More from Hawaii

After the retreat my husband and I spent 10 days 'on vacation'.  One day we drove to Hilo with our friends Jill and John. We had lunch at Ken's House of Pancakes....

Jill and I visited Kailua Kreations II Quilt Shop (where we both won prizes for the Big Island Shop Hop) and then we played golf. (Read below to see what I won and what I have made....)

We visited beaches, watched whales

and had plenty of time to relax.

So...what did I win?  A lovely stack of 5" squares.  What to do, what to do....

I decided to make 2 placements, one for my husband and one for me.

The pictures show how I made them.  If you have some 5" squares in your stash (or you cut some) you can make easy placemats too!

Arrange squares - 3 rows with 4 squares in each row. Offset the squares so you don't need to match seams!

Trim 2-1/2 inches from the 'hanging over' squares.

Sew the pieces in 3 horizontal rows and then join the rows.
Trim the placemat to the size you want plus 1/2 inch all around (for seam allowances).
Cut batting and backing 1 inch larger than the placemat
Layer as follows: placemat right side down, backing right side up, batting on the bottom.
Pin well around the edges.

Use your walking foot to sew all around the placemat with a 1/4 inch seam allowance;
sew across the corners to reduce bulk. Then trim the backing and batting even with the placemat.

Un-pick approximately 5 inches of one horizontal row seam so you can turn the placemat right side out.
Turn and press. Pin the opening closed.

Topstitch around the edge of the placemats 1/4 inch from the edge. I used a decorative machine stitch.
Use a decorative machine stitch to quilt along the horizontal seams. Use a stitch that will close the opening at the same time.

You're DONE!