In honor of my participation in the STITCHED Tutorial Blog Hop, get 15% off your TOTAL PURCHASE from the Sewhooked Shop during the month of March with coupon code MARCH15. Not valid on etsy or craftsy.
The Paper Pieced Pattern-A-Day blog hop is coming April 1, 2012! We have a full compliment of designers ready to share awesome Garden Party-themed FREE paper pieced patterns with you!
Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win a fat quarter of the owl fabric used in this tutorial!
Add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!
In the Great Clean-Up of 2012, one of my goals for my sewing space is to keep my sewing table clear. The last thing leave the table top were my bobbins.
They were already tamed by using soft hair bands to keep them wound, the next thing was storage.
I wanted easy access and the ability to sort the bobbins.
One recycled egg carton later, and I’m all set!
Reminders:
In honor of my participation in the STITCHED Tutorial Blog Hop, get 15% off your TOTAL PURCHASE from the Sewhooked Shop during the month of March with coupon code MARCH15. Not valid on etsy or craftsy.
The Paper Pieced Pattern-A-Day blog hop is coming April 1, 2012! We have a full compliment of designers ready to share awesome Garden Party-themed FREE paper pieced patterns with you!
Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win a fat quarter of the owl fabric used in this tutorial!
Add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!
Today, I thought we’d do something both fun and useful…make a cute oven mitt!
This is a project already had on my mind when the opportunity to participate in the STITCHED Tutorial Blog Hop came up. It seemed like the ideal time to make this project a reality!
Read through the post, then leave a comment for a chance to win one of two owl fat quarters! Winners announced Tuesday March 20, 2012!
Making an oven mitt is a great way to bring fun fabrics into your everyday life. I chose fabrics from my stash. You can do that, too, or use this as an excuse to buy a couple of new fat quarters. You can also incorporate quilt blocks or the recycled materials of your choice for a unique and fun oven mitt!
For each oven mitt you want to make you’ll need the following:
1 fat quarter for the outside, pressed
1 fat quarter for the inside, pressed
OR 1/2 yard for both inside and outside, pressed
Cotton batting, approximately fat quarter size (18″ x 22″)
Hobbs Thermore Batting or another batting made specifically for potholders, etc., approximately fat quarter size (18″ x 22″)
2 1/2″ x 18″ strip of fabric OR a scrap of quilt binding (shown)
First, we’ll prepare our pattern. Overlap the center lines and tape the pattern together, as shown.
Trim the excess paper from the pattern using your paper scissors.
Once printed and trimmed, the pattern should measure approximately 12 1/4″ from top to bottom.
Next, we’ll layer our fabrics. The owl fabric will be my “outside fabric” and the dot fabric will be my “inside fabric.”
These are layered together with the two kinds of batting just like for any quilt sandwich.
The fabrics face right sides out, with the Thermore directly under the “outside fabric.” It is important that the Thermore be directly under the “outside” fabric so that it will be closest to the heat when the oven mitt is in use.
Since we’re working with such a small area, we will not be pinning, instead, we will glue baste the fabrics to the two layers of batting.
Place dots of glue 6″ – 8″ apart directly on the batting.
You’ll do this for both the front (“outside”) and back (“inside”).
You do not need to baste the two layers of a batting together. They will grip to each other without glue.
Smooth the fabric to the batting. Once you’ve smoothed it by hand, take the quilt sandwich to your ironing board and press to remove any bubbles or creases. This will also help set the glue.
I chose free-motion for my quilt sandwich. How you quilt your sandwich is up to you.
If you free-motion your quilt sandwich, be sure to drop your feed dogs!
I decided to keep it simple and created a large meander to quilt the layers together.
For a simpler approach, you can try Straight Line Quilting. Here’s a great tutorial from Tall Grass Prairie Studio.
Once your sandwich is quilted, pin the paper pattern to the top or “outside.”
My fabric is directional, so I made sure that the owls would be pointed in the correct direction.
Using your fabric scissors, cut around the paper pattern.
For the second side of the oven mitt, turn the pattern over so you can cut the reverse with your fabric scissors.
You will have two pieces for your oven mitt. They should be mirror image.
Just for fun, here are the same two pieces from the other side!
Fold the 2 1/2″ strip in half and press OR use a binding remnant.
Align the raw edges along the “inside” fabric where the mitt opening will be.
If you were free-motion quilting earlier, remember to raise your feed dogs and change your presser foot.
Straight stitch the binding 1/4″ from the edge of the mitt.
Repeat for the second side.
When you fold the binding out, it will look like this.
Roll the binding to the outside. Top stitch near the edge of the binding using a straight or decorative stitch.
Repeat for other side of the mitt.
Your binding will look like this.
Trim off any excess binding.
Each side of the mitt is bound individually. You can opt to use continuous binding, but I find this to be a much simpler method.
Binding, from the other side.
Now, with right sides together, align the two halves of the oven mitt. This is going to be a thick sandwich!
You’ll be stitching through four layers of fabric and four layers of batting.
Stitch the oven mitt together using a generous 1/4″ seam. Back stitch at the beginning.
I was able to use my presser foot for a guide.
Back stitch on both sides of the thumb.
Back stitch when you get to the end.
Once the two sides are stitched together, snip the area between the thumb and fingers.
If you have Fabric Snips, this is a great time to use them.
Snip the curve for easier turning.
Snip the binding corners.
Now comes the hardest part…turning this guy right side out!
With your hand inside the mitt, tuck the end inside and grab on, slowing working the mitt until you have the mitt turned right side out.
If you need it, use a dowel rod to poke the rest of the mitt into shape.
The dowel rod is especially useful for the thumb! Be careful when working on the thumb, you don’t want to pop any stitches.
Here’s what your mitt looks like from the inside. Nice and thick to protect your hands from hot pans!
Ta-Da! We’re done!
You will have some scrappy bits of quilted material left. I used mine to make hand covers for my cast iron skillets!
And just for fun, this was my prototype. I made this one with a hand-drawn version of the pattern. By making a prototype, I was able to work out the tricker bits and figure out the best way to go about this project.
In honor of my participation in the STITCHED Tutorial Blog Hop, get 15% off your TOTAL PURCHASE from the Sewhooked Shop during the month of March with coupon code MARCH15. Not valid on etsy or craftsy.
The Paper Pieced Pattern-A-Day blog hop is coming April 1, 2012! We have a full compliment of designers ready to share awesome Garden Party-themed FREE paper pieced patterns with you!
Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win a fat quarter of the owl fabric used in this tutorial!
Add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!
Posts on this blog may contain affiliate links to help cover the cost of my website. I thank you for your generous support. ♥
Pi, part of Peace, Love, Pi, now available as a stand-alone pattern for just $2 through Craftsy!
Reminders:
In honor of my participation in the STITCHED Tutorial Blog Hop, get 15% off your TOTAL PURCHASE from the Sewhooked Shop during the month of March with coupon code MARCH15. Not valid on etsy or craftsy.
The Paper Pieced Pattern-A-Day blog hop is coming April 1, 2012! We have a full compliment of designers ready to share awesome free paper pieced patterns with you! I’ve already seen several of the blocks and they are all fantastic…just you wait!
Add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!
Mr. Giraffe wants you to know that it was his turn for an update. He was a little bit too complex before and there was just something missing for that added “cute.”
After drafting and playing with colors, I realized that extra something was French Knots. Horns, check. Eye, check. How fun!
Giraffe replaces my original giraffe pattern, seen here as pieced by shaebay.
And, of course, a free pattern post would not be the same without a fun layout created EQ7! How about four giraffes and some fun sashing and cornerstones to create a unique and fun wall hanging?
Reminders:
In honor of my participation in the STITCHED Tutorial Blog Hop, get 15% off your TOTAL PURCHASE from the Sewhooked Shop during the month of March with coupon code MARCH15. Not valid on etsy or craftsy.
The Paper Pieced Pattern-A-Day blog hop is coming April 1, 2012! We have a full compliment of designers ready to share awesome free paper pieced patterns with you! I’ve already seen several of the blocks and they are all fantastic…just you wait!
Add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!
It’s bucketing down rain today in Austin, which is good news for us as we slowly climb out of severe drought. I’m hoping for a green spring and NO fires.
The rainy day has put our Saturday plans on the back burner. Instead, I’m going to spend my day cleaning and rearranging my sewing space. It’s time to purge things I don’t foresee myself using and tidy up those things I need easy access, too.
My cutting table is also a wibbly wobbly mess and I’m planning to swap it out with another table that will be re-purposed from another area of our house. Fingers crossed that it goes well and I’ll be back to stitching in a couple of days!
Carol, the winner of the free PDF pattern from my Learning Center post earlier in the week, chose Stellar Stripes as her prize. Carol, I hope you enjoy and can’t wait to see your version!
Reminders:
In honor of my participation in the STITCHED Tutorial Blog Hop, get 15% off your TOTAL PURCHASE from the Sewhooked Shop during the month of March with coupon code MARCH15. Not valid on etsy or craftsy.
The Paper Pieced Pattern-A-Day blog hop is coming April 1, 2012! We have a full compliment of designers ready to share awesome free paper pieced patterns with you! I’ve already seen several of the blocks and they are all fantastic…just you wait!
Add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!
Have you been hopping along with the STITCHED instructors this month? The tutorials have all been super fun, Be sure and check them out!
STITCHED is a subscription-based community with a slew of awesome instructors, workshops, prizes and more!
My STITCHED workshop is a comprehensive paper piecing tutorial. We make a block, from beginning to end, of an original pattern I designed just for STITCHED. I share all of my tips, hints and suggestions that I have accumulated from my years of paper piecing and teaching beginners.
My Blog Hop tutorial is March 15. Here’s a sneak peek!
In honor of my participation in the STITCHED Tutorial Blog Hop, get 15% off your TOTAL PURCHASE from the Sewhooked Shop during the month of March with coupon code MARCH15. Not valid on etsy or craftsy.
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And, we have a winner! Carol’s comment on my Learning Center post wins the free PDF pattern of her choice from the Sewhooked Shop!
Carol’s been a long-time Sewhooked reader and commenter. Her comment was an inspiration and such a surprise to me. Carol, please email me and let me know which pattern you’d like from the Shop. And? Congrats! Thank you so much for sharing your story!
Carol
Hi Jennifer, Something you may not know about me is that I was in a near fatal rollover in November, 2009. My recovery took a big leap when I stumbled onto your website. I was looking for pillowcase directions after reading about the One Million Pillowcase challenge. It wasn’t long before I became a dedicated FAN of TTMT. I have been so inspired by your patterns, your enthusiasm for trying new things, and the designing and crafting you do for good. You inspired me to take a beginning quilting class to renew very rusty skills. I tried paper-piecing when you drafted the Stars for Linus pattern and asked quilters to make and send blocks. It was a great feeling to complete a block – finishing something has been huge for me – and send it to you to become part of a larger project. When I read your article on the Quilting Gallery today and saw the beautiful examples, I was reminded about how you have played a major role in my recovery. I rediscovered my love for quilting, learned how to paper-piece, actually completed a block, made at least a dozen pillowcases (I also recommend your tutorial to folks) work very part time in a quilt shop, and hope to become skilled enough at paper piecing to teach a future class using your Tree Trimming pattern. All this took place because of you and your willingness to share with others! Thank you!!! Carol P.S. Your directions are concise and easy to follow. And, your examples are beautiful!
The Paper Pieced Pattern-A-Day blog hop is coming April 1, 2012! We have a full compliment of designers ready to share awesome free paper pieced patterns with you!
Add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!
A huge thanks to my best friend, Jewells, for nudging me about Quilter’s Club of America and Fons & Porter’s newsletters, both of which featured free Craftsy patterns this week. The top two on the right might look a little bit familiar, as they were designed by yours truly! Both patterns can be found right here on the Sewhooked Free Quilt Pattern page as well as on Sewhooked Craftsy.
This morning, yet another one of these awesome Craftsy promotional emails hit my inbox, this time from McCall’s Quilting!
Here’s the amazing and fun part, the two free patterns that were featured this week have had a total of over 2,000 downloads. TWO THOUSAND!! In just a couple of days.
My mind is well and truly blown. THANK YOU to every single person that has downloaded one of my patterns or followed me on Craftsy.
Are you on craftsy? Follow me and I’ll follow you, too!
Reminders:
In honor of my participation in the STITCHED Tutorial Blog Hop, get 15% off your TOTAL PURCHASE from the Sewhooked Shop during the month of March with coupon code MARCH15. Not valid on etsy or Craftsy.
The Paper Pieced Pattern-A-Day blog hop is coming April 1, 2012! We have a full compliment of designers ready to share awesome free paper pieced patterns with you!
In honor of my participation in the STITCHED Tutorial Blog Hop, get 15% off your TOTAL PURCHASE from the Sewhooked Shop during the month of March with coupon code MARCH15. Not valid on etsy or craftsy.
The Paper Pieced Pattern-A-Day blog hop is coming April 1, 2012! We have a full compliment of designers ready to share awesome free paper pieced patterns with you!
In honor of my participation in the STITCHED Tutorial Blog Hop, get 15% off your TOTAL PURCHASE from the Sewhooked Shop during the month of March with coupon code MARCH15. Not valid on etsy or craftsy.
The Paper Pieced Pattern-A-Day blog hop is coming April 1, 2012! We have a full compliment of designers ready to share awesome free paper pieced patterns with you!
Trim the excess paper from the pattern using your paper scissors.
Sewhooked 