To begin, prepare the front fabric by cutting a piece of quilter's cotton 17 1/2 inches wide by 11 1/2 inches high.

Next, create a paper templates of the designs by printing them 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.

Arrange the templates on the fabric how you want them. Leave at least two inches between the edges of the designs and the outer edges of the fabric.

Now, we'll prepare the fabric for the embroidered front panels. Cut a piece of fabric (we are using flannel and lightweight canvas) a bit larger than your hoop. Spray a piece of medium-weight cutaway stabilizer with temporary adhesive and smooth the fabric on top. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together, load the design, attach the hoop to the machine, and begin embroidering.

Repeat this process for each design. When all the designs have finished, trim the front panels.

On the wrong side of the far left design, measure and mark 3/4 inches out around the outer edges of the design. Draw lines at the marks to create a rectangle shape around the design and cut out the shape.

To prepare the borders for the far left panel, measure the height of the panel (ours measures 7 3/4 inches high). This measurement will be the height of the side border fabric pieces. So, we cut two pieces of print quilter's cotton 1 inch wide by 7 3/4 inches high. 

Align the pieces along the side edges of the panel with right sides facing. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edges.

Press the back seams open with an iron. Then, measure the width of the panel including the side borders you just added (ours measures 7 1/4 inches wide). This measurement will be the width of the top and bottom border fabric pieces -- so we cut two pieces of print quilter's cotton 7 1/4 inches wide by 1 inch high. Align the pieces along the top and bottom edges of the panel with right sides facing. Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edges. Then, press the back seams open.

To trim the embroidered center panel, trace a 5 inch diameter container around the design on the back of the embroidery (place the container or lid over the design leaving equal distances from the edges of the container and the outer edges of the design).

Cut out the shape.

For the far right design, on the back of the embroidery, measure and mark 1/2 inch out around the outer edges of the design. Draw lines at the marks to create a rectangle shape around the design. Then, cut out the shape.

Next, we cut two pieces of print quilter's cotton 3 inches by 3 inches, to create two more front panels.

Add the fusible web on the back of each of the panels and arrange them on the front fabric how you want them - we overlapped some of the panels just a bit.

Starting with first layer of panels, pin them in place and then press in place with an iron (follow the fusible web manufacturer's instructions).

Sew a decorative stitch around the entire outer edges of the panels - we used a blanket stitch and a zig-zag stitch.

Add the remaining panels, iron them in place, and sew a decorative stitch around the entire outer edges of the panels, just as you did with the first layer of panels.

To prepare the fabric for the side borders, cut two pieces of fabric (we used corduroy) 2 inches wide by 11 1/2 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.

To prepare the fabric for the top and bottom borders, cut two pieces of fabric 19 1/2 inches wide by 2 inches high. Align the top and bottom pieces with the top and bottom edges of the assembled front panel. With, right sides together, pin, and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edges. Press the seams.

To prepare the fabric for the back of the placemat, lay 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. Then, 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 together (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.

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. With nylon monofilament 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.

As a finishing touch, we added buttons to the center of the flowers in the far left panel. Get creative and add some of your favorite crafty decorations!

Your placemat is now complete. Stitch a set for yourself and another for a  fellow crafter!