Saturday, December 4, 2010

Christmas hot pads...gift idea??

Last week i thought i would add some Christmas cheer to our kitchen/dinner table and make some Christmas Hot Pads...
I have never made them before... even though they are so Quick Easy and really just Mini quilts with extra insulation... For those of you who aren't sure how to make em.... here's a few steps... And for those of you that are experienced quilters... well, just look at the pictures!!

Step 1 - Make four little blocks...any style, and size... and col... Mine were 8.5" finished size... I was going for 10 inch...but they just seemed WAY too big!

Step 2 - Baste - Make four mini quilt sandwiches... if your a little unsure you can read about basting a LARGE quilt HERE.. for these the techniques are all the same ... just tiny and QUICK! and of course an extra layer of Insulation.


I spend a good half an hour lamenting over what way i should add my extra layer of Insul - bright...only to find when i actually opened my roll...it was written in BOLD writing... you put the shiny side of the Insul-bright lining up... and have it closest to the top!! WHO knew to actually read the instructions!! 

For this layer...i used Insul-bright. For those of you in Australia you can buy some HERE... It is a bit crinkly/ noisy... I have never used insul-bright or any other brand before... so I'm not sure if they are all noisy....???

Step 3 - Quilt your little quilts...I recommend using a walking foot... Its quite thick and i think a regular foot wouldn't quite work... and I just free motion quilted a design on two of them. Then for the other two I used my walking foot and quilted 1/4" off seam line..  




 Step 4 - Bind your little quilt/ hot pad... I have never bound my quilts by machine before... i usually sew    them on first and then hand sew the back... but i saw a great Tutorial HERE on how to machine bind your quilts... so i thought i would give it a go... it worked great...and so so quick and easy! I still prefer the exactness of hand sewing the binding onto the back... but for a project like this.. its genius!


....oh and for the loop... i just used ribbon...I sewed it into the seam of the binding on the top... then as the binding flipped over to the back.. i attached it again at the back... so its all nice and neat at tightly secure.

We've had a fun week this week... We put up our tree... Made some cute decorations (ill show you in a couple days), Decorated our house... We have been to a few Christmas activities...our kids eagerly look out the window each night to see how many houses in the neighbourhood have put up lights.... its all starting... and at the Johnson house..." Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!"

14 comments:

  1. Rebecca...they are just wonderful! Love the cheerful colors and the fresh look!

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  2. I have made some pot holders similarly with insul-bright and they are great. I throw them in the wash with the tea towels and they come out perfect.

    I thought it was only men who didn't read the instructions first! haha!

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  3. Cute! I'll have to try that machine binding. These look so easy to make. I have some insulbrite left over from last year. Do you think its best to use a layer of insulbrite as well as a layer of cotton batting, or could you get away with just a layer of insulbrite?

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  4. So lovely and bright. I'm inspired to make some too :-)

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  5. Very cute idea!! Love the fabric you chose too!

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  6. These are awesome!! I think that this is a great gift idea, thanks for sharing!!

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  7. Your thought process about the insul-brite was quite funny. These are super cute!!

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  8. Hey Rebecca, you won the Handmade Living GIVEAWAY, come claim your prize!! Love Posie

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  9. I love these! Perfect way to use up my Christmas fabric leftovers and they will make fab presents to go in my mum & MIL's gift bags!

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  10. Fun ideas! I like the variety of your patterns.

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  11. It is now April, time to do Christmas ideas. This one is great. Love your material.

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  12. What a great project for a beginner. I am just teaching myself to sew and this is a great starter. They are beautiful and will get used. I love the colors and designs. Cheers to you and thanks a bunch for this wonderful idea.

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  13. Just found these and I love them. Can't wait to try them with my scraps.

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