Hot Pads and challenge quilts

Today I'm sharing the pictures of some hot pads that I recently made.   I'm tired of small pot holders and hot pads that don't protect my hands or the counter, so I fixed that problem by using two layers of insul-brite and I made them BIG (10" square).  They worked really well, and I used up some scrappy crumb blocks in the process.  I decided to use these as a practice for a new method: finishing the binding completely by machine.  I sewed the binding onto the back and turned it to the front and machine stitched it down instead of by hand.  It worked out okay, not great, but not too bad.  I definitely need to practice it some more.

At the same time I made these guys, I made a table mat for my kitchen counter peninsula.  It is sized for the counter and covers it completely, something like 24X60.  I'll have to get a picture of it for another post.  It works nicely because I can put the mat on the counter than put all the hot dishes/pans right on it without worrying about the counter getting damaged, thanks to the insul-brite inside.

In the meantime, I'm still working on the challenge quilt for my guild.  It's due on the 28th, so I have to really get myself in gear and work hard this weekend.  All I can say at this point is that the challenge fabric is UGLY, and I am cutting it pretty small so it won't look too bad, and using one of Bonnie Hunter's patterns.

Flat Stanley

Look who has come to visit me.....

Yes, that's right, Flat Stanley is here for a visit!  We took him to Vermont for the weekend so that he could see some snow (afterall, he came here from Georgia, and wanted to know what all the fuss was about).  However, there's no snow in CT, so we brought him to Vermont to see some.  He got a little chilly after being out in the snow, so I decided that I would teach him how to quilt. 

He had a lot of fun helping me play with fabric, and together we made this quilt for him to take back to Georgia with him.  I still need to finish the binding, but I think that Flat Stanley will be very happy to share his quilt with the first grade class in Georgia.

Since I did that, I didn't have much time to work on my guild challenge quilt (must be completed by our meeting on Feb. 28th!) but I did finally choose fabrics and a pattern.  At least I think so, I still keep changing my mind.  I'm sure I'll be sewing furiously this week and next to finish on time.  The ugly bamboo looking fabric is the challenge fabric.  You might notice if you look carefully that I used a lot of these fabrics in Flat Stanley's quilt.

Back...

e with me and won't let me post pictures. What fun is blogging without pictures?? Now I have a new computer, so hopefully (fingers crossed) things are going to work better for me. If not, I'm going to look to move my blog somewhere else, like TypePad or something. But I'd really rather not do that.

Anyway, I stitched a bunch in January, trying to get rid of some UFOs. I was somewhat successful. In fact, I finished a bunch of projects that had been lying around just waiting for binding. So here they are:

These are both flannel rag quilts for the local NICU. They measure approx:25X35. They are so cute, but while I am making them I keep saying "Never again". Then I finish them and say...well, maybe I'll make some more soon...