Potholder. That’s the name.

This is a quilt I made and donated to the Regina Bounds Quilt Auction. I’ll have a future post with information about the auction.

The last time I made this pattern it turned out looking like a Totino’s Party Pizza. You can see it here. Back then I was still learning and didn’t have a lot of fabric so I was using some leftovers that my aunt gave me. I think she thought it was for my daughter, so she gave me a bag full of different types of fabric. Anyway, the fabric I used was pretty and went well together but the pattern made it look like the frozen pizza I eat often. I don’t give my quilts names but when I use this pattern, they end up with one. Usually as a joke but it sticks.

This tutorial is where I learned how. I love this pattern but I can’t get the seams to lay right. I press them the way I’m supposed to (I think) but it just doesn’t work out when I’m sewing it together so they are usually bulky in the centers. Unfortunately, I only got to donate this one very tiny quilt this year. I blame art homework and my teeny tiny dining table because I wouldn’t dare blame video games for not having my quilts done in time. But next year for sure I’ll have more to donate and hopefully much larger than a potholder. That was the name of this quilt because it was so small. It was like the size of a newborn blanket.

My friend JP introduced me to a quilt blog years and years ago called Red Pepper Quilts and that’s when we both started quilting. Red Pepper has quite a few tutorials and lots of helpful pictures. She also sells some of her patterns on Etsy. I really want you to check out her quilt blog, you’ll be amazed! I’m amazed at myself for what all I can do now because of it. Because of Red Pepper I learned to make the entire quilt myself-the quilt top, the quilting, and the binding. She does the entire quilt herself (and has excellent quilting skills) so that’s what I thought you were supposed to do. I thought everyone quilted that way but a lot of people are surprised to find out that I can make a complete quilt all by myself. Machine sewing of course, but it still counts. I found out much later that you can just sew the quilt top then take it somewhere to get it quilted and finished. I might do that next time so I can donate an adult size quilt, something I can’t do normally with my super small workspace. Every quilt I’ve made so far has been baby or toddler size.

A big THANK YOU goes out to JP and Red Pepper for this joy of quilting and the skills to make decent quilts that I can donate to great causes. My only regret is that I didn’t start sooner. And I do wish I was a vampire so I can live thousands of years because there are so many patterns I want to try. I don’t mind sewing at night. That’s when I do my best work anyway.