I can’t believe that it is already November, which means that it is time to think about fall decorating. When I saw these Log Cabin placemats, I instantly thought of fall decorations. Last year I learned how to make Log Cabin squares, and I fell in love with them, right away. They are so easy to do and so pretty.

What you will need to do your log cabin squares are a variety of fabrics 2 ½ inches wide, your sewing basket, a rotary cutter, mat, and ruler, borders which are 6” by 13”, a backing which is 13” by 25”, and a sewing machine.

The fabric for your strips needs to be in a variety of colors which I will refer to as first second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth lights, and first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth darks. Mix and match however you want with the colors of your fabric. In my square I used some of the same prints and some different. One thing that really makes a square look nice is when you use the same color scheme for lights and darks. In my square, I used green for the lights and yellows and browns for the darks. Whatever you want to do and whatever scraps you have, will make your decision for you.

The first thing you want to do is multiply the number of placemats you want to make, by the following lengths, remembering that your width is 2 ½ inches, for all the pieces; 2 ½ inches for the center (my center fabric is just plain muslin, so use whatever you want.), 2 ½ inches for the first light, 4 ½ inches for the second light, 6 ½ inches for the third light, 8 ½ inches for the fourth light, 10 ½ inches for the fifth light, and 12 ½ inches for the sixth light. And for the darks, 4 ½ inches for the first dark, 6 ½ inches for the second dark, 8 ½ inches for the third dark,10 ½ inches for the fourth dark, 12 ½ inches for the fifth dark, and 14 ½ inches for the sixth dark.

I know that sounds really confusing, so let me give you an example. There are 5 people in my family, so I would multiply all those numbers by 5, so for the center and the first light, I would cut a strip 2 ½ inches by 12 ½ inches, and so on for each piece.

If your fabric is not long enough to do strips, you can just use the same dimensions that I did and just follow my pattern, cut each strip individually. In the end, when we start sewing the square together, you will be doing one individual square at a time.

We now have our fabric cut out and so it is time to start sewing our square. It is so easy sewing a log cabin square. Take all of your fabric and lay it out next to you, starting with the center and first light and progressing up to your last dark. Take your center and your first light and sew them together.

Take your second light and sew it to the bottom of your square.

It is time to go onto the first dark and sew it onto the left on your square.

Take your second dark now and sew it on the top of your square.

Time to go back to the lights now and sew your third on the right on your square.

And now for your fourth light, which needs to be sewn on the bottom of your square.

And back to our darks, sew your third dark onto the right of your square.

Continuing with the darks, take your fourth dark and sew it onto the top of your square.

And, back to our lights for the final time, take your fifth dark and sew it onto the left of your square. Sorry that I don’t have any pictures from this point, because as I explain later, I made mine too small!

Finish the lights by putting your sixth dark on the bottom of your square, and head back to darks for the final time, take your fifth dark and sew it onto the left side of your square. With the final dark, sew it onto the top of your square.

There, you are done your square.

Now that our square is done, it is time to finish our placemat, cut out your borders (see dimensions above) and sew them onto the sides of your square. When that is done, you only have two more steps to do.

Put your backing and your square right side to right side. Sew around the square, leaving a about 6 “ opening to turn your placemat. Trim up around your placemat, and turn it rightside out. Slip stich your opening shut and you have a lovely placemat! You can make it look quilted by sewing down each “log” line so that the fabric doesn’t have an air-pocket if you like.

If you want, you can tie at all the corners and in the center of your placemat. If you want to make it bigger or smaller, that is your call. I made mine too small because I was thinking with all 6 lights and darks, it would get to big and annoying. You can decorate your placemat however you want, and have fun using different kinds of fabrics and embellishments.

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