Friday, April 30, 2010

Still Focused on Finishing

At least I'm trying my best.
Amost finished. Here's the first part of my niece's graduation gift. The placemats are done. I'd sure love to keep them. I did a few things differently on these. I used flannel for the batting and I love the weight of them without true batting.
I also did machine binding. It turned out fine, but I'm regretting it a bit. I do love the look of handstitched binding. I just have to get the grommets in the potholders and then I can count this as a finish.
Have you been visiting Sew Mama Sew During Quilting Month? It's been a wonderful month of inspirational quilts, super tutorials and lots of good info on quilting from applique to machine quilting. I've learned a bunch and been inspired by some creative quilters. I've done a series of quilting basics posts during the month. You can find them here:

Part Three: Matching Seams and Quick Piecing Techniques

My friend Katie, of Sew Katie Did ends the month with a really cute quilted pillow. It should be posted later today. If you haven't been keeping up, grab a cup of whatever and spend some time cruising quilting month. You'll be glad you did. Have a great weekend everyone!

37 comments:

Live a Colorful Life said...

Those placemats are fabulous. Lucky niece!

And quilt month has been awesome at SMS. I have learned so much and been so inspired. And I'm going to try your curved sewing with no pins.

Kerri said...

those are fabulous!! love them!!

Lisa Bee said...

My grandmother has just commissioned me to make placemats for her... and I *love* the idea of using flannel instead of batting! I'm going to steal that idea from you.. :)

RosaMarĂ­a said...

love your placemats, they are so pretty! yestaerday, I was reading your quilting basic post at sewmamasew, that is a lot of great information, gracias!

Bobbi said...

Love those! They make a fabulous graduation gift.

Q @ JAQS said...

I'm sure your niece will love them. Don't be too hard on the machine binding. It's a placemat, so the back will not be noticeable :P.

Megan said...

I'll be stealing the flannel idea as well - so smart!

Your posts over at Sew Mama Sew have been wonderful for a relatively new quilter like me. I'm so impressed with everyone's generous sharing of their knowledge and am constantly inspired by such beautiful work!

Unknown said...

These are so fun!

I also do machine stitched binding when I want to save time, but I usually regret it. I just love the look of hand sewn binding. :)

Poppyprint said...

What a fantastic graduation gift for your niece! Beautiful placemats. Thanks for all of your insight on SMS this month - unfortunately I'm not able to make comments on their site for some reason (Kristin and I can't figure it out), but I have been reading and enjoying them!

Abby and Stephanie said...

Fantastic placements. Wonderful graduation gift. I'd hang them on the wall. :o)

Barb said...

these are beautiful what a wonderful gift! I like the way you quilted them, simple and elegant

Contented Caroline said...

Just gorgeous. I love how the quilting enhances them - you have inspired me and I now know how to quilt a book-case quilt I'm just about the start - mind if I borrow your style???

Cheryl Arkison said...

I know what you mean about machine binding. More and more I see it (Fun Quilts and Mark Lipinksi of late) but I can't bring myself to do it. Those still look great! Such a perfect colour combo.

Jennifer said...

Can I be your niece too?? LOL The placemats are gorgeous! I love a hand finished binding too but your machine binding looks just fine and will probably be pretty functional if these placemats end up being laundered a lot (like mine do).

Jennifer :)

BahamaDawn said...

those placemats are awesome!!!

AnyoneCanQuilt said...

Gorgeous placemats! They really look perfect for spring. And your recent fabric purchase has me drooling. x

Unknown said...

those are seriously fab missy!!! i heart them soooo much!! :)

xo, Heather

Jan said...

If I could make machine binding look as nice as yours does, I would be doing it! Being a long time fan of flannel for batting, it's nice to hear of another application for it. I generally use it in doll quilts, even to hand quilt. Thinking about using it for batting, and backing (one piece) - have you ever tried this?

gale said...

Beautiful!! I can't sew straight worth a darn so when I did machine stitched binding, I used a narrow zig zag. I thought it looked pretty good and much better than my straight stitching would have looked. My hands just aren't cut out for hand stitching a big quilt anymore. And I'm not THAT old-only 44. :D Just have really uncooperative hands.

Katherine said...

Jacquie, you are so talented! What a beautiful and special gift for your niece. I'm certain she'll love it for years to come.

I often feel the same way about machine binding... but I must say yours looks great.

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

I am glad you like flannel as batting. I love flannel batting. Everyone here thinks I am nuts. But in South Louisiana we really don't need HEAVY quilts, and I just love the feel of the flannel. I just did two charity quilts that have two layers of flannel and a flannel backing!

glen/QuiltSwissy

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

What lovely set of placemats - sure to be loved by your niece. What a terrific graduation gift.

Jane's Fabrics and Quilts said...

Oh I just adore the placemats, such wonderful colors. She will love them too!

Suzanne said...

What a well dressed table she will have! I always marvel at your patience to do that straight line quilting. You are a marvel.

Victoria said...

Beautiful placemats... very clean and modern. I think your machine binding looks great, too. I've never managed to do one successfully, not sure why... the back always looks a fright. Super work, as always!

Caroline ~ TrilliumDesign said...

Those are great! Love the cool tones - and of course offset strips rock! That is one lucky niece

JariJari said...

very pretty placemats and I'm sure your niece will be very delightful. i'd like to try flannel instead of batting one day... ;-)

Esch House Quilts said...

Love the placemats! I love it when some of the strip fabric blends with the background. Your niece will be thrilled.

Great idea about the flannel too - I have heard people doing that for wall hangings, but placemats makes sense too.

Jenny said...

very nice placemats.

Anna Sobering said...

Thank you Aunt Jacquie! What a lucky girl I am!

PioneerValleyGirl said...

Great gift - the placemats look really good -- I really like the blues and greys.

And congrats to your niece!

meg said...

Quilting Month was great! Thanks for taking the time to share your tips; I enjoyed reading them all.

Speaking of tips, I like the idea of using flannel instead of batting for the placemats. That sounds just right. (Now to see if I can remember that next time I need it!) They turned out beautifully.

MightyMom said...

well I got the quilting started!!

I like machine binding myself. cuz by that time I'm ready to get r dun!!

sara said...

jacquie,
did you use 1 or 2 layers of flannel? i like this idea - i think thinner placemats might be more modern looking than your traditional batting.
thanks for sharing!
sara

WHATUPDUCK said...

Those are great!! What a nice gift. I always love something handmade!

Hop on over to WHATUPDUCK for a Kaffe Fassett giveaway!!

ilovebabyquilts said...

Love the placemats! I put them in my inspiration folder for later!

Nanette Merrill said...

The place mats are great. What a lovely idea. I'm going to click those links. Especially if you are the teacher!