Patchwork Braids: Free Placemat Project

Patchwork Braids: Free Placemat Project

Posted by Kate Colleran on Feb 4th 2025

Hi quilty friends! Kate Colleran here, back to share a fun quick braid placemat pattern in conjunction with the release of my new book, Patchwork Braids!!

11607d.jpg

Placemats are a great way to try out a new technique. They are small, you could use fabrics from your stash and then they are functional!

placemat-agave1.png

For this project, you will need 4 fabrics. The main fabric is the background of the placemat and part of the braids and then 3 contrasting fabrics.

These are the fabrics I chose to use.

misty-morning-fabrics.jpg

They are from my new batik line with Island Batik called Misty Mornings. This line was inspired by mornings spent at the Denver Botanical Garden in the early winter. Most of the leaves were off the trees though you could still find some, faded to a blue-grey color with pops of red berries that the birds were feasting on.

The light blue is my background and the dark blue, berry pink, and white are my contrast fabrics for the braid.

Here are a few of my top tips for making braids. 

While you can cut rectangles to make your braids, I like to cut the pieces with an angled edge which is the side of our braid. That way, I can see where to trim later! and I can usually get more pieces out of a strip this way and I don't have tons of tiny, odd-shaped triangles left over!

Lay out your braid before you start to sew. We start at the bottom of the braid and keep adding to the top. I like to use a design board. I made them out of foam core board, leftover cotton batting, and duct tape! This way you can play around with a flow of color that you like and then just take the board over to the sewing machine and get sewing!

braid-on-design-board.jpg

For our placemat, you will notice that the braid pieces are cut from strips of different widths. What is the trick to making braids using different sizes? Always add in pairs of the same size! They don't have to be the same fabric as I did in my placemats, they just need to be the same size. If you pieced like I did, you will notice that the contrast braid pieces are longer on the right side than the background pieces. That is OK!

braid-pieces.jpg

I like to call making braids Sunday Afternoon Sewing; you don't chain pieces, you add one piece at a time, just like in a log cabin block. While the sewing is simple, pressing is crucial! Press the braid flat gently. The angled edge is biased and why some people like to cut them as rectangles. I think if you just press gently, it is easy to work with the bias.

agave-untrimmed-braid.jpg

Once you have your braid, just start trimming at the bottom of the braid, where you started sewing. You can always add more pieces to the top if you need more than the pattern calls for but not to the bottom! 

Once you have your piece cut to the length you want, just eyeball even amounts off each side. For our braid with pieces of different sizes, just use the background pieces on the right side as the guide to trim the sides.

Ta-done! A perfect braid!

agave-trimmed-braid.jpg

And just that easy, you have a placemat!

placemat-agave-2.jpg

Here are 2 other digital images of potential placemats. As you can see, the pattern will work with different colors and fabrics and a light background or a dark one!

agave-in-blue-green-purple-batiks.jpg

 

agave-in-just-dandy.jpg

Be sure to check out all the great projects in my new book, Patchwork Braids. There are so many great ones, I don't think I can pick a favorite!

View and download the free pattern: Agave Placemat.

...

Find Smash Your Precut Stash and Patchwork Braids at C&T Publishing! 

 

Kate Colleran is a solo business owner, fabric and quilt pattern designer, and quilting instructor. Her quilt patterns are known for their complete, easy-to-follow instructions with an eclectic design style inspired by traditional elements and put together with a modern twist. She is the designer of the popular Braid and Mini Braid Templates and co-author of the book Smash Your Precut Stash. Kate lives in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. katecollerandesigns.com