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Create a dynamic design with precision stitching on the PFAFF passport 2.0

by Claire Haillot

Let’s go one step further with color and movement to transform a simple placemat into a beautiful quilted project. In yesterday’s blog post, I created a grid on the foundation of the placemat to explore movement. Today, I’m using the third unit prepared in Tuesday’s post, Playing with color and movement: Making placemats with jelly rolls, to add a new dimension to the design by playing with strip sizes and grid to create movement. To show you this, I’m using the PFAFF passport 2.0 sewing machine for precise stitching.

Resized jelly roll strips with an added ¼” strip grid added at a 60-degree angle

Creating various strip sizes and a grid to add movement to the placemats using the PFAFF passport 2.0

Instructions

  1. Position the foundation placemat on the cutting mat and cut in the middle of the third and sixth strip. Then take the middle piece and rotate it 180-degrees.
Eight fabric strips from a jelly roll sewn together and placed on a green cutting mat

Placemat foundation before cutting and rotating fabric

Three sets of three fabric strips sewn together placed on a green cutting mat

Placemat foundation after cutting and rotating fabric

2. Cut a 1¼” x 14” and a 2¼” x 14” rectangle from the neutral fabric and add to the placemat.

Placemat created with various sized strips from jelly roll kit and a neutral fabric

Adding the neutral fabric to the foundation unit

I could stop ‘exploring’ here as it is a nice-looking placemat. But I felt like adding the grid once more to see how it would look.

3. Cut four ¾” strips from the neutral fabric. Position the ruler at a 60-degree angle on the placemat and begin cutting. Cut the following lines at a 3” increment. Prior to cutting, I recommend using Mary Ellen’s Best Press on the back of the neutral fabric and placemat to help you sew such thin strips to the project.

Placemat with lines cut at a 3-inch increment at a 60-degree angle

Cutting into the placemat unit at a 60-degree angle

4. Stitch the ¾” strips along each cut while trying to match the strip alignment. The placemat will begin to look uneven, but don’t worry, it will get cut at the end of the project to make it a rectangle again.

Strips stitched into place on a piece of fabric at a 60 degree angle

Sewing the ¾” strips into the placemat creates an indentation

Step 5 Position the ruler to create a perpendicular cut to the 60-degree strips. Cut the following lines at a 3” increment.

Placemat with 60-degree cuts to finalize the grid work

Cutting perpendicularly to the 60-degree strips

Step 6 Stitch the ¾” strips along each cut while trying to match the strip alignment. Again, the placemat will look uneven, but we’ll cut it once completed to make it a rectangle again.

Grid effect on placemat made with strips stitched into place at a 60-degree angle

Sewing the ¾’’ strips to form the grid on the placemat

Once you piece the strips together to form a grid, you can cut the placemat to form a rectangle. My placemat measures 11” x 17”, but before cutting to the same size, look at the size of your plates to determine the size you need.

Throughout this project, I used the PFAFF Passport 2.0 sewing machine with the optional ¼” Quilting Foot for IDT System. This feature allowed me to precisely feed my strips through the machine and make it easy to piece the units together to form the grid.

Sewing strips with the PFAFF passport 2.0; ¼" Quilting Foot for IDT System

Piecing the project together is incredibly easy with the PFAFF passport 2.0

If you’re looking for a fun and creative project, give this one a try. It’s just the right size to experiment with color and movement. Having made this piece, you’ll feel more confident to experiment on your own project. Playing with color and movement can transform a simple placemat into a beautiful quilted project that is both practical and aesthetically pleasing. Stay tuned for our next post, where I will explore quilting designs using the PFAFF passport 2.0 sewing machine.

This is part 4 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 3: Color and movement: Creating a grid design with the PFAFF passport 2.0

Go to part 5: Choosing a quilting design for your quilt | Movement and dimension

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