Working with Christmas fabrics in the summer is such fun - and usually comes without the "must get this finished" stress of holiday sewing. A sweet young couple from my church is getting married this summer and of course that called for making some special placemats for the bridal shower :o)
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| Placemat and coaster gift set |
This young couple are both avid coffee and tea drinkers so of course the
In From the Cold steaming mugs patterns came right to my mind when I was thinking of what to make for them. Although I knew I wanted to make the mugs, I has no idea for the overall placemat design. After I got the four mugs made I did a simple Google image search for quilted placemats to find some inspiration. As soon as I came across the
Lines in the Sand placemat pattern I knew I'd found the perfect setting!
How fun it was to pick just the right fabrics to pair up with the little mugs and cups. I used fabric bits from two of Kate Spain's Christmas lines: 12 Days of Christmas, and In From the Cold. So exciting to use some of these precious fabrics! They've lived in my stash for a couple years waiting for just the right project to pull them out. Although, I hardly made a dent in them. Here is a closer look at each of the four mats:
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| Steaming cup No. 1 |
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| Steaming mug No. 1 |
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| Steaming cup No. 2 |
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| Steaming mug No. 2 |
After the mats were stitched together came the daunting question of how to quilt them. I played around with some free motion quilting and did a bit of practice, but none of the designs I thought I could pull off seemed right for these placemats. I opted to go with one of my very favorite quilting patterns - grid quilting. I used the walking foot on my machine and did 1/2" grids. Looking at the mats I think it was a perfect choice :o)
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| In From the Cold placemats and coasters |
Once they were finished I did have a moment of thinking, "White placemats? What was I thinking??" but I think I'll let the bride and groom worry about that! Truthfully, I hope they just use them and not worry about the white. Wishing this young couple many cosy evenings (or mornings!) of toasty warm beverages :o)
