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Sewing the Fabric Pieces into a Place-mat, Part 2

Sewing the Fabric Pieces into a Place-mat, Part 2

by Jennifer Houlden

Yesterday we spent the day sewing the pieces together to create the utensil holder side of the place-mat. Today we’ll be sewing the rest of the pieces together to create the side of the place-mat which holds the napkin.

Once this step is complete and added to the piece made yesterday the place-mat top will be ready for quilting. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves… back to sewing.

Sewing The Napkin Holders

Step 1

Fold the 2 piece E pieces in half with right sides together. Sew a ¼″ seam along the raw edge of each piece to create a tube. Make sure to use a locking stitch at both ends to secure the stitching. The Quilt Expression 4.2 comes with a locking stitch function but if your machine doesn’t have this feature then reverse sewing at the start and finish will lock the stitching in place.

Fabric sewn together to create a tube

Fabric sewn together to create a tube

Step 2

Turn the tube right sides out and press with the seam along the center of the tube. Because a locking stitch was used at each end of the seam the seam didn’t come apart as the fabric was being manipulated to turn the tube.

Tube turned right side out and pressed with seam at the center.

Tube turned right side out and pressed with seam at the center.

Step 3

Fold the units made in step 2 in half along the seam line. Press flat with a steam iron. Topstitch the pieces together where the edges meet using an ⅛″ seam.

Tube folded in half and topstitched together.

Tube folded in half and topstitched together.

Step 4

Place the 2 bands made in step 3 evenly spaced on piece B. I placed them at the 4 and 8 inch mark on the ruler. See photo below. The band pieces will hang over the edge of piece B a bit.

Placement of napkin holder bands on background fabric

Placement of napkin holder bands on background fabric

Step 5

Place the utensil holder unit which was made yesterday on top of the pieces from step 4. Take care not to shift the band pieces as you pin everything together. Once again I used my flower headed pins to pin everything together as they are long and sharp making it easy to go through the multi layers of fabric. Sew the pieces together with a ¼″ seam allowance. Press the seam towards piece B.

Placemat top completed

Placemat top completed

Wow, I love the fabric combination.

I am definitely thrilled with how this little project is turning out and I can’t wait to see it quilted. Now that the sewing is complete and all three sections are sewn together I will think about how I am going to quilt this little piece tomorrow.

Happy Quilting

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