Photo by Stephanie Staton
Crafted with homespun ingenuity, these quilt-as-you-go placemats can add a whimsical touch to your homestead kitchen. Get creative with your fabric selection: Choose monochromatic fabrics or opt for a variety of dark- , medium- and light-colors, as seen in the photo above. Save money at the fabric store by purchasing fabric remnants for this project, or gather up stray fabric scraps laying around your craft room. If you want to get really thrifty, even consider using the fabric from dresses or shirts you no longer wear.
Step 1: Prep placemat backing.
To get started, cut a large fabric scrap, fusible stabilizer (such as Pellon 808 craft fuse) and cotton batting to 14 by 17 inches. Lay fabric right side down, add stabilizer followed by batting. Mark center line down the batting 8½ inches from one edge.
Step 2: Cut and align fabric strips.
Cut 14-inch-long fabric strips from your chosen fabrics in widths ranging from 1½ to 3 inches. Starting in the middle of the placemat, sew together two fabric strips with the right sides facing each other using a 1/4-inch seam.
Step 3: Sew Placemat Front
Continue adding fabric strips until the sewn pieces line up with the edges of the backing. Turn the quilted fabric and start adding strips from the center point, working toward the edge. This pattern requires use of a walking foot or quilting foot. If your sewing machine has a feature to decrease your foot pressure, use that as well.
Step 4: Complete Placemat
Pin finished placemat front to placemat backing materials from step one, and add binding of choice.
