In a week, my husband and I will be happily hosting his parents and sister for the weekend. As we were sitting down to dinner together a few nights ago, I realized that we have used our set of 4 quilted placemats for pretty much every meal in our home since I made them years ago… and that we would be one placemat short during the visit. I talked it over with my husband, “Is it time to make a new set and let these go?” and he was very much in favor of just adding one more new placemat to the mix. He suggested something a bit different that would work with the existing placemat set, but would be fun to share around as the “special” setting over the course of the weekend. I let that idea simmer for a few days, and I liked his general idea, but I wasn’t sure if I would have something that would work.
Then I remembered the testt blocks I made for Daisy from Warm Folk for our Quilt Theory Collection 2 pattern testing (for her Mountain Call pattern), and I knew I could pull it off!
New Placemat
I set the block a little killy-wonkers and used straight line quilting to accentuate the angles created by the wonky placement and block piecing.
Happy Placemat Set of 5
And here is what the full set of 5 placemats look like together as a group. I love how it came together like it was meant to be! Hanging on to extra quilt blocks and pieces can really come in handy from time to time. 🙂
New Placemat – Backing
The backing of the placemat is even pretty interesting as an option with the teal fabric and angular quilting grid that is created.
New Placemat – Quilting Detail
I quilted the placemat using 28wt Aurifil 2600 (Dove) on the top and in the bobbin, and I found that I did not need to make any tension settings on my Juki.
All in all, the project came together in a little over an hour, and I feel more prepared to enjoy some delicious home cooked meals and spend quality family time visiting around the table (always a focal point for our family gatherings).
What a wonderful addition to the 4, and it fits in so well. Great photo shoot angles!!
Perfect! Your husband’s idea of something that worked with the existing mats but didn’t match exactly was really clever and you have definitely pulled it off. I love how your table looks.
In our family we have a red plate for special people/occasions. Your husband’s suggestion is like our red plate.
A perfect use of a test block, and I think it looks great with the other ones.
I love your husbands suggestion to not make it all matchy matchy! And yay for putting an orphan block to good use! Made quick work of your project, no doubt, and helps dwindle that pile of lonely blocks (even if only by 1)!
Enjoy your time with family!
Very nice. I see you machine stitching the binding, something I want to get better at for small projects. Do you do this on your larger quilts too?
The quilting on this is so fun! All of my sets of quilted placemats are sets of four, but I do have a set of six woven placemats that we got as a wedding gift. I might have to think about making a set with 6 (or more!)
I can just see ya’ll fighting like little kids to sit at the place with pretty new placemat! Great job! And I noticed that prefect machine stitched binding as well!
I too like the placemat, but I really like the quilting! And I agree with Paige, there will be a tussle over who gets to sit in that spot! What a fun finish!
Paige is right there will be a bit of who gets the “special” placemat. I love the quilting. It looks beautiful. I would ever be able to come up with that quilting, but it is my normal, straight lines.
So killy-wonkers is my favorite new expression! Love the placemats too.
oh I love #5! Nicely done and I have no doubts it’ll be a favorite.
What a fun addition! I really like your placement of the blocks at an angle. You must be very neat eaters. At our house those other placemats would be full of weird stains (even though we do wash them!) by now. Have fun with your family!
Yvonne, I love the size, the colors and the quilting. You are so inspiring. I wish I were able to sew and quilt all day instead of having to work. Darn!
It’s perfect! I love the husband’s input to just make a special one instead of a whole set of them. It goes so well with the ones you already have. I love that you were able to use an orphan block, too. Talk about a quick project!
The 5th placemats is beautiful – I love all that straight line quilting!! And I think I might have to borrow the idea of a “special” placemat from you guys for events like birthdays or just to make someone feel special that day. Thanks for sharing!
Very pretty and it blends beautifully. Enjoy your family time this next week. Hope you have lots of fun dinners to remember afterwards.
I love the dark blues with the aqua, and it’s a lovely design, the quilting shows it off beautifully. Great binding fabric.
perfect job! I love your quilting design! I need to make some placemats too!
I love how the new place mat goes with the others but is also distinct. I love the quilting too!!
The same but different is always good and a good conversation piece too . Fun to move it around the table too
Beautiful!
I love the idea of adding a complimentary placemat to your existing set of four placemats. It works beautifully. And it sure looks like your Janome walking foot must be working well with your Juki. I’m still interested in buying an eBook about placemats from you if you decide to put it together, but from one super busy person to another, I know there are always more projects to do than time to do them. Take care, Mary.
It looks awesome! I love that your husband wanted to keep using the ones you have. They seem to get some good use. My oldest loves to use the one placemat I made. I really should make more when I’ve got some time.
I love the idea of having one setting be the place of honor the the meal. What a great way to add a little extra fun to their visit!
What a fun idea to share that special placemat around.
I like that you have a special placemat in your set and that it’s a bit different from the others. It was a good suggestion! I hope you have some wonderful family time.
Looks great! Enjoy your visit!
Killy-wonkers? Is that the technical, scientific term? 🙂
The fifth is different but still works well with the others. Your hubby is a helpful sort to come up with the idea, isn’t he!