Placemats and napkins and talk of a giveaway at stonegable

Whenever I am in the fabric store I will look out for  remnants of upholstery material.  This thick fabric is great for making placemats, and often the smaller pieces in the remnant basket are the perfect size to make a set of four or six placemats.  Add some napkins, tie it all up with a ribbon and you have the perfect gift.
I made some for my daughter with a silver /black design, and then the plain back on the back - so she can use either side. The plain black looks good with her red painted dining table.  She has collected different chairs and painted them all black with a red hibiscus design.

I would love her to have a really nice set of dinnerware and so have entered on her behalf into Stonegable's giveaway of a Mikasa dinner set. see here  I do hope she/I wins! I entered her as I am sure that Yvonne would not send the whole set to Australia.  Do go and look at Yvonne's lovely tables-capes, and check out her lovely menus. I only live like that in my dreams..

I am finding too with being a grandma that place mats are better with young children.  So much easier to scrub a small place mat than a corner of a tablecloth!  My little four year old grandson loves to set the table and discuss all the merits of the African animals on this set. 

Often you can find fabric that has the design already perfectly printed in the right sized rectangles like these.  Which do you prefer tablecloths or placemats?