Quilt Happy Birthday Placemat Embroidery Project

From the white Kona® cloth cut two 13.5” x 9.5” rectangles of fabric; from the Battilizer® cut 1 13.5” x 9.5” rectangle. Tautly hoop a sheet of the cut-away stabilizer in your hoop.

Run the first color stop (CS) in white as a placement line for the fabrics.

Spray adhesive on the back of one of the fabric rectangles and position over the placement lines so that the fabric exceeds the placement lines by at least ½” on all sides.  Run CS 2 in white or water- soluble thread.

Follow the color chart to embroider the text design and through to the stars.  All colors used in each line will be on separate color stops and will sew from the center of the design out to ensure proper registration.  Do not color sort this design at your machine as you will likely lose registration. Stop the machine after the stars are sewn.

Remove the hoop from the machine, do not unhoop, place the hoop face down on a flat surface.

Spray adhesive on the Battilizer® and align over the placement lines on the back of the hoop so that the batting exceeds the placement line by ½” on all sides.

Spray adhesive on the remaining white Kona® cloth and position over the Battilizer®.  If you are using a print fabric for the back of the quilt block your fabric will be place right side up.

Return the hoop to the machine.  Run the next to last CS in white or water-soluble thread to tack down the batting and back fabric.

Run the last CS in white to quilt this center block.

Lay the ¼” mark of a see-through ruler along the final tack down lines and trim all sides to a ¼” seam allowance.

Your center block will now look like this.

1. For the borders cut:
   1. 4 strips of birthday print fabric 2 ½” x 9”
   2. 4 strips of birthday print fabric 2 ½” x 18”
   3. 2 Battilizer® strips 2 ½” x 9”
   4. 2 Battilizer® strips 2 ½” x 18”

To make quilt sandwiches for the borders; spray one side of a Battilizer® strip with spray adhesive; align a corresponding strip face up over the Battilizer®; spray the other side of the Battilizer® with adhesive and align a 2nd corresponding strip of fabric on top.  Do this for all the fabric and Battilizer® strips.

Select a wide zigzag stitch on your sewing machine with a width of 5 to 5.5mm and spacing of 4 mm. I always use invisible thread throughout these next steps to finish the project.

Take the short border strips and butt them to the sides of the center panel without gaps and overlaps.  The border strip should extend beyond the top and bottom of the center panel by about ½”.  Using your presser foot as a guide zigzag the side borders to the center panel.

Lay the project on your cutting matt and trim the tops and bottoms of the excess borders even with the center panel.

Attach the top and bottom borders as you did the side borders in Step 15.

Trim the top and bottom excess borders.

Your placemat now looks like this.

1. From your binding and sashing fabric cut:
   1. 2 1 ¼” strips the width of the fabric for sashing
   2. 2 1 ½” strips the width of the fabric for sashing
   3. 2 2 ¼” strips the width of the fabric for binding

Take the sashing strips, spray them with Magic Size or starch; fold the long sides into the middle and press.  Keep the narrow strips separate from the wider strips.  The narrow strips are used on the back of the project and the wider strips are used on the front.

You may use any type of stitch you have to stitch the sashing to the placemat.  I always use a Serpentine stitch as it blends in well with the stippling of the quilt block.

Turn your placemat back side up.  Center a narrow strip of sashing over the side zigzag seam line. Have the sashing extend just a little beyond the top and bottom of the whole placemat.  Stitch down both sides of sashing with the Serpentine stitch or other stitch of your choice.

Repeat Step 23 on the other short side of the placemat.

Turn the placement right side up.  Stitch the wider sashing strips centered over the side seams as you did on the back.

Turn the placement back side up again.  Stitch the narrow sashing strips centered over the zigzag seams of the top and bottom borders.

Turn the placemat right side up and stitch down the wider sashing over the horizonal zigzag seams as in Step 23.

Trim the excess sashing strips all around the placemat then bind as desired.  If you do not have a preferred binding method see out article Binding Small Embroidery Projects.

Congratulations your Happy Birthday Placemat is complete and sure to please the birthday person at your party table!