Easy Quilted Potholder

Project Creator: Corrie Sebire
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: EASY

Potholders are such a quick and easy project. This projects uses mini charm squares or scraps of fabric that you may have. It’s easy to put together and you’ll be making them to give away or keep in the kitchen in a nice little stack.

Tools

> Sewing machine
> ¼ inch foot (optional)

> Walking foot for your sewing machine

> Scissors or rotary cutter/ruler/mat

> Pins

> Needle and thread

Materials Required

> Assorted scraps at least 2.5 inches x 2.5 inches (6.5 cms squares) or 25 Moda mini charm squares

> 12 inch (30cm) square of fabric for back

> 2 x 12 inch (30cm)  squares of quilt batting

> 5 inches (12cm) of fabric tape/quilt binding/fabric for hanging loop

quilted pot holder 1

Step 1:

Cut fabric scraps into squares that are at least 2 ½ inches in size. Layout in a nice arrangement of 5 x 5 squares.

Step 2:

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Piece your squares together using a ¼ inch seam. If you prefer to use a ½ inch seam that’s fine but just remember to be consistent throughout the piecing to use the same seam measurement throughout. First we join the squares going down each row and then we join each row together from left to right.

Step 3:

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Press with your iron. I press my seams one way on one row and the opposite direction on the next row but it’s up to you. Some people like to press their seams open.

Step 4:

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Assemble your fabrics with the 2 pieces of quilt batting on the bottom then the fabric backing (right side up) and then the patchwork front (right side down). Right sides of the fabric will be matching. This is a good time to trim any excess fabric on the backing and batting so that you have neat squares. You can also do it later after we have sewn the potholder layers together.

Step 5:

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You want to slip the piece of tape/binding/ribbon that you are using for a hanging loop in between the fabric layers so that when you turn your potholder out you have the hanging loop turned out. To do this lay it flat inside the fabric layers with a little bit of the raw edges hanging out.

Step 6:

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Now pin all the way around your fabric sandwich, be careful to leave an opening of about 2 inches that we will turn out.

Step 7:

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Using a walking foot sew around all the edges leaving the opening. I use a fairly generous seam allowance of about 2cms as I sew all the way around. You might like to backstitch the start and finish. Cut all corners and any excess batting to remove bulkiness and make it easier to sew through all layers later on.

Step 8:

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Turn out your potholder by pulling it through the opening you left. You will have the right sides of your fabric facing outside. Give it a good press.

Step 9:

quilted pot holder 1

Now is a good time to check and make sure that your hanging loop is on the outside of your potholder. If not then you’ve made a mistake and now is the time to unpick the loop and turn your potholder back to the inside and reassemble the loop.

Step 10:

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With a needle and thread you are going to make some tiny slip stitches to close the opening. Trim all threads and the stitches should look almost invisible. Now your potholder will look like this.

Step 11:

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And we need to do some stitches to secure all the layers together. I like to do a few squares inside of each other. You could mark the lines with a washable pen used for sewing/quilting but I just use the seams as a guide for each square and have them half way within each square of fabric. Trim all the threads and you are done. One finished potholder.