Sashiko Placemat

As previously mentioned, I had the pleasure of taking a sashiko class from Maura Ambrose at QuiltCon. I chose the simplest of the three patterns she taught, so that I could practice stacking my stitches and using a thimble. (Until now, I have hand quilted one stich at a time, without a thimble.) I really enjoyed hand quilting on linen, which was new to me. The portable nature of this project was also a big plus. It was really refreshing to hand quilt without a hoop. I’m looking forward to doing more sashiko quilting in the future and am just waiting for inspiration to strike!

Cotton + Steel Quilted Placemats

I didn’t make a lot of handmade gifts this holiday season, but what I did make, I really like. First up are my Cotton + Steel Quilted Placemats. I subscribe to the Pink Castle Fabrics Cotton + Steel Club, so each month, I receive a bundle of assorted Cotton + Steel fabric. Purl Bee’s Quilted Placemats were the perfect way to play with my new fabrics while simultaneously making a present. I used four different fat quarters for the front of the placemats. For the back, I used Dottie fabric for all of them, for consistency’s sake. Two of the backs are actually leftover fabric from my Bubblegum Glam Clam quilt. The bindings were all solids from my stash.

I really loved making these placemats. They were simple, fast and fun. It was a joy to quilt something small for a change. Even though I don’t usually do bias binding, the oval shape was so much fun to bind. No corners to miter! It was so satisfying to finish one of these in between my bigger projects. I definitely see more quilted placemats in my future.