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![]() For
this project, we used very little in the way of supplies - two types of
marking pen/pencil, sharpener for the pencil, scissors (or rotary
cutter), ruler, and thread. |
![]() The
first step is to choose your fabric. For the stripped side, we chose
black and white fabrics in several varieties. These strips are 2 inches
wide. Some people prefer 1-1/2 inches in width. It's your choice. You
can use a rotary cutter or scissors to cut the strips. |
![]() For the seasonal side, we chose a cheery Halloween fabric. This is not cut into strips. |
![]() See? The Halloween goulies are smiling! |
![]() You
also need to have a piece of what I call "fluff" - batting, flannel, or
another not-so-lofty fluffy piece of center material. We used a bound
batting, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Some people do this
type of project without batting. The seasonal (back) fabric is placed
right side down, the fluff is placed on the wrong side of the back, and
then the strip piecing begins. |
![]() Place
your first black and white strip right side up on the filling fabric.
Your layers now are from the bottom to the top - back/right side down,
filling, strip of black and white/right side up. |
![]() Add
a black and white strip to the layers of fabric, right side down on top
of the right side up strip you put down in the step above. Your layers
are now from the bottom to the top - back/right side down, filling,
strip of black and white/right side up, strip of black and white/right
side down. Pin the right side down black and white fabric to the right
side up black and white fabric through all layers and to the back.
Stitch from one end of the strip to the other in a 1/4 inch (or so)
seam. |
![]() Turn
the top strip (the one that was right side down) over and finger press
the seam open; you now have two black and white strips right side up. |
![]() Place
a third black and white strip of fabric right side down on top of the
second strip of black and white fabric that is now right side up. Pin
and stitch from one end to the other. |
![]() Turn this strip over, finger press, and continue in this manner until you reach the other end of the placemat. |
![]() When
the top piecing is done (the black and white strips), turn the placemat
over so that the "back" is facing up. Stitch in a scant 1/4 inch seam
around the whole placemat to hold strips in place and prepare the
placemat for binding. Trim around the edges of all layers of the
placemat. |
![]() Using
2 inch strips of bias fabric (for our purposes, we made bias out of
black), make a length of bias tape that will encase all placemats made.
We made six placemats and needed a very long length of bias tape. Use
any method you like to make bias tape or purchase it ready-made. |
![]() Open the bias tape and pin on one side of the placemat. |
![]() Machine
stitch the bias tape in place at about the 1/4 inch mark (be sure to
catch the basting stitches from earlier in the seam allowance for the
bias tape!). |
![]() Turn
the remainder of the bias tape to the reverse side, fold the raw edge
approximately 1/4 inch, and hand stitch the bias tape to the placemat. |
![]() When you're all done, spread them out and take a look! Beautiful strip quilted placemats to match any decor.... |
![]() ....with a seasonal or contrasting or coordinating back! And the best part? It wasn't hard or time consuming at all! And here's a set of Halloween placemats that I made in 2010: ![]() |