Whipping up some potholders.

In my last post I decided that quilting a large project was just too soon for me. I came up with the idea that since Christmas was just around the corner, everyone needed potholders made by yours truly :) It turned out to be great practice for free motion, stitch in the ditch and using a walking foot. I also got much need practice for doing binding (on a smaller scale).

 These are 9 x 9. I gave these to Aunt D. She is from Lithuania so I used the colors of the Lithuanian flag!

 The quilting I did in straight lines, one inch apart, but I did it free motion.

 For batting on all the potholders I used something that was made for potholders that would retain heat and be fireproof.

 These are my "groovy" potholders I made for T & D. They are my "hippie" friends :)

 I used cotton thread on everything (Gutermann) because I was afraid that the polyester might melt.

 I did stitch in the ditch with the walking foot on these and the next ones below. My machine has a built in walking mechanism that you can engage and disengage.

 I did these for my friend M. visiting from Massachussetts. I was told that "Toile" would go with her kitchen.

 Making the loops was an experiment in itself. I got better at it by the time I made these. I ended up starting right on the corner and when I got to the end I kept right on going with sewing the binding strip (sans the layers). Then, when I had a long enough strip, cut it to the desired length, looped it around and sewed it down to the back.

 I was on a time crunch with these because Christmas was approaching and the only material I could find that was toile and blue was a canvas material, but it worked out well.

While the Lithuanian potholders were 9 x 9 inches, the others were 7.5 x 7.5 inches, which I thought was a more ideal size.

Anyway, the potholders were a real hit at the gift exchange on Christmas! The only thing left for me to do now was start quilting a real quilt. But, how should I do it? Free motion? Walking foot? I couldn't decide. I only knew that the blue ribbon quilt was getting done next, and I dreaded making a mess out of it! Me being the impatient, "what's the quickest way for the best result" type... I jumped right in!

Stay tuned.

Mike.