Sew Sew Modern for Mary

My last swap package has been received so now I can officially show it off. In the Sew Sew Modern Swap my secret partner was Mary. I had seen Mary quite a bit in many other swaps so I was familiar with her. Right off the bat I knew from her mosaic and questionnaire that I was going to make her placemats for her table. She requested something that she could use with her mother's casual dish ware. The problem was figuring out how I could merge her modern aesthetic with the more traditional colors and style of her beloved dishes. 

Even Mary admitted in a later discussion on the swap message boards that she didn't have any of the colors featured in the plates in her stash. She actually called out to her partner (me) and said not to worry about coordinating. But who am I to run from a good challenge?

Close-up on the front of a placemat.

I started on a hunt for the perfect fabrics. I wanted a mix of modern and her favorite designers but I wanted to match the muted tones in the dishes. I started out with a little Jay McCarroll. I love his new line, City Center, and I though his Palm Springs print was the perfect base. The speckled in the fabric emulate the speckles in the dish ware. Little did I know, Mary loves this fabric but hasn't found the right project for it. 

Back of a placemat.

Then I started looking at fabrics from two of her favorite designers, AMH and Lotta Jansdotter, and found some beautiful fabrics that matched the muted tones in the FiestaWare. And I made her some simple, ye modern placemats for her table. Six in all, and finished them off with some straight-line stitching. 

Front of the coasters.

Back of the coasters.

Then for her smaller project I made her six matching coasters. I layered the fabrics on top of each other to allow it the bottom fabrics to peek though some of the lighter fabrics. And I finished her package off with some extras, as always. 

I really hope these match her precious dishes well. It was a fun challenge for me and I really wanted to make Mary happy. It's my last big swap for a while. Now, I'm going to focus on me and getting an Etsy shop up and running. I might participate in a swap or two here and there, but I think I'm going to be a little more selective. At least for now so I can focus on making something for myself for a change.