a quilter but she was a very good sport.  She spotted some fabric she liked and casually asked me to make her a set of placemats.  I agreed.  How hard could it be?

Then we met up with my older sister, Kathy.  She said she would like her placemats in green and burgundy, to match her kitchen.

Oh my.

My youngest sister just said, "How nice.  Can I have more potholders, too?"

So, after letting the idea ferment for a few months, I got right to work.

I made the ones I had the fabric for first, naturally.  I strip pieced them and made a potholder to match.  Mo had picked out some black and beige fabrics with a few red accents.  I used some stash fabric for the backs.

Set number two!

Green/grey side (sorry for the blurry picture!)

Burgundy with a star side- I quilted all of them with different patterns.

Set number three: Modern strip piecing side

I made six different color backs and quilted them all with swirls.

I did get to practice my FMQ and binding skills (a lot!) so that was a plus.

So that is my adventures with placemats for this year.  My husband saw these and thought we needed some, too.  Um......


I also made my mom another Muumuu using some modern fabric. (She doesn't need any placemats!!)
I hope it fits her.