Welcome, Accuquilt Christmas Bloghoppers!

Note: This giveaway is now closed....thank you so much for your interest!

So glad to have all of you visiting here at Lilypad Quilting!  A big thanks to SewCalGal for including me in the week of blogging, and to Accuquilt for the awesome giveaway over there!
My project for the Accuquilt Christmas Blog Hop is placemats!  And if you stick with me till the end, there's a bonus project, too!


Let's get started, shall we?  Hang on while I grab my coffee. You want some too? Sure, here you go!

First thing we need to do is delve into our stash and grab some Christmas-y fat quarters . . . if you're like me, it's difficult to cut into these babies! I'd rather pat them and talk to them, and just think up designs and projects --- but the sketches in my design book are not good presents for the folks on my list!

Now, once we've pulled out a good mix, we'll get our trusty Go!Baby and our chisel die. Those who follow Lilypadquilting know that I am crazy about the possibilities with this die! You can do so many things with it!  Crank out some chisel shapes, like so:

I have in mind a scrappy look that I'm going for, so you can see I have a lot of variety, and a good bit of contrast in my selection. You can also see that I am challenged in the photography department, but that is a story for another day!

Now comes the fun! Take your chisels and try several different layouts. Mix them up and see what appeals to you, and try several options:

When you have a layout that pleases you, you'll go ahead and begin joining the chisel pieces. Pick up one from the bottom row, and the one directly above it, and pin them (right sides together) like so:

I know it looks wonky --- putting things right sides together sometimes challenges my logical mind, but hey, don't fight it . . . it will turn out alright in the end!

Sew a scant quarter inch seam, and iron. I pushed all of my seams to the darker fabric, and it worked out OK.

Now you should have several sets of strips. I chose to make my placemats a generous size . . . I used six joined strips. I figure why have a placemat that won't catch all the crumbs and accidents? Plus, I like to have room for a nice napkin, and the fork and spoon, and a glass or mug!
Here's how mine looked at this point:

Now you can sew your strips together, and then square it up. (Watch those fingers, now!) I squared mine up to a nice 9 inch by 18 inch rectangle.


Then I cut some 2 inch strips from a lovely Kona red, and sewed them to the top and bottom edges (the long edges) of my placemat. Here is what I had, then:

At this point, it is time to get a rectangle of batting, and some fabric for the back of the placemat, and make your "sandwich." I wanted the fabrics to shine, so I just quilted in the ditch -- but I'll betcha that you folks that can free motion quilt can do some fancy quiltin' here!

Go ahead; call me crazy -- I love that macro setting! Hey! (Pouting) I didn't really mean for you to call me crazy!

Lastly, you'll want to bind your placemat, and then you're done. Except that now you need to make some more, so you can have a complete set!
Here is my finished placemat . . . 

And here is a picture of it being used:

Sincere apologies to those who were looking forward to a fancy-schmansy tablescape, here --- I let Jeeves have the day off today! (You have to imagine that said in a really snooty voice.)

Now, about that bonus project I promised you . . . I had some chisels left over, and I dreamed this up:

It's a hotpad! (Or a potholder . . . I guess it's your choice what you want to call it.) I used some charm squares of Christmas fabric to make the background, 

and then sliced and diced my chisels 

and some half square triangles that I had left over, too. 

I used some LapelStik to adhere the "candle," "flame," and "candlestand" to the hotpad front, and then used a blanket stitch on my machine to applique them on. I'd just like to see those babies try to get off of there, now! (Grin)

Then it's sandwich time!

No, not that kind! The kind where you slap together some batting, your Insul-bright, and your front and back pieces of the hotpad!

I actually used a layer of batting on either side of the Insul-Bright, and I like how the quilting looks!


Would you like to have this hotpad that I made, and a kit to make another one just like this? That is my giveaway for the bloghop!  Just leave me a comment telling me what candle fragrance you like best. I love my followers, so if you are an old follower or a new one, you can have a second entry!  We'll choose a winner on Sunday.


I hope you enjoyed your visit to Lilypadquilting! Don't forget to enter the Go!Baby giveaway at SewCalGal's blog!! 


And just in case you missed any of them, here are the bloggers for this week of fun!

Monday, December 12th

• SewCalGal

Tuesday, December 13th

• Leona's Quilting Adventure
• Cherry (Cherry Bossoms)

Wednesday, December 14th

• Terrie (Bits & Pieces)
• Nancy (Tattered Garden)

Thursday, December 15th

• Katrina (Sunshower Quilts)
• Jacque (Lily Pad Quilting)

Friday, December 16th

• SewCalGal
• Paulette (Sweet P Quilting and Creations)

I had so much fun making these projects that I think they qualified as "Minutes for Me" and I'm linking up with Marcia at the linky party!
I'm also linking up with Katherine's Corner, for the Thursday Favorite Things party! Check it out! 
And since I am loving the fun of linky parties, I'm also at The Shady Porch's Rock -n- Share party, too! Fun!


Love,