True to stereotypical quilter form, I have a hard time throwing away scraps and samples. When I made the samples for my inset circle tutorials (pinning and gluing) and I knew I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to throw them away when I was done.
Our current pot holders are starting to fall apart. Honestly I’m not even sure how old they are or where they come from as they were part of the package deal when I got the husband. That was over 10 years ago (have we really been married that long already??) and I think he got them second hand.
So why not use my samples to make some fun new pot holders? It’s a win-win!
I went with green because I love it as an accent color for the kitchen. Being outside in nature is my happy place, so a little pop of green in an otherwise bland kitchen just makes me feel good.
In an attempt to bring a little bit of outside indoors I have a bunch of plants in the kitchen too. Unfortunately I have a bit of a black thumb, so I’ve killed off more plants than I’d like to admit… So it shouldn’t be surprising that a majority of my plants are orchids, which thrive with neglect, and one succulent. (Hey, remembering to water is hard!)
Fortunately the one thing I can do in the kitchen is cook, but to do that, we are going to need to make some potholders!
Supplies:
- 2 pieces fabric 7” x 8”
- 1 piece fabric 7” x 6”
- Bias binding 7” long
- Bias binding 41” long
- 2 pieces cotton batting OR thermal batting 7” x 8” (Note: there are many types of thermal batting and each has different instructions. Some still need a layer of cotton, some can be used as is, so follow manufacturer instructions carefully!)
- Thread
Make a sandwich with the two pieces of cotton batting or one thermal batting and the two 7” x 8” pieces of fabric, making sure the top of the fabric is facing the outsides.
I used two pieces of cotton, and I have to say that the thermal batting is probably worth springing for. My pot holders start to get uncomfortably hot quicker than I’d like and I’m curious how well the thermal batting works. Mine are just good enough to pull a pan out of the oven quickly and immediately put it down, but sometimes (especially in my teeny tiny kitchen) I realize I have nowhere to put the pan down after I’ve pulled it out!
Quilt through all the layers in your desired design. Keep the quilting pretty sparse – the more stitching, the more holes for heat to travel through.
Make the loop by cutting off 5” of the longer binding and pressing it in half. Open it back up and fold the raw edges toward the inside crease, then fold in half one more time. (You should have 4 layers when you’re all done, with the raw edges hidden inside.)
Press then sew about 1/8” away from the open edge. (This is very similar to how I sewed the straps for the beach bag I made awhile back.)
Pin the loop to the center of the top with the raw edges touching. Tack them down with a few stitches.
(I know the picture here already shows the binding partway attached, but in hindsight I realized it would be easier to add the binding after adding the loop.)
Attach the shorter bias binding along the 7” edge of the 7” x 6” piece.
Layer this pocket piece on the backside of the potholder (top facing up).
Bind all along the edge of the potholder. Use slightly bigger binding than you’d use for a quilt since it’ll be a bit bulkier. I cut 2 ¼” wide strips when binding quilts, but for this I used 2 ½”.
Make sure you remember to bind that pocket into the potholder! It really sucks to finish binding and then realize you left the pocket piece lying on the table. Uh, not like I know what that’s like…
Now you have some fun new potholders to brighten up your kitchen and you used up some scraps!
