I wasn't completely happy with my choice of the hat fabric for the border but I love the hat fabric and I love the applique so I am happy enough. It looks very handsome on my kitchen counter.
I practiced mitreing the corners of the border.
I cut the backing fabric about two inches bigger then did the quilting and trimmed the backing to one inch. I then folded it in and sewed it like binding. I haven't done this before. I seems to be a good way to finish smaller things.
I downloaded some colouring in letters (saved in my Pinterest) and planned to make a tea towel but it got transformed into a counter mat along the way. I put interfacing on the top half to do the applique then cut a piece of wadding just a bit smaller than the half tea towel. I folded it in half, did some quilting and then sewed two rows around the outside. The tea towel was 3 for $4.99 at Spotlight.
You can download the drawings from my Google docs
It is very hot in Brisbane today. 37 degrees C outside. It got to 30 inside and we have just put the air conditioner on. I nipped outside real quick to get a couple of photos in the sunlight. It was way too hot to play with props. Both these mats are twice as big as a mug rug. I call them counter mats. I need them bigger so I can fit on my mug, my tea pot and my cake plate and sometimes a little tea bag dish to put my tea infuser if I use one.
Happy Quilting,
Val
