Finished Weekend Project - Floor Mat.

I'd seen a couple of tutorials for floor mats, and I thought I'd try one out.  Our floor is cork and pretty comfy, so it's not that I spend long hours in front of the kitchen sink suffering, but it seems like a fun idea to have at least one quilted project in each room.   I was wondering what to do with the Apple of My Eye jelly roll, and this seemed like a perfect chance to try working with it.

Avignon Picnic

 I got my inspiration from the Avignon Picnic pattern I found on Moda Bake Shop after seeing a lovely version of it on another blog.  I really appreciate the great tutorials you can find there, and actually have plans to try a few more of their patterns soon.  I didn't end up using the arrangement they had, but it provided a great starting point to come up with my own version and feel like I was actually being a bit creative.

Top of floor mat

 Now I know white isn't practical, but neither am I, so it worked out.  I am sure this will be going in the wash a lot, which is OK.  I suppose it will encourage me to compost all my coffee grounds, otherwise they'll be passing over this on a daily basis on the way to the garbage can!  Everything didn't line up perfectly, but I'm satisfied at my first foray into doing something that involved a bit more of a traditional piecing technique.

I decided to make a double sided version instead of putting a non slip backing on it.  I wanted something a bit more modern.  I decided to pick three Pezzy Print charms and build something around that, using a couple of solids from Apple of My Eye, and some scraps of Anna Maria Horner Loulouthi, Summer Totem Tart I had left from the queen quilt I still have in progress.

Close up of the one decorative stitch my machine has

I realized after I attached the green square strip that it would look better next to the pink Pezzy print, but somehow I was too impatient to grab the seam ripper and move it. Not surprising at all!  All things considered I liked how it turned out, and it was a relatively quick and easy project.

My cutting and sewing is still pretty inaccurate, or I imagine I'd see nice flat seams between pieces like I do on more experienced quilter's projects.  I'm hoping to improve quickly so I can try my hand at paper piecing.

One upside to this project was that I made my own seam binding, which is a first for me.  I'd tried it and failed for garment sewing, but I must say working with quilting cotton sure makes it a lot easier to get crisp folds than with apparel fabric.