Better Late Than Never
February 19, 2013 So remember the scrumptious PamKittyLove fabric I got from Santa?
Well I took a deep breath, pulled the FQ bundle off the shelf, rounded up some embroidery floss & ric rac ...
tossed in a few other prints from my stash,
and made some long overdue Valentine placemats for my 2 girls. (The last ones I made are about 6 years old and have seen better days.)
Oh my daughters are so patient. They've become accustomed to their mother's secret-last-minute-cram-sewing-holiday-stuff routine.
I finished the placemats late in the evening on Valentine's - past bedtime - so I laid them on the kitchen table where they would surely be found the next morning.
I had so much fun with this project. It was like making a puzzle without the lid - no idea what it was going to look like when it was all done. I loved doing puzzles as a kid. And playing around with fabric like this is one of my all-time favorite things to do.
I started by cutting a 5"x6" piece from each fabric. I know that seems like an odd size. But 4x6 didn't seem quite big enough. And 6x6 ... well that was just waaaaaay way way too much to sacrifice.
Don't ask me to explain. There's no rationalizing the irrational.
Then I spread the pieces out and waited for them to start talking to me. (I know ... more wingnuttiness ... but that's the way it goes around here.)
Then I got this overwhelming urge to fussy cut ...
A lot!
See?
Could.not.stop.
Then I started joining pieces together, making bigger panels and sections.
There are over 40 pieces of fabric in each 10" x 14" mat.
I do the "same-but-different" thing when I make gifts for my girls and wanted the mats to have different colored ric-rac trim.
But I also like the idea of incorporating something from each girl's thing into their sister's thing ... in this case, it's the ric-rac.
Of course I had to embroider their initials ...
And as if the fabric didn't have enough hearts already ...
You know, I've made lots of placemats, but they always end up getting stained and faded and ruined - which makes me not want to make more ... 'cause they get wrecked.
But I was in the mood to make something pretty for my girls and was totally inspired by the fabric. So I decided to heck with it - I was going to use my newest, prettiest, PamKittyLoveliest fabric to make something nice for my family to enjoy. Never mind if they don't last.
Well, excuse me while I take a moment to wipe a tear of joy that has just formed in my eye. My sweet little apples? They did not fall far from the tree. They've already asked if they could please save their placemats to hang on the wall in their new bedrooms (we're building a house ... I promise an update on that soon). If I'd known they were gonna do that I'd have thrown in some lace trim too!
What's even funnier is when I show my husband a "miniature quilt", he just nods and says, "Nice placemat".
Now I need to decide if I'm going to make more placemats ... that aren't quite as nice ... so we can all enjoy them on the table! LOL!
Life is good. :)
Reader Comments (34)
OMG those are amazing! I cannot believe the attention to detail that you put into these. That's some serious fussy cutting! Glad you have smart daughters who want to preserve them!
What a sweet response by your girls. I think I will look forward to the blogs they write one day, because I am certain they will be awesome!
OHMYOHMYOHMY! Gosh those are just so cute! Love all the fussy cutting and the fancy little stitches and the rick rack. I love them so much! So cute the girls want them in their rooms, I'd want to laminate them before use! Love your husband's comment as well.
Xoxo
So very darling!!! Just love all the details! The fussy cutting, embroidery etc. Love!
I don't know what I love more: your gorgous placemates or your sweet daugthers for keeping thier mom's work safe. Now that they have these beauties for their new rooms you need to make them coordinated pillows (or something else). Hildy
So sweet! It means the world when my kids love something that I made for them! How could your girls NOT love those placemats,...er...wall quiltlets?! Fussy cutting is so worth the time and effort, don't you think? I can't wait to hear an update on your house. I was just thinking about that this last week and was wondering how it was going. Why would I be thinking about homes? Well, let's just say that I hope to have some news of my own very soon.... :)
So very beautiful!! Wonderful that they want to keep them up on their walls!! Pam Kitty Love will be enJOYed for a long time!
Sew incredibly beautiful. I mean weepingly beautiful. You can't put these away in a drawer for keeping for next year. I would keep them out and rub them to my face everyday. Lovely beyond words.
OMGosh, again with the awesomely beautiful creation...I LOVE it!!! Your inspirations are endless.. I'm totally going to (try) make something like this for my daughters room!!
Thank you for sharing!!
xo
Those are just perfect!! You create the most beautiful things :-D
See....I always let the fabric talk to me too!! but I have to touch it first...apparently I can't really see the colour til I touch it!...and you thought you were a wingnut!!
So, so pretty! You have such a good eye for the little details!
Oh what lovely placemats! I would be hard pressed to cut into those fabrics too. They just make me smile and want to pet them, hehehe Thanks for your inspiration.
So cute. Love your book. Where do you get the floss on those cute cards? Never seen any like that. Linda gerig
Lucky Lille girls! Those placemats are adorable!
These are so pretty and very inspiring!
These are adorable! xx
Our old Kristyne is back!!! I am so imspired! How sweet! I think a new pattern is right before us! I adore the details you have done,so sweet, our DGD says please can we use the Little Quilts for dinner? meaning the quilted placemats. I will keep them forever! It is all we use at our table,a quilted tablecloth or the placemats. Your girls will remember them forever. I loved this project.
So stinkin' cute! Love these!
Very, very cute Ms. Pretty!!!
These are so gorgeous!
These placemats are charming! And I think they'd look lovely hanging on a wall instead of under a plate. ;-)
So so beautiful and cheery !! You can feel the love in them !!
It's so hard to cut into a favorite stash ... What we do for our kiddies !
Sew pretty....I really love them! Your girlies are right, they should be displayed and treasured. I love how you've used the wonderful pam kitty love fabrics, and your sweet embroidery too :)
Helen x
I have looked at this post 12 times and refuse to throw it in the trash! It's so pretty! What a great job you did!
Oh, my goodness--just the inspiration I needed! My precious daughter is getting married in 79 days, and I'm making some table linens for her, to go along with family ones I've saved. They've just been so....ordinary.....now I have some ideas to work with! (I'm also glad to know that I'm not the only one who has trouble cutting into my lovelies! I do tend to hoard, even though I tell myself that there's more out there.) Thank you--your posts are like teatime, a favorite respite in my day.
Sorry to pester you with a question when I know you are super busy, but what are those cards you are using to store you embroidery floss? I looked online but couldn't find out what they were. I tried the cheap ones a while back and felt like they ruined my thread; I'm guessing the ones you use are better given your beautiful embroidery!
Your girls have the right idea. Way too pretty to use, but perfect to hang as quilt art!
Oh my goodness, these are so so gorgeous I can't even tell you using regular old words. They make me want to squeal and cut up fabric AT ONCE! Lovely, lovely work and so inspiring :D
S x
PS Apologies if you get this twice.... :-/
Oh these came out beautiful!!! You put so much love into them. Something your girls can hang onto for many years and know how much their mom loves them.. You are so VERY talented! LOL I giggled at your husbands comment because thats something my husband would say too..
Everything in this post is irresistably cute! I love your work! -Derrith
Ohhhhhhhh! These placemats are just the kinda thing I love and love to do. PK fabric is my all time favorite. I love the puzzle patchwork and the fussycuts and the embroider, ricrac and just everything about them. Sew Sweet.
My first time here, but I will be back. I came here from link on Pam's blog.
I love your statement "There's no rationalizing the irrational. " That speaks right to my heart and the way I do things sometimes. Your girls will treasure these placemats and the memories they bring when they are adults!
ours are wipe clean melamine with scenes from People's Friend magazine.