I am working on some place mats for my son and his family. My daughter-in-law's grandmother passed away a few years ago, and her sewing machine and all the accompanying stuff passed to my daughter-in-law. She doesn't sew, so she gave me a lot of the trims and such. She gave me a beautiful piece of fabric without asking me to do anything with it. I decided to do the place mats so there will be my work and the grandmother's and great-grandmother's fabric. Something for Mike, Andrea, and the kids.
Now for my tip. I have a rather unorthodox way of attaching bias tape to some items. I just insert the fabric into the fold and stitch it down. Since the place mats are oval shaped, I was having trouble holding them flat and in place. I bought a box of the little plastic paper clips, and they are working just fine. I just stitch a ways and remove them. They are much less expensive than the quilting clips.
By Marty Dick from Houston, TX
This is a page about craft uses for paper clips. Paper clips can be used for all sorts of crafts.