Monday, January 18, 2021

Island Batik Ambassador's Placemat Challenge

This month's Island Batik Challenge was to make placemats.  We just received our first box of fabric and supplies for 2021.  Thank you so much to all the sponsors: Island Batik, Schmetz Needles, Accuquilt, Hobbs Batting, and Aurifil.



I was thinking about placemats and how they are traditionally rectangular.  I decided I wanted to make them a different shape and try to make then a little more modern.  I wanted a leaf shaped design.

I started with some gorgeous Island Batik foundations fabric (fabric available all the time) called Baja which is gorgeous blues and greens.  I then layered it with my favorite Hobbs 80/20 cotton/poly batting and started quilting away.  

I had just taken an online class from Julia Quiltoff on Doodle quilting and was practicing my skills.



I love the overall look of the piece once it was quilted.  It was hard to cut into, but I really did want a leaf shape.


I decided that I wanted to add some feather appliques onto the placemats once they were quilted so I pulled out my Heather Feather Border die and my Accuquilt Go BIG.  I found a beautiful dark navy to cut my feathers out of and cut a piece the size of this die.


But then I had all this scrap that still had fusible on it.  I use Steam-a-Seam 2 Lite and I love to use it up as much as possible.  So...


I strategically placed the larger pieces to get more feathers.


The smaller pieces were put on my circle die to get some circles to add in.


Next, I made the leaf shape and then started playing with the feathers to make a leaf "vein."


Then I cut out the leaf shape.


All done!  They turned out just how I wanted.  I watched a video tutorial on how to put binding around odd angles and it really helped these come out just perfect.  I used a single layer bias binding to help me go around the curves easily.  This was stitched on with the amazing Schmetz Microtex Chrome Needles.  They work so well!





There are a lot of fun ways to lay these out.  They could go in the middle of the table for a centerpiece or be used as individual placemats.


I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy


7 comments:

  1. Clever and fun placemats, Suzy. You're right - they are pretty versatile. They would work great on a circular or square table too. I'd have fun just playing with rearranging them!

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  2. Doodle quilting is fun! and yours is fantastic! I love the leaf shapes and how the applique is similar, but different on each leaf! And they're blue, so of course, I'm in love with them! :-)

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  3. Suzy these are awesome. The doodle quilting is really beautiful, and I love your idea. So unique.

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  4. Wow, this is so fun! I love the unique shape and using the feathers and dots to make a leaf vein. So much to love here!

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  5. Those are fun placemats and your quilting is terrific.

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