How big should a Christmas placemat be?

18 x 13 inches is a standard placemat size. The Sewzy Quilted Placemat finishes at 18 x 13 inches as a rounded rectangle or an oval.

How much fabric do I need for 4 placemats?

⅞ yard of top fabric, ⅞ yard of back fabric, ⅞ yard of binding fabric (¾ yard for ovals) and 30 inches of 45 inch wide cotton batting.

What binding do I use for placemats?

Bias binding cut 2¼ inches wide. Bias strips stretch around curves, which matters for the rounded corners and the oval. Each rectangle needs 69 inches of binding and each oval 60 inches.

How far apart should quilting lines be on a placemat?

About 2 inches. Mark straight diagonal lines across the stacked layers and quilt them with a walking foot, working from the center out.

Can I put hot dishes on a quilted placemat?

Not unless you used batting made for oven mitts and potholders and followed its instructions. A placemat is a table mat, not a trivet. Use a potholder or a casserole carrier for hot dishes.

How long does it take to sew a placemat?

About 1 to 2 hours for one mat at beginner level. For a set, cut and quilt all the mats together, then bind them all at the end.

Christmas Placemats to Sew: Quilted Placemat Pattern and Steps

To sew a quilted Christmas placemat, stack a festive top fabric, a thin layer of cotton batting and a backing fabric, quilt straight diagonal lines 2 inches apart, cut the quilted stack to the placemat shape, then finish the edge with bias binding. The Sewzy Quilted Placemat makes an 18 x 13 inch mat in a rounded rectangle or an oval. One mat takes about 1 to 2 hours, and a set of 4 needs ⅞ yard each of top and back fabric.

TL;DR

Size: 18 x 13 inches, as a rounded rectangle or an oval.
Fabric for a set of 4: ⅞ yd top, ⅞ yd back, ⅞ yd binding (¾ yd for ovals) and cotton batting.
Quilting: straight diagonal lines 2 inches apart, about 13 per mat.
Edge: bias binding cut 2¼ inches wide. Bias strips bend around the curves.
Time: about 1 to 2 hours per mat, beginner level. Start early to have a set ready for Christmas dinner.

The quilted placemat this Sewzy pattern makes, view 2 — The Quilted Placemat from the Sewzy pattern. Photos are renders of the finished item, made from the pattern's shapes.

The quilted placemat this Sewzy pattern makes, view 3 — The Quilted Placemat from the Sewzy pattern. Photos are renders of the finished item, made from the pattern's shapes.

Placemat sizes and fabric

	Rectangle	Oval
Finished size	18 x 13 in, corners rounded 1¾ in	18 x 13 in
Cut each layer	20 x 15 in	20 x 15 in
Top and back fabric, each	½ yd for 1, ⅞ yd for 4	½ yd for 1, ⅞ yd for 4
Cotton batting (45 in wide)	15 in for 1, 30 in for 4	15 in for 1, 30 in for 4
Binding fabric	½ yd for 1, ⅞ yd for 4	½ yd for 1, ¾ yd for 4
Bias binding per mat	69 in, 2¼ in wide	60 in, 2¼ in wide

There is no seam allowance: you cut the layers 2 inches bigger, quilt them, then cut the shape on the solid line, and the binding covers the edge.

Christmas fabric ideas

Classic: a red and green plaid top, a cream back and a solid red binding.
Reversible: a Christmas print on top and a plain winter print on the back, so the mats work all season.
Scrappy: a different festive print on each mat, all bound in the same color to tie the set together.
Nordic: white and red, or linen-cotton with a simple red binding.

Quilting cotton, linen-cotton, canvas and chambray all work for tops and backs, with cotton or bamboo batting. Prewash everything so the mats do not shrink unevenly later.

What you need

Top, back and binding fabric, and cotton batting, as in the table.
A walking foot and an 80/12 needle.
Spray baste or curved safety pins to hold the layers.
A ruler and chalk, a hera marker or painter's tape for the quilting lines.
Clips, which are kinder to thick layers than pins.

How to sew a quilted placemat, step by step

The pattern has 12 short steps. Here they are in four stages.

Print and cut. Print both shapes at 100% and check the 2 inch square, tape the 6 sheets together and cut out your shape. Cut the top, back and batting to 20 x 15 inches each.
Stack, mark and quilt. Lay the back right side down, the batting on it and the top right side up. Smooth the layers and baste them. Mark diagonal lines 2 inches apart and quilt along them with a walking foot, working from the center out.
Cut to shape. Lay the paper pattern on the quilted stack and cut on the solid line, through all three layers.
Bind. Cut bias strips 2¼ inches wide, join them into one long strip (69 inches for a rectangle, 60 for an oval) and press it in half. Sew it around the front edge, join the ends, fold it to the back and stitch it down.

The binding is the step to take slowly. If it is new to you, the free bias binding calculator works out strip lengths for other projects, and the quilted potholder guide walks through binding a small piece first.

Plan a set before Christmas

When	What
First evening	Prewash fabric, print the pattern, cut all layers for the set
Weekend 1	Baste and quilt all the mats, then cut them to shape
Weekend 2	Make one long binding strip and bind every mat

Cutting and quilting every mat in one go is faster than finishing them one at a time.

Hot dishes: a safety note

A placemat is a table mat, not a trivet. Keep hot pots and pans off it unless you used batting made for oven mitts and potholders and followed its instructions. For hot dishes, sew a Potholder or a Casserole Carrier instead.

Complete the Christmas table

Add a Bowl Cozy, a set of Cone Christmas Trees down the middle of the table, or Wine and Gift Bags for the bottles you bring. More ideas are in Christmas sewing projects and Thanksgiving table sewing projects, which uses the same placemat. The Quilted Placemat is a Premium pattern in the Sewzy app, with both shapes and a photo for every step.