Mom's the word

The craziness of the last few months has left me slightly out of touch with reality. I kept reading all the ads for Mother's Day without really thinking it was imminent. In a sudden flurry of consciousness, I realized that Mother's Day was nearly upon us and I'd done nothing about it. I also hadn't sewed for more than two months and decided it was high time to whip something up.

I got the idea for these from some fabulous placemats I saw on a blog...they looked very much like these in terms of the pieced borders, except that they were quilt as you go. (I have combed my regularly read blogs, the recent history on my computer, etc., but cannot find them again and so cannot give you the link and their creator credit—my apologies.)

I couldn't figure out how to attach the quilted-as-you-go borders to the center section without using something like rickrack to cover the seam, so I pieced the entire top and then quilted them. Given my time constraints, I also did not want to create a separate binding, so used the instructions from Lisa Shepard Stewart's batik table runner the Fall 2009 Stitch magazine for turning the backing fabric to create a border that looks like a binding. I used the zigzag on my machine (as per Lisa's instructions) to hold it down, figuring that utility was important in items that would be washed frequently.

The fabrics are all from my stash, and my mom may recognize a couple remnants from the quilt I made them for their 50th anniversary. I also pulled in an April Cornell blue-and-yellow floral, a batik, and a couple others I've been saving for...apparently for these placemats. Although I'm sometimes horrified by the size of my stash, it can be very gratifying to be able to create a gift with what I have on hand.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom and thanks for teaching me to sew all those years ago!