Saturday 11 January 2014

Potholders

Happy New Year readers!!

Last month I really wanted to post another entry but end of year is just crazy busy and I never get around to do it. I was rushing to organise everyone's Christmas presents and other bits and pieces sorted as I am flying off to Adelaide on the 18th of December --- a holiday that I really needed, but pressure was building as I had much to do. Oh well, but these are what I had made.

Potholder!!




It is so much fun making hotpot holder! Not only it's a good way to destash your fabric but it's even better to use up the left over batting, which I will talk about later. For this round hotpot holder it's entirely made by leftover jelly rolls, even for the binding and the loop. I had enough left to make a hexagon one as well, which was inspired by the quilt that I have made with this jelly roll back in 2012 (as shown below).







My favourite are these Spring Pinwheel Potholder using this free tutorial from Schlosser Design. It is such a clever design and really easy to make. I love the 3 dimensional pinwheel and the use of curve quilting line on the back to give it a sense of movement. It was hard to part with them but to see the joy on the receiver's face was even more satisfying!






I think there is potential to make the 3D pinwheel into a cute baby quilt.

Now let's talk about the batting for potholders. Although it's a good way to use up the leftover batting I prefer to add at least one layer of Insul-Bright with 2 layers of normal batting. Insul-Bright is a type of batting which consist of hollow, polyester fibers that on the shinier side it reflects the radiating hot or cold energy back to it source.

Depending on how you will use your potholder, you might be able to get away with using only 3-4 layers of normal batting but if you are making a mitton or using it to pick up dishes straight from the oven I would strongly suggest 2 layers of Insul-Bright to reflect the heat properly. Insul-Bright is a great product that gives your potholder a proper functionality and making it a fantastic hand made gift.




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