placemats and a yum yum apple

I find simplistic shapes, small sizes and unassuming character of Japanese pottery irresistible. I tried to translate their natural look and earthy tones into making these placemats for Zakka along.

I used Osnaburg fabric along with a linen kitchen fabric that I randomly picked up on Etsy sometime back.. it is such a sweet little print with tips on healthy cooking. Sadly, there is no name for this print on the selvage if I have to get it again. 

The patchwork diamonds are supposed to be on both sides of the placemat but I left them out on the opposite side to create a 'rice.bowl ' and a 'glass' pocket for a place to keep spoon and fork. I thought it would be nice if the bowl and glass matched, so I fussy cut the flower part for their front and added a white border for the rim.

I made these paper templates for the finished size for pockets and then traced them onto the fabric by adding seam allowances, one fabric for the outside and one for lining. After sewing the two pieces right sides together leaving a small gap to flip them inside out, I stitched them to the placemat in place.

On the back is this yarn dyed stripe fabric. I didn't put any batting inside but did a stitch in the ditch where I joined the patchwork panel to the plain fabric to keep the fabrics from shifting.

In the children section of 'Patchwork please' book there is a yummy apple bib. I turned it into a hot pad by lining it with Insul-Bright. I needle felted tiny blue seeds and a cute stem for this apple. The Clover felting tool that I have has multiple needles, so I poked unnecessary holes into the fabric around the seeds while felting them. Next time I have to remember to get one with a single needle. 

This binding with pink and red fruits is a Liberty fabric. It is one of my favorite prints from their collections both color wise and print wise. I bought a meter of pre-made bias tape just to have a sample of this print without having to splurge for actual fabric. I guess it was meant for this apple! On the back is the same stripe fabric that I used in the placemats.

I hope you are enjoying summer activities and trips to the beach! We haven't been outside that much. Just staying in the shade and taking it easy ( ' v ' )

Have a lovely rest of the week!