Create colorful crazy patch placemats with machine embroidery and decorative quilting stitches. This step-by-step tutorial shows how to combine Crazy Patch Blocks and Quilting Backdrops to make unique table decor for any season.

Crazy patchwork blocks are so much fun to make and so happy looking. The decorative stitchings are amazing! Follow along with me as I make a set of placemats. I’m using bright colors for my summer table. 

Supplies

Check out the DBJJ team’s favorite supplies in the Designs by JuJu Amazon store. For stabilizers and batting, Designs by JuJu+ has everything you need.

Gathering the supplies

Making the Crazy Patch Blocks

I looked at two purchased placemats and measured them for an idea of the dimensions I wanted for my crazy patch placemats. One placemat was 12” x 17” and the other measured 12.5” x 18”. Because I want to use all four blocks from Set 2 in each placemat, I’m stitching the 6x6 block in my 8x8 hoop. I cut batting squares at 7” for each block. 

The first three steps of my first block go quickly: I stitch my batting placement stitch, tack down and trim the batting, then sew the placement lines for all the fabrics. 

After the batting is tacked down, it’s trimmed, and then the fabric placement lines are stitched

I lay my first piece of fabric face up, making sure it extends at least ½” beyond the outside placement line.

Notice the fabric extends ½” beyond the outside placement line

DBJJ Crazy Patch blocks are made a little differently than the usual applique designs most of us are used to doing. You don’t trim the fabric close to the tack-down stitches. Trim about ⅛” away from inner portions of the tack-down stitches. Trim at least ½” from the outer edges AND angle away, as in the photo. 

To make sure I remembered to angled away, I made it a routine to mark the fabrics before I trimmed

Below you can see the first fabric piece trimmed. 

Leave the outside edges at least ½” beyond the tack-down stitches and the inner edges about ⅛” to ¼”

Since I can be a miser with my fabric when I’m doing applique, the first piece of fabric I cut to use on my block was too small because I didn’t allow enough for the extra ½” of fabric. Not a big deal because I’m sure the too-small piece will be large enough to use on another block!.

The fabrics for these blocks are added in the stitch-and-flip method. The next fabric is laid face down.

After the first fabric, all the other fabrics are applied face down in the stitch-and-flip method of adding fabrics to the block
After you flip the fabric, you can finger press it down. I used this tool to press
The second fabric is flipped and stitched down. Remember to trim at least ⅛” on the inner edges and ½” on the outside edge
Stitching and flipping more fabrics

Once all the fabrics are stitched in place, it’s time to add the embellishments. 

Working on the embellishment stitches. I kept all the threads in a basket next to me so I’d use all the same colors throughout the four placemat blocks
I chose an orangey-red for the ladybug instead of a fire engine red. It coordinated with my fabrics and threads beautifully!
Embellishing the second block. I love the dandelion puff!

Here I have the first two blocks laid out to check the colors. My take-away is that I need yellow going up and down on one of the next blocks. I also need to add that darker purple. 

I’m playing with block layout and using different backgrounds for the feature block
This squirrel is adorable

Once a block is complete, the stabilizer and fabrics need to be trimmed. It is easier for me to use a ruler to hold back all the pieces of fabric and trim the stabilizer to ¼”. 

The ruler helped hold back all the fabric pieces. I trimmed the stabilizer to ¼”

After trimming the stabilizer, the block fabrics are trimmed ½” from the outside stitch line. 

Trim the excess fabric leaving ½” past the outside stitch line

As I work my way through the four blocks from Set 2, I choose a different fabric for the four different feature blocks so my colors will be more evenly spread throughout the placemat. Later on in the project, I decided not to mix the background colors, but I’m sharing the photo below so you can see other ways to lay out the blocks.

My original idea: each block has a different background for the featured design

I make one of each block design from the set when I start this project. But at this point I think it will be more efficient to sew the rest of the blocks in groups. That means I stitch out three more of Block 1, three more of Block 2, and so on. At some point as I was doing all the blocks, moving them around to see what color backgrounds I needed, that’s when I realized that putting four blocks with the same featured background appeals to me. I begin laying the matching blocks together to help me select the fabric layout for the remaining blocks.

Laying the sets out helped me make sure I didn’t have the same fabrics lying next to each other

If you find videos helpful, check out this great technique demonstration video: How to Make the Crazy Patch Series 1. 

Sewing the Blocks Together

Once all 16 blocks are made, it is time to sew them together. I match the top and bottom pairs of each placemat and pin them together with the corners matching at the fabric tack-downs. I stick a pin through at the corners to check alignment.

Check that the corners are aligned

Once the blocks are pinned I “assembly line” sew them, running each pair one after the other through the sewing machine. I make sure to stitch right in the middle of the two lines of stitches. Afterward, I snip the threads between each pair of blocks.

Assembly-line piecing the blocks
Sew in the channel between the two lines of stitches

I press the seams of the top pairs to either the left or right and the seams of the bottom pairs in the opposite direction. This will make it much easier to match the seams up.

Press the seam of the top pairs to one side and that of the bottom pairs to the opposite side

I match up and stitch the top and bottom pairs. The seams butt up nicely if you press them in opposite directions. 

The seams butt up nicely

Adding the Sides

Now I need to add borders on the sides of the placemats to make them rectangular.

I took several photos to help me decide on the colors of the sides. Did I want them to be all the same color? Which color would work best? I took quite a number of photos, below are just a few of them.

Testing out colors for the sides of the placemats

DBJJ makes easy-to-use Quilting Backdrops™ with a lot of size options. All Quilting Backdrops blocks coordinate beautifully with the crazy patch blocks. I’m using the 12” vertical Cross Hatch Quilting Backdrops Design.

I copied and pasted two of the 12” vertical rectangles because they would fit in my 9x14 hoop

For each Quilt As You Go (QAYG) side, I need a 4” x 13” batting piece and a 4½” x 13½” piece of fabric. After tacking down and trimming the batting, the fabric is tacked down.

Tacking down the batting, then the fabric
Stitching the Cross Hatch design

After trimming away the excess stabilizer, the sides are stitched on in the same manner the blocks were pieced together.

Excess stabilizer is trimmed and the side pieces are sewn on

I lightly press the placemat from the back. It’s amazing how quick and easy it is to use the Quilting Backdrops. All eight pieces took no time at all. If I had done them all out of the same fabric it would have been even quicker.

I like to press from the back

Finishing the Placemat

To complete my placemat I spray the back with 505 Temporary Adhesive and lay it on a piece of batting. I prefer using batting on the placemats because otherwise I feel the seams are more bulky. After the placemat is down, I pin the corners and long sides. I then place both of these pieces on top of my backing fabric which is wrong side up. I adjust the pins making sure that the backing is smooth

Here are all the layers. Make sure the back is completely smoothed out and pin well

Next, I baste all the layers together, stitching just on the outside of the tack-down line (between the line and the raw edges).

Baste just to the outside of the tack-down line

Once the basting is done, I line up the ¼” mark of my ruler just on the inside of the white tack-down stitching and trim away the excess. Because the ¼” is on the inside of the stitching, when I sew the binding on, the tack-down line will be inside the seam allowance and not visible. 

Note that the white tack-down stitches are inside the ¼” measurement for trimming

For binding, I cut two strips 2½” wide by the width of the fabric, then cut off the selvage ends. I lay the two ends at right angles and draw a diagonal line from the two corners. I stitch the binding on the line and trim to ¼” seam allowance. Take a look at the two photos below, which will make that easier to understand. After sewing along the line, the seam allowance is trimmed to ¼” and the seam pressed open.

Lay the binding strips at right angles and draw a line from point to point
Trim to ¼” seam allowance and press open

Fold the wrong sides together lengthwise and press well.

To sew the binding to the placemat, I line up the raw edges of the binding with the raw edge of the placemat front, leaving a few inches at the beginning free so I can attach the ends later. 

I’m going to start sewing the binding to the placemat here, leaving a few inches of the binding free

I use my sewing foot as the seam allowance. At a corner, I stop ¼” from the end, lift my presser foot, and pivot the placemat and sew backwards off the placemat. 

Here I’ve stopped and turned the placemat, and I’m going to stitch backward off the end

I then fold the binding at a diagonal and bring it down to make a corner.

Fold the binding at a diagonal. Then fold it over to make a corner

Dropping the needle back at the ¼” mark I start sewing again. I do the same for all four corners. 

Once I’m near the end, I stop with a few extra inches free, just the way I started. 

Here’s a Jenny Doan video I’ve shared before that shows this technique and also how to join the two ends of the binding. 

The binding is on

Once the binding is completely attached, I fold it over to the back, clip in place, and then stitch in the ditch.

The binding is folded over and clipped to hold it in place. Final step: stitch in the ditch

The first placemat is done! Once the blocks are stitched out, everything comes together very quickly and I have beautiful new decor for my table.

This placemat is complete!
I love the bright colors I used for these placemats
Set of Crazy Patch Block placemats for summer

These placemats make a bright, summery table!. You can also make matching coasters with help from this blog post: Star Spangled Stitches Project: Patriotic Mug Rugs and Coasters.

Bring on the summer meals!

There are so many ways to create a different feel using these blocks. Imagine them in fall colors! Or colors that match your own kitchen. Have fun and make them your own.

Please be sure to share your projects in the Designs by JuJu Embroidery Blessings Facebook Group, or use the hashtag #designsbyjuju anywhere on social media. We all love to see what you create!

Carolyn McGinnis

Carolyn McGinnis

Carolyn McGinnis is an embroiderer, quilter, gardener, ocean lover, teacher, librarian, wife, parent, and grandmother. She's still stunned at how admiring a student's embroidered 100 Days of School shirt ended up being a life-changing moment that rapidly went from learning machine embroidery to a notebook chock full of Designs by JuJu.