A Place for Chives

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Here’s a little mid-winter project that will have you thinking of spring every time you sit down at the kitchen table. Pick a favorite herb, one with a pretty shape and colorful flowers, and design a pattern around it. Transfer that design onto canvas, paint it, then give the canvas a durable finish. What you’ve got is a placemat that proclaims your affinity for herbs. Make a set, then set the table.

I chose chives for my placemats because their playful pink pompon blossoms are among the cheeriest sights of the spring garden, and their readily recognizable shape is simple to reproduce. You can make your own design or use mine, which is shown in outline form on page 46. This project is meant to be easy; you don’t have to be an artist to achieve a pleasing result, and the technique is adaptable to any skill level. It uses materials that a person who does a lot of crafts is likely to have around the house or which are readily available. I find these mats to be useful and practical, and they wipe down quickly at cleanup time.

I wanted my placemats to have an antiqued country look, so I painted the background in translucent layers of color in tawny hues that I mixed myself, using an old plate as a palette. The chive pattern flows around the wide cream-colored border, and the darker rectangle in the center features a single stem and flower. The directions that follow describe the procedure I used to make a set of four placemats.

Materials

• Scissors
• Medium-weight cotton canvas (available in fabric and craft stores), enough for four pieces that measure 18 by 15 inches (with a 60-inch canvas width, that would be 1/2 yard)
• 4 wood stretchers with inside dimensions of 16 by 13 inches (available in hobby stores)
• Stapler
• Pencil
• Plastic dropcloth
• White gesso
• Large paintbrush
• Palette or old plate
• Small bottles of acrylic craft paint in the following colors: cream, antique gold, dark brown, red, white, blue, green
• Small household sponge, cut in half
• Masking tape
• Carbon paper
• #00 paintbrush
• Small can of polyurethane
• Fabric glue
• Felt

Cut the cotton canvas into four 18- by 15-inch pieces, which allows a 1-inch margin on each side. Attach the canvas to the stretcher by positioning it, stapling along one edge, pulling the opposite edge taut, and stapling it in place, then doing the same for the other two sides. The stretcher makes it easier to paint on the canvas by holding it smooth and firm. Although they’re inexpensive to buy, stretchers can also be made easily from scrap lumber. After the canvas is firmly attached, lightly mark the edges of the finished mat with a pencil to a size of 16 by 13 inches.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print