popping in with a little birthday present i made for my sister Laura. she loves to bake but doesn’t own a stand mixer (!), so for her “main present” the family teamed up on funds to help her buy one. couldn’t just leave it at that, though! had to make her a pot holder too.
i love to make pot holders as gifts. they satisfy the urge to do a little bit of quilting, they’re super practical, they’re quick and fun. i can make them with scraps or a fat quarter in an evening. haha too bad my own pot holders are basic black ones that i bought when i was in college…
with this one i just went with a super cool print instead of piecing – it’s alison glass’ sun print feathers in black (i got a fat quarter at bolt, you can get the fabric online here). the binding is shot cotton but i don’t know which color – Tara sent it to me!
there are two layers of batting sandwiched in there, and for the quilting i just did 1” diamonds to keep it basic and more traditional to go with the more modern print/color scheme.
i added a pocket to the back so Laura (and her husband!) could use it as either an oven mitt or a trivet if they wanted. the potholder is 8” square so the pocket was cut at 5.5” i think? just did two layers wrong sides together, bound the top edge, basted it on, and enclosed it with the binding. i zigzagged the binding a la Rachel’s tutorial.
when it was my dad’s turn to cook when we were kids, he’d often add some special ingredient and call it “deluxe.” baked beans + hot dogs? beans deluxe! oatmeal + nuts + raisins? oatmeal deluxe! always made me giggle. so here, potholder + hand pocket + hanging loop? potholder deluxe!
happy birthday, sis! i love you!
oh and you know you can bake me cookies / bread / cake whenever you want – just sayin’.
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P.S. do you remember the dress i made for E in the red version of this print? she calls it her “karate dress” and though it’s too short now, she still loves to wear it.
skirt as top 
This is so cute! Love those fabrics together. I always think of pot holders as a perfect gift, but I’m always so last minute!! I really should make a couple just to keep stashed away. I love when my old self thinks of future self!
happy birthday to your sis! those are great colors together, and i love that sun print. the karate dress! lila still wears her too, it’s super duper way too short.
haha! I love dad-isms. and cute color combo!!
Great colors. What a fun extra gift 🙂
Great gift!
Your dad’s special “deluxe” cooking sounds much better than my dad “surpreese” (bad French accent).
We would have spaghetti surpreese, casserole surpreese etc etc
The surpreese was not much of a surprise as it always just seemed to be the addition of frozen peas!
love this! and what a sweet bday gift you are all chipping in for . . . I only got a stand mixer fairly recently and can’t imagine how I got along without it for so long! This pot holder might find its way into some friend’s hands come Christmas:)
One of my favorite color combos! I love it, Kristin! I just made potholders, too, but never got around to posting about them.
Badass potholder deluxe! I’ve officially never made myself a potholder, though it’s an infinitely practical project. What is it about people who only see pot holders and quilts for other people?