I bought the placemat pattern from one of the out-of-town vendors at our 2015 Quilt Show – in fact it was the only thing I purchased. I picked out fabric from my stash for the background; I also had fat quarters in my stash that went well with each of the background fabrics. After reading the pattern more closely, I was afraid a fat quarter wouldn’t be enough for the blades so I purchased some lovely new colours from Crazy Quilt Cottage just after she opened for business.

I pieced the tops at the Mount Washington retreat in May, and they were surprisingly easy to make. I stitched the outer edges of the blades with decorative stitches on my machine. The appliqué was done before the pieces were sandwiched. The placemats use an envelope finish so that the binding doesn’t break the design in the middle. The quilting was done by stitching between the fan blades and extending the line out to the edge.

When the placemats aren’t in use, they come together to make a nice centrepiece.