Category: Ideas/Suggestions

FREE Pattern – Easter Placemat

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Yesterday, I promised a placemat to go with your new Easter table-runner, and even better, this is my own pattern (with the exception of the appliqué in the center), so I can offer this as a free pattern to you!

You will need the following supplies to make 4 placemats –

  • white cotton fabric – 1 yard
  • colorful accent fabric – ½ yard
  • fabric for appliqué of your choice – depends on design chosen
  • small fabric squares for yo-yo embellishments
  • buttons
  • neutral fabric for backing – 1 yard
  • a strong, flat batting (I recommend using Warm & Natural, or Pellon Fleece) – 1 yard
  • coordinating seam binding – 8 yards

Pattern Image A Instructions that follow will walk you through the creation of ONE placemat, repeat as needed to complete your set.

  1. Cut a white square 12½” x 12½”
  2. Apply your applique to the center of the white square
  3. Cut the accent fabric 6½” x 12½”
  4. Sew accent fabric to left side of white square, using a ¼” seam allowance.
  5. Sandwich together design fabric (top of placemat), batting, and backing fabric.
  6. Using a ¼” seam allowance, sew around the placemat, trim edges, and add seam binding.
  7. Quilt, using a simple design that will not detract from your center appliqué.
  8. Your finished placemat will be approximately 12″ x 18″.

Image Pattern BMy placemat also included some embellishements – the yo-yos that run down the seam between the accent fabric and the white fabric, as well as buttons to secure the yo-yos. I recommend adding any embellishments such as these after step 4, but before you continue on to step 5. This way all of your stitches will be inside of the quilted placemat. You will need to take care in quilting the finished product to avoid any damage to the yo-yos. The image to the left shows how the yo-yos were placed, and the approximate placement of the egg appliqué I used from the book “Quilted Holiday Accents”.

The sky is the limit with a pattern of this type, you can add multiple small appliqués, or just put in one large one as I did for my Easter placemat.   The Easter Egg applique used on this sample you will find in the book “Quilted Holiday Accents” featured in the blog yesterday.  Pick a copy of that book at Hancock Fabrics in the quilting department. The accent fabric down the left side could be a space to embroider the name of the person sitting at that place – turning your placemats into name cards. (What a fun way to make a guest feel special for a holiday dinner.)

You can also use your imagination when embellishing, just remember that if you want to use the placemats at the table with food, you need to keep things fairly simple. But with that in mind, imagine making special placemats up for your own little princess – using a marabou boa to trim the side of the placemat. These would make a fun party favor for the guests to take home with them as well as a great memento for your little princess of her special day.

Well, now you’ve seen the pattern, and seen a few suggestions for ways to make your own unique placemats. Below is the image of the finished piece. I think it will look great with the table-runner – don’t you?

Finished Placemat

What’s your inspiration? I’d love to see what types of ideas you can come up with for this fun pattern! Enjoy!
Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila

Book Review – Quilted Holiday Accents

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The weather warmed up a little this week-end and it made me think of Spring! And what better way is there to beat the Winter blues than to create something you know you will be using in warmer weather? So I began looking for inspiration – I remembered all the yo-yos I have recently made, and thought of the great spring colors I could make more yo-yos in, then I remembered this quilting book had a great Easter table-runner with yo-yo embellishment.

I went to the store to pick out some fabrics and started my project. Of course I choose bright spring-time colors, and the fabrics used for the yo-yos on the sides of the table-runner are the same fabrics I used for the egg appliqués.

This book is a wonderful book full of appliqué projects for all the seasons. There is also a 4th of July table-runner, as well as a tote bag and sweatshirt for the 4th – one of those may need to be made when I start thinking of Summer picnics! There are also several ideas for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Anyone who enjoys quilting and making new items for holidays, but doesn’t want to make a full quilt for a holiday celebration, should take a look at this book. And here’s the finished project!

Easter Runners

I used the Extra large yo-yo tool for the embellishments on each end of the table-runner. And, as you can see in the close-up below, I used buttons to finish the yo-yos and to decorate the egg appliqués. It’s been a long time since I sewed this many buttons on a single project!

Easter Runner Close

There are several places I could see placing this project. Of course, the obvious is the dinning room table – but it could also go on top of the piano or on my dry sink or even the coffee table. It would also be fun to add some stuffed or ceramic bunnies sitting with the runner.

Even though this book doesn’t show placemats – I have decided to make some using the same appliqué shape so they will coordinate with the runner. Watch for that project, and a small pattern just for you, tomorrow.

What are you doing to get ready for Easter and to chase off the Winter blues?
Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila

Appliqué Towels!

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Every year I stitch towels for high school swimmers that have qualified for the state swim meet. A local tradition is that the state qualifiers make a towel for one of their fellow state qualifying swimmers, and the towels are always personalized for that swimmer.

Today I thought I would share two of the towels I worked on, and the towel I am making for my granddaughter.

  1. Purchase 2 yards of 45″ wide towel terry fabric is at the fabric store.
  2. After working out the design elements of the towel, I begin to appliqué them on top.
  3. I use Pellon Wonder Under to fuse the appliqués on and than do a loose satin stitch to finish the edges of the appliqués.
  4. Be careful not to satin stitch too tightly or you will stretch out the towel fabric.

Pellon Wonder Under is a fusible web product that is wonderful for working with appliqués. Fusible Web is basically a sheet of glue with paper attached to one side. You trace your design (mirror image) on to the paper. Trim around the tracing leaving about ¼” around your design. Lay the paper webbing with the glue side to the back of your fabric and iron the two together. The heat will activate the glue, adhering it firmly to your project. Now trim directly on the line you drew on the paper. Remove the paper backing and place the wrong side of the appliqué to the right side of your project and iron again. This will fix the two fabrics together. Because the glue sheet is all the way to the edge of the appliqué you should not have much fraying if any; however, it is always good to finish the edge with a satin or blanket stitch.


This first swimmer is into the argyle look so I took the red towel and added black and white diamonds and than did a zig-zag stitch through the diamonds to create the design. After the design was complete, I went back and appliquéd on the swimmer’s name and the other letter elements (the category she qualified for, the year, and of course the school name). I choose white because it would stand out nicely and still worked well with the other colors in the towel. As you can see, Lauren is a diver.

Some of the towels are more graphic than others, here is one for a freestyle swimmer who also happens to like cars.

Of course, working on projects like these tends to inspire me in other, similar directions. Below is a picture of a beach towel I have just finished for my granddaughter for Easter.

Her towel is being made onto a store-bought towel (no requirement to ‘make’ every element of her towel!), and I got the idea for the appliqué pieces from a new quilting book that I have recently previewed for Hancock Fabrics.


Anyone looking for some inspiration for some cheery quilts should consider taking a look at this book once it becomes available!
Sheila Reinke, Heart of Sewing
Sheila