Reversible Fall Placemat Tutorial - Part 1
I'm going to make some reversible fall placemats, and attempt to describe how to make them as I go along. While each of them will be unique on either side, one side will look like the photo to the left with the fabric changing positions for each placemat. The other side will have a pumpkin theme. You're going to need 4 fat quarters for this side, as well as thread and the normal quilting supplies.
Last fall I was lucky enough to visit quilters Disneyland, aka Missouri Star Quilt Company in Hamilton, Missouri. I didn't see Jenny Doan, but I shopped in all the stores. One of the stores had fat quarters on sale, so I bought some that were fall themed. All were 100% cotton, but some were brushed cotton and some were regular weight cotton. I have 16 in all, and I need 4 for side one of my placemats.
I divided into groups of four that go well together because I'll likely make more placemats later as gifts.
The next step after ironing is to lay them on top of each other on the cutting mat so that all four edges can be trimmed so that they are the same size. If you don't have fat quarters you can cut four pieces of fabric 18 by 22 inches. Your fabric should either be coordinating or contrasting, your choice.
Lay the pieces on the mat in the order you want them to be next to each other in the placemats. I have 2 solids and 2 prints, so I had solid, print, solid, print. Then pin the pieces together and line up on the cutting mat so that you can easily trim each side.
Carefully trim using the lines on your mat as your guide. Keep a scrap piece of each fabric for later.
A trick I use when I have a longer edge is to turn my entire cutting mat and use the short edge of my table instead of the longer edge. Here I could do it with one cut, but if it is a quilt and I have to readjust and make several cuts it just seems easier to use the side of
the table.
The next step is to decide how wide you are going to make your cuts in the fabric. Measure the long side (horizontal). It is going to be cut into 5 horizontal strips. There are 2 smaller strips, and I want them to be 2 inches on the placemats, which means 2 1/2 inches for the strip once you take the seam allowance into consideration.
My fabric is 17 1/8 inches wide, so after the 2 smaller pieces are cut I will have 12 1/8 left. For the other 3 strips I want one to be larger, and 2 more of the same size. If I cut the 2 same size pieces 3 1/2 each, that leaves 5 1/8 for the last piece. That works for me! Don't cut yet! We have to do them in a particular order. If your horizontal length is different from mine, don't panic. I would keep the 2 small strips at 2 1/2" but the other 2 same size strips and the last bigger strip can be sized how you like.
After you have decided on your sizes, cut in this order: first the bigger of your set of same size strips (3 1/2 for me), then 2 of the 2 1/2 inch strips, then the strip to match the first strip (3 1/2 for me). That leaves your biggest strip.
Put a pin in each piece.
Now you are going to reorder these strips. But before you do, get a small piece from each of the edges you trimmed, and cut them big enough so you can distinguish each of the four different fabrics. Tape or pin them on a piece of paper and label them as 1, 2, 3, and 4. Your fabric strip bundles are A, B, C, D, and E.
Strip A and E will stay exactly as they are. For strip B, take the top fabric (1) and move it to the bottom of the pile.
For strip C, take the top 2 pieces and move them to the bottom of the pile so that the order of that pile from top to bottom is now 3 4 1 2.
For strip D, take the bottom fabric (4) and move it to the top so that the top to bottom order of the fabric pile is 4 1 2 3.
To summarize, strips A and E are in order 1234. B is 2341. C is 3412, and D is 4123. Now we are ready to sew. That's part 2. Cheers!
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