Summertime in My Sewing Room

I've been working on a summer table ensemble for McCall's Quick Quilts, and it's really been a spirit-lifter. The fabrics I'm using are sweet, pastel-colored batiks from Timeless Treasures, and it's a great break from the snow and ice just to handle them. The piecing was easy...a chevron design make with all rectangles. Once that was done, I marked each placemat for straight-line quilting:

Next, layering and pin-basting:

Then on to the quilting. I used my walking foot:

Then trimming the edges even:

I used precut 2 1/2" strips for the binding, a different color for each place mat:

I decided to try all-machine-stitched binding, so first it was sewn to the back of the quilted mat:

Then turned to the front and stitched down, which was harder to do neatly than I anticipated:

My awl became my new best friend. It really helped with handling the binding and getting the stitching straight and even:

Finally, all the mats were pieced, quilted, and bound, and the napkins made:

One more little project to go before this ensemble is finished. Here's a clue! More photos when I get to this part: