Shortcake Panel Patio Placemat Tutorial

Since I first posted my original Patio Placemat Tutorial back in 2012, it's received almost 80,000 page views, making it the fourth most popular tutorial on my blog. (The Ellie Travel Case comes in first place, followed by the Malibu Satchel and then the Pixie Basket, for those of you who were wondering! See below for more details...*) When Riley Blake asked me to design a placemat panel to go with the Shortcake collection, I thought it would be fun to create one that could be used with that original tutorial.

The result is a fun panel, available in 2 colorways, that can be used in 3 ways:

1. Make 4 standard placemats with a simple front and back. The rectangles on the panel are your placemat fronts, and all you need are some batting and backing fabric to sew them up.

2. Make 2 pocket placemats. These include a pocket for the plate and silverware -- really handy for breezy days on the patio so that your paper and plastic tableware doesn't blow away! Pick 2 of the panel rectangles to be the pockets and 2 to be the placemat fronts. You'll add batting and backing fabric to finish them.

3. Use the panel as a pattern sampler. There are 5 extra prints on here along with 8 retro fruit crate label squares, just perfect for fussy cutting a sweet little project of your own design!

Directions are included on the panel for both types of placemats, but I thought I would do a post on here using the fabric so that you can have a step-by-step visual to help you along the way. Here's how you make one pocket version of the Patio Placemat:

1. Cut out the 2 rectangles of your choice -- 1 for the pocket and 1 for the placemat front. Seam allowance is included, but sometimes shapes can get a little wonky when they're printed. Don't worry if the rectangle is skewed slightly by 1/8" or so. You need a rectangle that measures 11" x 18". If there's a bit of white along the edges, that will get caught up in the seam allowance and won't show in the end, so don't worry about it!

2. Fold the pocket rectangle in half lengthwise with the wrong sides of the fabric together. Topstitch 1/8" below the fold.

3. Use adhesive basting spray to fuse the wrong side of your placemat front rectangle to an 11" x 18" batting rectangle. (Pins or binding clips will work too, but the spray is so quick and easy!)

4. Place the pocket piece on top of the placemat front along the lower edge. Baste in place along the right, lower, and left edges of the pocket to hold it in place.

5. Measure a line on the pocket 5" from the right edge and sew down that line, backstitching at the start and finish. This will divide your pocket into two sections -- one for the plate and one for the silverware.

6. Cut out a 11" x 18" rectangle from another piece of backing fabric and use pins or binding clips to hold it right sides together with your placemat front.

7. Stitch 1/4" from the edge all around the outside of the placemat, backstitching at the start and finish, but leave a 4" gap in the lower edge for turning. Trim the corners and any loose threads.

8. Turn the mat right side out through the gap int he lower edge, gently pushing out the corners and edges with a knitting needle.

9. Tuck the raw edges inside the gap in the lower edge, give the whole mat a good pressing, and then topstitch 1/8" from the edge all around the mat to finish.

That's it! To make a standard placemat, just follow the directions above but eliminate the pocket. The wonderful thing about this project is that it's so quick. You can easily make yourself a set of placemats in an hour or less, and these are just the thing for summer picnics and patio parties. If you sew with the panel or any of the other prints, be sure to share photos with me with the tag #shortcakefabric and @fabricmutt. I would love to see how you're sewing with Shortcake!

* For those of you who may have viewed this post before I edited the stats, I had my numbers mixed up the first time around -- sorry about that. The official count of page views for the top four posts on Fabric Mutt (as it stands at the writing of this post) is:

1. Ellie Travel Case Tutorial - 201,021
2. Malibu Satchel Tutorial - 121,505
3. The Pixie Basket Tutorial - 84,963
4. Patio Place Mat Tutorial - 79,891

Nothing makes me happier than knowing that you're all using and enjoying these tutorials that I write for you. It absolutely makes my day!

Bluebirds on Roses Breakfast Placemats

It's not an exaggeration to say that I mark my calendar whenever I see that my dear friend Elea Lutz is releasing a new fabric collection. I've been collecting her prints for years now, and they're some of my favorites in my entire stash.

Her latest release is called Bluebirds on Roses, and it's absolutely beautiful.

See what I mean? It makes me SO happy just looking at it!

I've been going through a hexagon phase lately, so I decided to make EPP hexagon flowers which I appliqued to small round placemats that my girls can use underneath their breakfast cereal bowls in the morning. Won't these beautiful prints be a lovely way to start the day?!

I love to do hand sewing in the evenings while my husband and I relax in front of the television after a long day, and these hexagons were such fun to work on as we laughed together over a favorite show.

The colors are just perfect, and I especially love the tiny details that Elea has sprinkled throughout each print: bluebirds, kitty cats, strawberries, cherries, and of course, flowers galore. Her designs are such a beautiful cross between traditional and modern, and they always make me smile.

Bluebirds on Roses is appearing in stores everywhere now, but I have a feeling that it won't be around for long. I've already bought a little extra to have on hand...you know, just in case...

Goldilocks Table Set

The Goldilocks collection seems as if it belongs with my family's treasury of vintage children's picture books. I am such a fan of Jill Howarth's midcentury style of illustration, and she's created an adorable cast of characters for her designs. My daughters actually squealed when I showed them the prints.

I was sorting through all the possibilities of what to make with this fabric when my sister suggested the perfect idea while we were chatting by phone between Texas and California: a table set. "It's fitting, right?" she added, referring to the porridge incident in the Goldilocks storyline. I couldn't have agreed more.

I've been trying to add to our collection of place mats and table runners for the breakfast nook this year. It's fun to change things up with the seasons, and it's a sewing project that takes far less time than a quilt. I used simple rectangles for my daughters' place mats, and the small runner is a quilt-as-you-go herringbone pattern inspired by my friend Maureen's tutorial, which I've used before to make some of my favorite pillow covers. 

I tried to add some fun details like twill tape labels and crocheted lace to the set. There's also a "story" on each place mat for the girls to look at while eating their cereal in the morning. It's all very sweet and simple, but full of personality. I love having handmade items like this in our home, welcoming us as we come down to breakfast. It just seems like such a great way to start the day.

And everyone lived happily ever after.

Patio Place Mat Tutorial

Here's the tutorial for the Patio Placemats that I showed you in the previous post!

Materials:

• (2) 12" x 15" pieces for the main body of the place mat
• (1) 12" x 15" piece for the pocket
• (1) 12" x 15" piece of batting
• coordinating thread

1. Cut out your pieces.

2. Fold the pocket fabric piece in half lengthwise and top stitch 1/4" from the fold. Place the pocket on top of one piece of main body fabric, aligning all the raw edges on the bottom. Pin in place and baste 1/8"-1/4" from the edge along the three outer sides of the pocket.

3. Use a pencil or fabric marker to draw a line 4 1/2" from the right side of the pocket and stitch straight down over the line to split the pocket in two.

4. Make your place mat sandwich in this order:

• Main body piece without the pocket, right side up
• Main body piece with pocket, right side down
• Batting

5. Pin and then stitch the sandwich together, 1/4" from the edge, leaving an approximately 6" opening on the top edge of the place mat.

6. Clip the corners and trip any excess batting. Turn the place mat right side out, pushing out the corners with a chopstick. Tuck the edges of the opening inside and give it a good pressing all over.

7. Top stitch 1/4" from the edge all around the place mat.

Load it with your paper goods and enjoy!

Again, if you make yourself some place mats using this tutorial -- or any of my tutorials! -- be sure to add some photos to my Flickr group. I'd love to see what you're making!

Patio Place Mats

After taking a few days to find my way back from the fog of vacation, I finally got my sewing machine out last night and started work on a new project. A few months ago I bought several yards of Maude Asbury's adorable Crabtastic line for Blend Fabrics with a picnic quilt in mind. Now that we've set up the patio so nicely, however, I think we're far happier eating at the table. And you know what that means...place mats!

When we enjoy a dinner on the patio, it always involves paper plates, plastic silverware, and paper towels for napkins. After all, we're a messy crowd, and who really wants to do dishes anyway? Unfortunately, paper products have the unfortunate side effect of blowing away with the wind that always seems to be breezing through our backyard in the evenings. My solution? Place mats with pockets for everything.

It took me only a few hours to cut and sew a set of seven mats (Mouse won't be needing hers for a while yet since she's still in the high chair, but I figured that I might as well make it now along with the others.) I wrote up a tutorial for these also which I'll be putting in a separate post. If you end up making some for yourself, be sure to add a photo to my Flickr group. Now that these are done, I have them all loaded up with utensils for the next patio cookout. I'm thinking maybe tomorrow would work for me...

Linking up with Tuesdays at the (Picnic) Table.

Little Things

A few little things to show today...

First, I finished up the two place mats that go along with the table runner I made for my brother-in-law and his wife. I used the same pattern for the Xylophone quilt from Elizabeth Hartman's Modern Patchwork book, but used fewer blocks so that they would fit off-center in a square mat. I'm really happy with the way these turned out and am looking forward to hand delivering them in less than two weeks.

Second, I just put the final touches on my Zakka project for the week: the Orchard Path Tweed Pouch -- or in my case, tweedless pouch (I had no tweed supply to draw from, I'm afraid).  I, along with the rest of the quilting universe, was utterly charmed by Ed Emberly's Happy Drawing collection for Cloud 9 when it was released. Though my bank account wouldn't allow me to purchase a full set, I did buy the blue scribbles print and those darling elephants. I thought that they made a fun match with this little pouch along with a black and yellow chalkboard style print which I picked up at my local quilt shop. A little bit of embroidery seemed to suit the style of this piece -- sort of a nod to my former life as an elementary teacher.

This was my first attempt at hexagons, and I can see why they're so addictive. I love opening up the pouch and seeing all those elephants marching back and forth inside.

Happy weekend to you!

Linking up to the Zakka Along.

Swap

It's amazing to me how I can get so much done on some days, while on other days it's a major feat just to get everyone fed and clothed. Yesterday was one of the latter...I didn't have time to sew a single stitch. Thankfully, the day before that was far more productive, and I was able to actually finish my Modern She Made Swap project: a pair of place mats and napkins as my partner requested.

This was my first project swap, and it's been a great experience so far. While it's a little stressful to try to figure out what your partner is going to love, I enjoyed being stretched throughout the whole creative process. The assignment was to make one "big" item -- a set of place mats, a bag, a sewing machine cover, a mini quilt, etc. -- while including a circle somewhere in the design. Looking over her inspiration board and favorites, I noticed that my partner seemed to gravitate toward solids, text fabric, and linen, so I tried to put all of these together in a clean, modern way. For my fabric, I used Town News from Hometown by Sweetwater, Woodgrain in teal from Woodlands by Khristian Howell, the Woodlands inspired Kona bundle from Sew Fresh Fabrics, Metro Living Circles in carrot and orange by Robert Kaufman, and a natural colored linen blend. I made the set reversible so that there are two different looks available as well. I'm hoping that all the colors will be a nice splash of summer cheer in my partner's home.

Wishing you all a very happy weekend.

Linking up to Sew & Tell Friday & Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Sister Love

My sweet sister was kind enough to photograph the table runner and place mats that I made for her this month so that I could add them to my blog. The runner was made from Kate Spain's Fandango fabric. I just did a simple strip design backed with a length of Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry. The two adult place mats are almost identical to the runner, but I also made two mats for my nieces using children's fabrics by Lizzy House, David Walker, and Monaluna. They're also done in a strip style, but they're meant to be a take on an I-Spy format too.  The backing for the mats was a mixture of Half Moon Modern and Meet the Gang prints, and I bound them with a yellow wood grain print from Aviary 2.  I really had fun putting these pieces together and am glad to see that my sister's family is enjoying them.

I'm almost finished with the other quilt I've been working on and will hopefully have pictures to show tomorrow. Ah, the joy of productivity...