Even More Placemats

 So I guess the theme of the summer is Placemats. Not much blogging going on here. There's just been so many other things to keep me occupied. Even sewing has taken a back seat to other things. And that's okay. It's been a beautiful summer. I have found, though, that sewing placemats is the perfect activity--quick makes, not too much mess, using up scraps, and nice little take-along hand-binding. So here's what I've made during the last two months.

 Quite a variety. Let's take a closer look. 

I am still trying to use up Bear Paw blocks that I made during 2020, as well as multi-colored scraps and other scraps. I had seen a quilt on someone's post awhile back that was made with all browns and creams. I really liked it, and knew that I had a binful (not to mention a drawerful) of just those fabrics that has been lanquishing for years. I went through my Bear Paws and found three blocks that would work for some placemats. Well, here's the good thing about making placemats rather than tackling a whole quilt. I had to make myself finish these because I was quickly bored working with the color scheme. How strange, because I had really liked the quilt I had seen online. I think I would have been more interested if I had mixed some other colors in. Anyway, I used two Bear Paws for the first placemat and found mostly strips in my scrap bin. I tried to balance out values as much as I could, but didn't stress over it (too much).

For the back, I pieced strips and chunks into vertical stripes--such an easy way to "make" fabric. This is wrinkled, I see, but I will press everything before I donate them. I quilted the placemat with organic horizontal lines following block sections and seams for some of them, but not really planning anything. The binding was leftovers of fabric that I've used in landscape quilts in the past. It was kind of hard to part with, but it was time.  

I used one more Bear Paw in another placemat, and placed larger strips around it. It kind of looks planned, but I really just sewed whatever fit best according to the length of the strips I had. Some of these fabrics are from the 1980's!! I had enough of the little brown print on cream that's in the Bear Paw for the binding. 

I focused on using some of my darker brown strips on the back, alternated with some light grunge that was a cutoff of a quilt backing. This time I quilted in vertical stripes. They look better on the front. A bit wonky on the back, probably because of sort of uneven scraps. But that's the way it goes with improv piecing. 

After an overload of browns, it was time to make something a bit more colorful. I think of this one as sort of picnicky. It was fun finding strips of fabric that coordinated with the Bear Paw. Some of them look a bit mottled here, but if you zoom in, you'll see some tiny stripes. 

I made fabric for the back with leftover chunks and strips, sewing together pieces of similar widths into columns. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of the blue/green diamond print fabric which first appeared in a quilt for one of my grandsons. I had just enough of the floral with the green background for the binding, Zoom in if you'd like to see how some of those prints coordinate. Meander quilting seemed the best fit for this busy design. 

In August I made another batch of three quilts, using six more Bear Paws for two of them. The first one has a fall vibe, with mostly batiks. It went together really quickly. I just put borders around the blocks and then added some strips.  

I pieced a strip with the leftovers of the front and a few other scraps and then inserted it in a cutoff from a quilt backing--not a batik, but the colors were just right. Meander quilting and an orange print binding pulled it all together. 

I focused on a red/peach/blue print fabric that I have way too many scraps of to make the next placemat. I had used it along with the peach/blue floral for a project several years ago. I mixed some solids and Grunge prints from my scrap bins to make pieced strips. 

The back is kind of wonky because of the odd pieces I had to fit together. Hopefully, whoever gets it will appreciate off-beat piecing. Quilting was meandering for this one, and a mottled blue binding finished it off. 

The final placemat was a combination of 4 Bear Paws with the same color scheme. The most challenging part was trying to balance the colors and patterns. I subcut scraps into squares and strips

and then pieced a bunch of odds and ends from my solids scraps for the back. More meandering and a dark turquoise binding finished this one up. 

All of these placemats are 18 by 14 inches. I start with a top of 19 by 15 inches and a backing of 20 by 16 inches. After quilting I trim to the final size that is recommended by my local quilt shop for a collection for Meals on Wheels. I used leftover cotton threads in neutral colors for the quilting. 

I brought the last three placemats with me on vacation last week and did the hand sewing on the binding outside our tiny log cabin while listening to the birds calling and hearing acorns drop on the roof of the cabin. 

So peaceful and relaxing, although a little squirrel scared me at one point. I don't know if it jumped out of a tree or fell off the roof. I jumped up and screamed as it came down right behind me, and so did the squirrel. I'm not sure who scared who more. Life in the woods. Before I actually did the sewing, I had to make a quick trip to the local quilt store (yes, there was one in the nearby town) because I had forgotten my thread.

The vacation was lovely. Do you want to see some other photos? Sure you do. (Indulge me; it's been so long since I've blogged.) We had dramatic skies, gorgeous water, and pearlescent sunsets. 

M

We stopped at a historical museum, and I saw lots of old sewing machines. And this quilt. 

Before we left for home, I had to return to the quilt store for some souvenir fabric. I picked up some for a possible landscape quilt (wonder where that inspiration came from) and some chocolate browns because that last placemat got me thinking about a brown, turquoise, and maybe yellow-green quilt, and I need to collect some chocolate browns, which seem hard to find these days. 

We saw several barn quilts along the way, but I was usually too slow to get photos of them. If you look closely, you can see one on this barn.

Okay, that's it for now. I'm linking up with Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday (today), Michelle at From Bolt to Beauty for Beauties Pageant (Thursday Oops, August 30), and Cynthia at Quilting is more Fun Than Housework for Oh Scrap (Sunday).

I hope you are enjoying your quilt projects and maybe a vacation. I wonder: What kinds of quilt projects do you take along on trips?