July Wedding Gift #2: Placemats
My second July wedding was in Naperville, Chicago. And it was beautiful—the church had stained glass windows and clear glass skylights, it felt open and bright and rich with history. The reception was in a garden-hidden banquet hall. They used two different shades of green from their colors.
So I decided to go with green themed placemats. I’m actually really pleased with how these turned out, as far as pattern is concerned. Don’t be surprised if I do something similar again someday!
I cut shorter strips from the jellyrolls I bought (remember that I got three jellyrolls to all be used for all three weddings this July), and then I cut those strips into two pieces. The idea was that I would add a smaller tan/brown piece in the middle. And then I put the strips together into a rectangle.
Now, the seams ended up leaving the rectangle horizontally too short to comfortably fit a plate, silverware, and a glass. So I cut the batting bigger. The vertical height was good, so I didn’t add there. But I did add ¾ of an inch to each side with the batting.
When I cut the backing I had to compensate for the extra batting. I made sure to leave 2½ inches of fabric on both sides.
I quilted those pieces (top, batting, and backing) by following the seams with a decorative stitch.
The binding had me a little worried because it was going to be so different. But I shouldn’t have worried. It worked just the same. And that little adjustment made an attractive, and unique, texture in the pattern. I’ll probably do it again on purpose!
