Happy Birdday Placemat

Celebrate Big Bird´s Birthday with a Birdday placemat. This project is made entirely in the hoop, except the topstitching around the edges which also closes the opening for turning.  

What you need: 

• Embroidery file, find it HERE
• Embroidery hoop 360x260mm  
• Embroidery thread 
• Cutaway stabilizer 
•  Thin Batting 15½x12” (40x30cm) 
• Small pieces of fabric for the different areas: 
  • A large front piece 14x10” (35x25cm) 
  • B right side panel piece 10x5” (25x12cm) 
  • C top panel piece 15½x5” (40x12cm) 
  • D Back of placemat 18x14” (45x35cm) 

How to make it: 

Making the placemat patchwork and quilting 

1. Hoop the fabric in the 360x260 mm hoop 

2. Load the embroidery file to your machine. NOTE: do not Colorsort, the bird heads should be stitched out one by one to avoid distortion on the outer edges. 

3. Stitch out color 1, this will show the placement line for the batting.

4. Place batting on top, make sure it covers the stitching on all sides. 

5. Stitch color 2, this will secure the batting in the hoop and stitch out placement lines for the fabric pieces. 

6. Place fabric piece A on top of the large area to the bottom left. Make sure it covers the area on all sides. 

7. Stitch out color 3, this secures the fabric in place. 

8. Change to the color you want for the spiral quilting and stitch out color 4. 

9. Place fabric piece B right side down along the seamline between A and B. 

10. Stitch out color 5, this will sew the fabric piece in place. 

11. Flip out fabric B, make sure it covers the whole side panel area. 

12. Stitch out color 6, this will secure fabric B in the hoop. 

13. Place fabric C along the edge A-C, right side facing down. 

14. Sew in place with color 7. 

15. Flip out the fabric piece and make sure it covers the whole C area. Stitch out color 8. This will secure the fabric piece in the hoop. 

Stitching out the embroidery 

16. Color 9 will stitch out the lettering  

17. The following colors will stitch out Big Bird. 

Now it will look like this!

Finishing Steps:

18. Unhoop the placemat and cut away excess fabric leaving ½” around the edges. 

19. Place the fabric for the back and edges on the table, wrong side up. Put the placemat on top, right side up. Make sure the back fabric extends equally on all sides. Pin in place. 

20. Cut away excess back fabric but leave 1” (3cm) around the edges. 

21. Turn the raw edges of the backing fabric towards the edge of the placemat, then turn again, see image below. Pin in place.

22. In the corners do as follows: fold the edge and press. 

23. Turn the edge to form a triangle in the corner. 

24. Turn the edge up. 

25. Pin in place. 

26. Topstitch close to the folded edges around the placemat.

You Birdday placemat are now finished!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG BIRD!