Quilted placemats with matching napkin rings

 I have a habit of learning a new sewing skill right when I'm on a deadline to finish a gift for someone. I became obsessed with this Eiffel Tower fabric for my aunt when I first saw it and couldn't decide what to make. Cloth napkins? No, too straightforward. Simple flat placemats? Maybe...but what if they were quilted? Yeah! And I could make my own bias tape to trim them with! And then I saw this tutorial on Prudent Baby for making reversible napkin rings.

Of course I waited a little too long to start on these and had many sewing machine snafus along the way, but I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out and my aunt liked them a lot too when I delivered them to her at 9:30 p.m. on her birthday. Sewing right up until the last minute!

I love that they are reversible and I love all of the different options with the napkin rings. Prudent Baby's quilted table runner tutorial was a really good guide for making the placemats. I paired the Eiffel Tower fabric with some nursery print fabric from Jo-Ann's (brown with white dots) and I found the most beautiful sparkly pink buttons at Jo-Ann's during their BOGO button sale.

Another bonus? I learned how to make my own bias tape, use the one-step button hole function on my machine and do a little machine quilting, all in 3 days! The next set of placemats should be a breeze :)