Kitchen Quilts

Perhaps the fact that I grew up in a home where every penny was pinched is the reason I like to take care of the things I have.  I guess we always knew that once we got something nice we'd better take care of it, because it might be a long time, or never, before another could be bought to replace it.

So, even though the saleslady said the table had a tough finish on it, one that could withstand hot bowls and scratches, I still felt better to put some sort of protection under them, and a lot of the time that protection came in the form of a magazine which was close by.

When the December, 2001, issue of American Patchwork and Quilting came, there was an article about kitchen quilts, another name for the ordinary potholder.  To qualify as a kitchen quilt, a potholder had to have a flat fabric top -- whether whole cloth, pieced, appliqued, or embroidered -- be layered with batting and backing, and be quilted and bound.  One of these would look much better on the table than a magazine! 

 

Two appliqued kitchen quilts,

 

 

two pieced kitchen quilts (the one in front isn't quilted yet)

 

 

Now whether it's a bean pot,

 

 

or a tea pot, the table is protected from heat.  And they look much better than a magazine, don't you think?

 

These measure approximately nine inches square.

 

Charlotte

 

 

 

November ~~ Little Quilt

Here we are again; we have the beginning of a new month, and the eleventh little quilt of the year is ready.  Where has the time gone?  It's cool enough now to need quilts on the bed, especially if you're like Teddy,

 

who seems to have a sore throat and fever.  He drinks hot tea and then snuggles all the way up to his chin underneath the warm quilt.

 

 

I even made new flannel sheets and a pillowcase for his bed.  Doesn't he look comfortable?

 

 

I made the quilt from a pattern in the book Liberated String Quilts, by Gwen Marston.  I do my string piecing on a paper foundation, rather than cloth, since I hand quilt, and it means one less thickness of fabric to stitch through.  I like the Scottie dog print for the backing; the quilt could be reversed if Teddy thinks baskets are for girl bears.

 

Enjoy,

Charlotte