This One's For The Birds!

With Ribbon & Wooden Beads

After being teased mercilessly for a purposefully odd number of placemats* I had made a couple of years ago  - *three to be exact - I made a FULL set of FOUR placemats for part of my Mum's birthday present this year...

The reason behind the original three placemats was because I had made a separate placemat for my Dad with a nod to his Australian heritage, (using LOVELY fabric of printed koalas in gum trees in greys, greens, and browns...), coordinated with rich forest green, soft cotton on the back... I even added a cutlery pocket detail! 😎

For my Mum, I had made TWO matching placemats using fabric with a semi-baroque floral design in burgundy with fine green leaves on a soft gold background, with coordinating burgundy and white, soft cotton ticking on the back of the placemats.  Hence, the odd number of placemats.  But, my parents were so pleased with them, they have used them daily. 😁

Notice The Lace Doiley Corner(s) Detail! [Top-Left Corner]

Ahem... However, during my recent visit at my parents' home, (plus, another family member joining us for tea), it was brought to my attention that Mum was "a matching placemat short of a full set".  Hmmm... I suppose that could be read a few different ways. 😉

Actually, to be fair, the friendly ribbing came just in time because I wasn't sure, until then, what to make my Mum for her birthday.  So, cheeky comments were forgiven!

My LOVELY Bird Placemat Decorated With Buttons

Originally, I was hoping to make a set of four FULLY matching placemats, and, I had my heart set on using the bird fabric for all four.  Unfortunately, I only had enough to make just two placemats.  Hmmm... I had to get creative.  So, I rummaged through my fabric stash to find material that wouldn't look out of place.  Luckily, I had some floral fabric in very similar colours! Now, I could make the other two placemats for a full set of four.  Hurray! 😁

So, here are a few more pictures, illustrating my creative solution:

Dark Brown, Velvety Fabric On Reverse-Side Of Floral Fabric

Chevron Fabric On Reverse-Side Of Birds Placemat

Showing BOTH Sides Of All 4 Coordinating Placemats

To make it clearer: I made TWO matching placemats EACH of the Birds with Chevron-reverse, and TWO matching placemats EACH of the Floral with Velvety Chocolate Brown-reverse, for a total of FOUR placemats.

Artfully Folded Placemats Set

So, these days, when I sit down to tea at my parents' table laid with such SMART and well-coordinated table linens, no one can, (now), say...

This One's For The Birds! 🐦