Another project that has been on my to-do list for a VERY long time is this set of 4 placemats - the pattern is Vårlige Tulipanhus (translates as Spring Tulip House) and is by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa. This pattern was in issue 01/2011 of the Norwegian magazine Quiltemagasinet, and both the magazine and this super fabric kit was purchased from Lappedilla in Norway back in 2011. The pattern, although written in Norwegian, is relatively simple to make, as the instructions are well illustrated. I've used Lite Steam-a-seam 2 for fusible webbing. Once the shapes were traced onto the back of the webbing, the shapes were cut out with a small margin around the traced line, fused onto the back side of the fabric, then cut out exactly on the drawn line. The backing paper is peeled off, the shapes are pressed into place, then when everything is in the right place, a warm iron is used to fuse the shapes into place before machine stitching around the edge...
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...there is a large picture in the magazine showing the layout of the windows, doors, tulips and leaves, so it is easy to replicate this with the fabric applique shapes. I machine stitched the appliqued shapes using a black Aurifil 40wt thread. I like to use a thin wadding for tablerunners and placemats, my favourite is a fusible felted polyested wadding, Vliseline H630, which I buy by the metre from Cross Patch - this wadding quilts nicely, and isn't too bulky. The placemats are made using the "birthing" method - the backing fabric is laid right side up on the wadding, the placemat is laid right side down. Once all layers have been pinned together, I've machined all around the "house" a quarter of an inch from the edge, leaving approx 5" opening for turning through. Once the placemat has been turned through, it is pressed, the gap is then hand stitched closed, and machine quilted...
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...I'm really pleased with how these look, especially as they're a gift for a very special friend. I hope she enjoys using them as much as I enjoyed making them!
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