Notes on the Placemat Process

Here are some of the sketches I did for the placemats:

I liked the abstracted rectangles alot.  So I started sewing a bunch of the cut strips together to piece in with larger rectangles.   

Here's my newspaper template, to help visualize the layouts as they are in process:

Here are the first two mats that I completed:

Two things became apparent:  (1) Line drawings or sketches that look great with no color or pattern can end up being very busy when executed in fabric. (2) Scale is important.  I cut the strips 1-2" but they are too big relative to the overall size of the mats (13" x 18").  They would have more punch (maybe?) if they were a tighter group of narrow pieces.

So the next two mats that I completed are much simpler.  I still have two to go with the Pennington fabric, then I will use the leaf stuff for the other sides of them.