My nephew Kevin and his wife Alex spent the first 2 1/2 years of their married life in Africa with the Peace Corps. When they returned home they brought me a very special gift – fabric! I was overjoyed at their thoughtfulness. This is a photo of 4 of the pieces I received, along the selvedges. Aren’t the colors delicious!?!
They married shortly before they left for Africa and now that they’re back we have the privilege of celebrating their marriage with them in November. We had a shower for Alex yesterday and as of Thursday I still wasn’t sure what I would get her. Then it hit me. I’ve been having a lot of fun with a new product line called “Quilt As You Go” by June Tailor™. They actually print the pattern onto batting and it makes the process simple and fun. One of their placemat lines would be perfect!
I’ll be doing a blog post about their products in the near future, but for now just know that it made a last minute project a breeze. This is the piece of fabric I chose to use:
And this is the project package insert with a few additional fabrics:
It may not be clear from the photograph, but the center area of the placemat in the pattern picture shows it being pieced on the diagonal in yellow fabrics. I took advantage of the stripes in the African fabric and cut the center section on the diagonal to get the same look. Next I quilted on the lines of the fabric before adding the side borders – quilt as you go!
The project took me 1 1/2 hours from cutting to binding. What fun!
I couldn’t resist “signing” both placemats with my initials and the year, in the lower right corner:
It was a fun way to repay their thoughtfulness to me – and a unique gift. But, it still wasn’t quite enough, so I searched through my cupboard to find a candy dish of my grandmother’s. Now I was happy. And, from the look on Alex’s face, I think she likes them (as you can see, I used a different African fabric on the back – making them reversible.
If you’d like to learn more about a variety of quilt as you go techniques I’ll be doing a lecture on this very topic at the Madison Quilt Expo, September 5-7.
It’s called You Can Quilt As You Go and I’ll talk about the June Tailor products, as well as many other tips and techniques for doing things quilt as you go.
I will also be doing a 3 hour workshop on Friday entitled Road Block Removal.
This is a workshop for quilters who struggle with trying to decide how to quilt their quilts. I begin the class by sharing a trunk show of quilts displaying many different ways to quilt them, by hand and machine. Then we gather in a circle and I invite the students to throw the unfinished quilt tops they’ve brought in on the floor. Everyone in the group brainstorms how to quilt each one.
To register for my class and/or see all the other offerings click here. The Expo is also looking for volunteers and they asked me to share this:
It’s a wonderful show – it’s coming soon – and I hope to see you there!
Linda L says
I love how you used the African fabrics. Sounds like a great technique too.
Mary Miller says
Hope you will do a class on the new June Taylor quilt as you go at Sew Much More.
Mary Coffee says
Wonderful fabric for the placemats!!! I love the June Taylor QAYG baby bib kits–they are quick and make unique gifts.
Susan L Meyer says
You’re right, Chris, these are fun and easy to make. I’ve made one set of the Inspirational Mug Mats from June Tailor and am on my second set! They make great gifts!
Sue Kilgore says
Did you wash the African fabric before using it because of bleeding?
Love the placements!
clkquilt says
Yes, The fabrics were very stiff so I washed them right away. No bleeding and I was amazed at how wrinkle free they came out of the dryer. It’s fun to work with such bright unique fabric.
Cindy Boyd says
Chris,I’ve made three of the Quilt-as-you-go totes – one each for my mom, sister, and niece – for our upcoming Girls’ weekend. They were a breeze to put together in each person’s favorite color combo!