Potholders

I made a bunch of potholders!  These are simple and fun.

I found some lovely fabric prints cut squares in 9" x 9".  I sandwiched padding between the fabric. I used a layer of low pile quilt batting and a layer of Insul-Bright.

Insul-Bright is some pretty neat stuff.  It insulates and prevents heat/cold from passing through. It is a padding that is needle punched with metal fibers.  They explain it on their web site. It looks like glitter infused batting and sounds kind of crunchy. I found it very easy to cut and sew.

I made some bias tape and edged the pot holders and made a hanging loop. I keep my pot holders in a drawer next to the stove. I'm not sure why I think they need a hanging loop, but I added one anyway. It just looks like a potholder if it has a loop!

I made potholders as gifts for some friends and for my oldest daughter. I've received nice comments and thank-yous from all. And my daughter would be honest enough to tell me if she didn't like it! My friends would probably say thank you no matter what they thought, but I believe they said they liked the potholders and they genuinely meant it.

After making and giving out a few sets, I decided that I want a pair for myself. My pair is the set that turned out the worst. Such a simple project but I rushed through my own set of potholders. I used green thread on top and brown in the bobbin, both match the fabric but it made for some interesting stitches. I also got one potholder crooked when I made the quilting stitches during the sandwiching phase. Deciding to make it a quick project, I just trimmed the crooked edges to make one potholder a smaller square. This would have been fine if I would have thought to trim down the other potholder to match. Now they are not the same size which is a bit comical, but in my kitchen it is just fine. Sure gave my husband a good laugh though!

We have been using the new potholders and they are great! Nice and large compared to every other store-bought worn out potholder in my kitchen. And they feel thin enough to usefully grab hold of a pan handle, but no heat is getting through.

My daughter set her potholder ablaze. She said the fabric flamed up and burned to a crisp, but the Insul-bright lining did not. The padding was hot and only burned as embers rather than flames. She is my best product-tester. There you have it, pot-holders that resist heat except when ablaze. Then they just resist flames. The fabric on the other hand didn't stand a chance.

Toy Potholders and Ovenmitts

My grandson loves to play "chef".  He cooks for his mommy and daddy every day, and part of his play is to wear mommy's oven mitts and use her pot holders.  Santa is bringing him a play kitchen set and some toy foods and dishes.  Grandma is making him some toy potholders!

I cut 5"x5" squares for the hotpads and used the oven mitt pattern from the label on my package of Insul-Brite.  The mitt is small, but I folded it down so that it is even smaller.  (I did not use Insul-Brite in the potholders since he won't actually be handling anything hot)

I quilted the potholders and mitts with fleece. I had some plain blue fleece left over from a project that I made a couple of years ago. I bought the wrong color fleece and this was my "mistake" purchase. I haven't had anything in mind for it in the last two years, so it's perfect to use to pad the potholders. Not too thick, but soft and provides the right feel.

After quilting the pieces, only one more step! Adding the bias tape to the edges. And, here we have my weakness... I really need to get better at doing this!  With all the practice I'm going to get with this pile of potholders (I cut out more!)  I am going to be a pro before I finish them all.

I used the Simplicity Bias Tape Maker to make yards and yards of custom bias tape. Awesome little machine! I just had to try it out before Christmas! I'm not using the machine until everyone is fast asleep for the night so that nobody knows I'm playing with my Christmas present before Christmas. Sneaky, aren't I?

I decided the little kitchen set needed an apron. Yes, an apron!

As you can see, I'm having a great time making the kitchen sets and I'm using a variety of colorful fabrics. I'm going to give one set to my grandson for Christmas, one set to my other grandson's daycare, and one set is going to be a birthday gift for a three-year-old friend. The others will find homes soon, no doubt.