Embroidered Patchwork Placemat

Add some delightful embroidery to your kitchen table with this spring-themed placemat. It can also be easily adapted to any style or season.

March's patchwork placemat is the third placemat in the Placemat of the Month series, and as a special bonus, we've added instructions on how to create a coordinating patchwork table runner!

Read below for free placemat instructions, then click here to create a coordinating table runner.

January - Snowball Block Placemat

February - Lots of Love Placemat

April - Spring Pinwheel Placemat

May - Sunflower Fiesta Placemat

June - Summertime Trapunto Placemat & Summertime Trapunto Table Runner

July - Crafty Cravings Placemat

August - Puppy Love Placemat

September - Autumn Abundance Placemat & Autumn Abundance Table Runner

October - Sumi-e Embroidered Placemat

November - Give Thanks Pocket Placemat

December - Rudolph's Run Placemat & Rudolph's Run Table Runner

Supplies & Materials:

Supplies Needed:

1/2 yard solid-colored quilter's cotton (for embroidered pieces and back)
1/4 yard print quilter's cotton (for borders)
Small pieces of print quilter's cotton (for front panel)
Batting or extra-loft batting
Medium-weight or light-weight cutaway stabilizer
Temporary spray adhesive
Air-erase pen (or other marking tool)
Straight edge
Quilting cutting mat
Rotary cutter
Nylon monofilament thread
Needle and thread for some hand sewing

Designs used:

Vintage Jacobean Flower 5 (Medium)

Blue Flax (Vintage) - (Medium)

These designs are also available in design packs:

A Vintage Jacobean Floral Design Pack - Large, Medium, Small

A Flowers of the Holy Land (Vintage) Design Pack - Large, Medium, Small

Finished Size:

18 1/2 inches inches wide by 12 1/2 inches high

Gather Materials:

To begin, prepare the fabric for the embroidered pieces. Using an air-erase pen (or other marking tool), draw a 6 1/4 inch wide by 10 1/4 inch high rectangle on the solid-colored quilter's cotton - leave a couple of inches of excess fabric around the shape. Measure and mark the center of each side of the shape by measuring and dividing by two. Draw lines to connect the marks. Where the lines meet is the exact center of the shape.

Hand drawing rectangular shapes on green fabric with black pen, using a wooden ruler for straight lines, on a brown flat surface.

Create a paper template of the design by printing it at full size using embroidery software. If you don't have embroidery software, you can cut a piece of paper the shape and dimensions of the design to help with placement and centering. If you'd like a recommendation for an embroidery program that can make templates, consider Embird from www.Embird.com.

Poke a hole in the center of the template and align it with the center point on the fabric. Make sure the design fits well within the shape - there should be at least one inch of space between the edges of the design and the edges of the shape.

Hand drawing a flower design with five petals and leaves on white paper, placed on green fabric with grid lines on a wooden surface.

Start Embroidering:

Spray a piece of medium-weight or light-weight cutaway stabilizer with temporary adhesive and smooth the fabric on top. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together by aligning the marks on the hoop with the lines on the fabric. Attach the hoop to the machine and load the first design. Move the hoop so that the needle is aligned with the center point on the fabric. Embroider the design.

Light green fabric with embroidery hoop attached, resting on a wooden surface, with a hand holding part of the fabric near the bottom right corner.

After the design has finished, trim away the excess stabilizer on the back of the embroidery.

Hand holding orange scissors cutting white fabric with faint leaf embroidery design over green fabric on wooden surface.

Cut out the shape.

Hand holding orange scissors cutting green fabric with a blue embroidered flower and sketched stem and leaves. Fabric marked with pencil grid lines.

Prepare the remaining embroidered piece by drawing an 8 1/4 inch by 8 1/4 inch square on the solid-colored fabric.

Follow the same process of measuring, hooping, and embroidering as you did for the first embroidered piece.

Green fabric square featuring colorful floral embroidery in yellow, orange, blue, and green, placed next to orange-handled scissors on a wooden surface.

Cut a 6 1/4 inch wide by 2 1/4 inch high piece of print quilter's cotton and align it with the top edge of the first embroidered piece with right sides facing. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge only.

Hand holding folded orange floral fabric next to green fabric with blue embroidered flower on a cutting mat with measurement grid and markings.

Press the back seam open with an iron. This is the left front panel of the placemat.

Green fabric placemat with a blue embroidered flower in the center, a strip of orange floral patchwork fabric at the top, and a steam iron pressing it.

To prepare the middle front panel, cut a piece of print fabric 4 1/2 inches wide by 9 1/4 inches high and another piece 4 1/2 inches wide by 3 1/4 inches high.

Rectangular fabric with colorful floral embroidery next to a smaller blue floral fabric piece and a rotary cutter on a wooden surface.

Align the smaller piece with the bottom edge of the larger piece with right sides facing. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge, and press the seam.

Person's hand holding a small fabric piece with floral print on one side and light blue pattern on the other, next to a green cutting mat on a wooden table.

To prepare the right front panel, start by cutting a 4 3/4 inch by 4 3/4 inch square piece of print fabric. Cut the square in half diagonally from one corner to the next.

Orange floral fabric triangle, wooden ruler, and rotary cutter on green self-healing cutting mat with yellow grid and measurement markings.

Cut another piece of print fabric 4 3/4 inches by 4 3/4 inches and cut it in half diagonally as you did with the first piece.

Two white fabrics with light floral pattern cut in triangles on a green cutting mat with measurement grid. A wooden ruler and rotary cutter are also on the mat.

Align two of the pieces together with right sides facing and pin in place. Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the long edge and press the seam.

Hand holding a layered fabric piece with green floral, orange with white flowers, and white with pink patterns on a green cutting mat with grid lines.

Cut a piece of print fabric 4 1/2 inches wide by 4 1/4 inches high. Align the pieced square along the right edge of the square you just cut, with right sides facing. Pin in place along the right edge and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge only. Press the seam.

Hand holding a small patchwork triangle piece with green and orange patterned fabrics over a blue patterned square on a green cutting mat with grid lines.

Next, align the pieced squares along the bottom edge of the remaining embroidered piece with right sides facing. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge only. Press the seam.

Hand holding corner of an embroidered patchwork placemat showing floral embroidery on light green fabric and orange floral patch, pinned to blue backing.

Lay the left embroidered panel flat and align the middle front panel on top with right sides facing. Pin in place along the right edge and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge only.

Hand holding a folded patchwork fabric piece with floral prints over light green fabric with a simple stitched flower design, on a green cutting mat.

Lay the assembled left and middle panels flat and align the right panel on top of the center panel with right sides facing. Pin in place along the right edge and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge only.

Hand holding layered fabric pieces in green, orange, beige, and blue patterns over a cutting mat with grid lines and measurements. Embroidered blue flower with green stem on fabric.

To prepare the fabric for the side borders, cut two pieces of fabric 1 1/2 inches wide by 12 inches high. Align the side pieces with the side edges of the assembled front panel with right sides facing. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edges. Then, press the seams.

Embroidered placemat with green solid borders and patchwork center in orange, blue, floral prints, and stitched floral embroidery on green fabric. Hand holding corner.

Prepare the fabric for the top and bottom borders by cutting two pieces of fabric 19 1/4 inches wide by 1 1/2 inches high. Align the top and bottom pieces with the top and bottom edges of the assembled front panel with right sides facing. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edges. Press the seams.

Embroidered patchwork placemat with floral embroidery on green fabric, multicolored floral and blue patterned fabric patches, bordered in green with white dots, hand on right.

Prepare the fabric for the back of the placemat by laying the assembled front panel on top of the fabric. Pin in place and cut out the shape. Also, cut a piece of the batting just as you did for the back.

Lay the batting flat and align the back fabric on top with the right side facing up. Align the front panel on top of the back fabric with the right sides facing (wrong side of the front panel faces up). Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the top, bottom, and one side edge - leave the other side edge open for turning.

Embroidered patchwork placemat with floral embroidery, green, blue, orange fabric patches, folded over corner revealing solid green back and batting underneath on a dark wooden table.

Turn the placemat right side out between the front and back panels (the batting will end up inside the placemat), and press the seams. Also, turn the fabric of the opening in 1/4 inch and press. Hand-sew the opening closed by hand stitching with needle and thread.

Hand stitching a quilted placemat with a green floral border, cream fabric center with colorful flower embroidery and orange patterned patch on a wood surface.

With nylon monofilament thread in the needle and matching thread in the bobbin (thread that matches the back fabric) quilt through all the layers by stitching along the existing seams of the front panel.

Close-up of an embroidery machine stitching a green placemat with floral patchwork and colorful embroidery. The placemat has a green patterned border.

We also quilted around the edges of the embroidered pieces. To do this, first measure and mark 3/4 inch in around the edges of each piece. Draw lines connecting the marks and then stitch along the lines through all the layers (we used a decorative stitch).

Hand-stitched placemat featuring two embroidered floral panels on green fabric, surrounded by patchwork of orange, white floral, and blue patterned fabric on wooden surface. A hand holding a purple pen and a wooden ruler are at the bottom edge.

Get Inspired:

Your cheerful placemat is now complete. Create a set of 4 for your kitchen table. And, click here to stitch a coordinating patchwork table runner!

Rectangular placemat with patchwork design featuring green fabric panels embroidered with flowers, and floral patterned fabric in red, blue, and white.