Sewing - picnic placemat in blue plaid and gray with a zippered pocket

Another picnic placemat!!!!!  I am enjoying the process!!  Again I upcycled a zipper and the backing is also an upcycled pant leg.  Again, these are precut squares I acquired and squaring them changed their dimensions and therefore created a bit of an unmatched pattern.  I do like that the seams do not align which gives much fewer bumpy seams.  For this one I laid the front and back good sides facing and stitched all the way around leaving the zipper open a bit so I could turn it inside out.  I stitched to the left of the zipper to create the pocket and then did the top stitching all the way around.  I did add several other lines of stitching to quilt the placemat.  The ties were a little heavy so I cut the length into two instead of just folding it over and including it in the seam.  Side by side they were much more manageable and they still work very well to tie the placemat once it is rolled up.  Therese

 

Sewing - picnic placemat with a zipper pocket in rust, brown and ivory

Another picnic placemat made with precut squares from my stash.  I acquired these precut so quite a few  had to be trimmed to be square and therefore lost their ability to be the same size which changed the proportions of my pieces in relation to each other but that worked fine in that all the seams did not line up which in this heavier fabric can make for fairly bumpy seams.  I had to add some fabric on the right to make the pocket large enough.  The colours worked well but the background could have been more interesting.  I did audition quite a few and this was the one that worked the best.  I sewed this one all around with the two good sided facing and included the tie in that seam.  I was going to leave a opening for turning over but realized that if I left the zipper open a bit that would work just as well.  Worked really well.  I stitched left of the zipper to create the pocket and then continued all the way around and did top stitching on the perimeter.  I added several other rows of stitching to quilt the remainder of the placemat.  I am upcycling zippers for these and am finding that the little ending pieces really help to incorporate the zipper in the total design.   Therese

 

Al occasion card featuring a hand painted background with an inked design along with a cute little cat

Our oldest granddaughter has a birthday coming up and I made a card for her.  I watercoloured a background and then added a black frame with a black Sharpie then a scene which reflects this year - solar eclipse, trip overseas and learning to drive!!!  The cat (Clipart Queen) resembles one of her best buddies!!!  I layered the large art piece to a blue card and then coloured the little cat, fussy cut it  and added to the art piece with 3D foam tape.  

Therese