Quilted Homespun Placemat

Four inch homespun quilt squares make a terrific quilted & ragged homespun patchwork placemat, embellished here with wooden buttons.  The flip side is a solid piece of homespun so the look can be changed up occasionally.  A table runner can be assembled using the same instructions, just making it longer as needed.  See more photos and instructions below.

Materials:
70 - 4" homespun quilt squares
1/4 yards quilt batting
1/2 yard cotton homespun fabric, any color to coordinate
 Buttons for embellishment

1. Stitch doubled (two layers) homespun squares together to make a panel 5 squares by 7 squares with 5/8" seams.
   
2. All backstitching to secure the seams must be done 5/8" from all edges.  Otherwise the backstitching will be lost when the homespun "frays".
   
3. Iron flat.  Cut a piece of homespun fabric the same size, using your panel as a guide.
4. Cut a piece of batting 1 inch smaller than your panel on all sides.
5. Place the patchwork panel flat with the seams side down.  Center the batting on top.  The top with the homespun piece to make a "sandwich".  Pin well.
6. Stitch with the patchwork side up, diagonally from one side across the full length to the other side making an X inside the squares.  In the sample above, this quilting was done on every other square.  You will notice that it still looks good but is much faster. 
7. Stitch the outer edges 5/8" from the edge.
8. Clip all seam allowances and edges 1/2" deep and 1/2" apart.
9. Machine wash on cold using detergent and liquid fabric softener.  (optional)  Shake before drying to remove loose strings.
10. Embellish if desired with rhinestones or buttons.
11. I don't have assembly pictures of this placemat, but the assembly is very similar to the Quilted Patchwork Tote, which has some good pictures.