He has nothing, so Grandma decided that he needed some placemats. Well, they might use them, and if they don't I may bop him on the nose.
I had a fabric in my stash that was going to make one pillowcase for him, but as there are two of them, I opted for placemats.
This is one of the fabrics.......from World Map.....from Windham fabrics
and this is the other one which also has the pantograph on it.
I cut the white fabric 35" and left the length I had which was about a meter, I believe. I opted for the panto Modern Ties as it was similar to the backing. I used a King Tut thread for the stitching. Very visible on the front but it blends on the back........really blends!
I just kept stitching rows until the fabric was full.
Then I trimmed the top to 34" wide and cut it in half. Once that was done, I then cut across to make the placemats 12" x 17".
Then I had to bind! I had enough of the black left over for 3 placemats but none of the white. I went to the store and the only fabric that worked for the other 3 was a solid black.
They now have 6 placemats. They can mix and match or have 2 sets.
By the time I wrote this column I had given away 5 of the 6 placemats because I still had it to bind. So you get to see only two of them. One is clipped ready for stitching with the fabric the same as the backing and then
there is this one with the solid black binding. Sorry, this looks a bit orange. It's the reflection from the umbrella over the table.
If you can find a long arm quilter that will just stitch out two fabrics for you this really is the easiest way to make placemats that I have found. I will never go back to making individual ones again.
I finally got a clothesline. We have talked about it and talked about it and at first I didn't think we could manage one. I was driving by the hardware store one day and made the decision. I drove home and told Karl we had to get one. We went down later that afternoon and on the Sunday my sheets were blowing in the breeze along with my little tablecloth.
The gentleman that sold it to us recommends you take it in when you are done using it and we did. I only use it on the week-ends so it will be stored in the shed during the week and avoid the dust and the rain. I'm good to go now until at least November!
