Fun with Letterpress fabric and making a quilted placemat

Recently I received ½ yard of each of the Letterpress fabrics from Northcott.

While you’re on the Letterpress page, check out the great quilts made by Sara Lister (Word Play) and my fellow QUILTsocial blogger Christine Baker and Nellie Holmes (Words of Wisdom). Just click on the quilt picture and you’ll have a larger view of each design. You can also check out the Product Finder link to see which quilt shops near you have the Northcott Letterpress fabric collection. You want to get to the quilting, right?

When I saw this fabric, I thought it would have special appeal to book club members and book-loving friends. So this week, I’ll be giving you patterns for 4 different placemats and some ideas for using up your scraps to make some mug mats. I like to make placemats that are about 12″ x 18″, but all the designs I’ll be showing you are easily adapted to different sizes. Just make whatever size is right for you!

For the first placemat, you’ll need 3 different fabrics – a large print (Northcott Letterpress 21891-99) a small print (Northcott Letterpress 21895-11), and a black solid (ColorWorks Premium Solids).

Cutting Instructions for 1 placemat

• 1 – 5″ x 21″ and 1 – 6″ x 21″ large print
• 2 – 1″ x 21″ and 2 strips 3″ x WOF small print for binding
• 4″ x 21″ black solid
• 13″ x 19″ backing

Sewing Instructions

Sew the strips together to make a strip set. Press seams toward small print.

Cut the strip set to make 5 – 15″ strips. I cut 3 – 4½”, 1 – 3½” and 1 – 3″ strip, but you can cut different widths if you like.

Arrange the strips as shown in the picture. Again, no hard and fast rules – just make an arrangement that is pleasing to you!

Sew the strips together and then trim to make the edges even.

Layer placemat top, lightweight batting and backing. Pin baste and then quilt as desired. I did some simple straight-line quilting and used a variegated rayon thread on the black fabric to give some added interest.

Trim to make a 12″ x 18″ rectangle.

Binding

Sew the 3″ binding strips together, end to end, to make a strip long enough to go all around the placemat. Fold in half and press. Using a walking or even-feed foot, sew on the binding using a scant ½” seam. Fold binding to back and hand-stitch in place.

And now you have a Letterpress placemat for a book lover!

Come back tomorrow and I’ll show you another quick and easy placemat design using fabrics from Northcott’s Letterpress collection!