Hi! I’m Lisa Ruble from Love to Color My World. Today I’m going to share how to make a set of fusible placemats. When I heard about the Feelin’ Blue theme, I knew exactly what I wanted to make and what fabric I was going to use. I have a stack of luscious blue batiks from Windham Fabrics’ Indigo Batiks collection that would be perfect for making curvy appliqué placemats.
Batik Fabric Ripple Placemats with HeatBond Fusible Adhesive
These placemats are really easy (and fun!) to make. The key is to choose fabrics with contrast—even if you choose all one color, like my blue prints, make sure you have a range of values. And every placemat you make will turn out differently because of the freehand curves!
You’ll Need:
(to make 2 placemats)
Fat quarters of 6-8 prints
1/2 yard of background fabric
1/2 yard of backing fabric
1/2 yard of binding fabric
Cutting
From each fat quarter:
(1) 8” x 14” rectangle
From the background fabric:
(2) 14” x 20” pieces
From the backing fabric:
(2) 14” x 20” pieces
From the binding fabric:
(4) 2-1/4” x WOF strips
From the Fusible Web:
(6-8) 7-1/2” x 13-1/2” pieces (one for each fat quarter piece)
From the Fusible Fleece:
(2) 13-1/2” x 19-1/2” pieces
Making the Placemats
Step 1 Following the manufacturer’s directions adhere the fusible web to the wrong side of each 8” x 14” fabric piece.
Step 2 Using a rotary cutter, cut (4) gentle curves lengthwise along each fused fabric piece. All of your curved strips will be slightly different.’
Have questions about cutting the curves? Watch the video demonstration below.
Step 3 Lay out the 14” x 20” background piece and position the first curved strip – one with a straight edge – on the edge of the background piece.
Step 4 Continue laying out curved pieces, allowing some background fabric to show through.
Step 5 When you’re satisfied with the layout, slide the curved strips off the background piece (still in order). Lay background piece on ironing board and fuse first curved strip in place.
Step 6 Continue fusing curved strips in place until the background piece is full, or close to full (placemat is slightly oversized at this point—we’ll trim down after quilting).
See how my background extends beyond the last strip? That’s okay! It’ll get trimmed later.
Step 7 Adhere a piece of Fusible Fleece to the backside of the background piece, centering it. Apply Basting Spray to the wrong side of the backing piece and press to the opposite side of the Fusible Fleece to create a quilt sandwich. Repeat with second placemat pieces.
Step 8 Quilt the placemats as desired. I used a free motion foot and quilted freehand wavy lines to go with the stripes.
Tip: Try to quilt near the fabric edge of each curve for extra security because placemats are handled a lot.
Step 9 Trim each quilted placemat to measure 18-1/2” x 12-1/2”.
Step 10 Make a binding strip from the (4) 2-1/4” x WOF strips. Use it to bind the two placemats.
You’re done! Enjoy adding some curvy sparkle to your table!
Tip: You will have leftover curved strips – use them to make additional placemats, mug rugs, or cut more and make a matching table runner!
I hope you enjoyed my tutorial! I’d love for you to stop by and visit my blog, including this post, which shows a quilt I made using these gorgeous fabrics.
