Now that I have gifted these hot pads I can blog about them and the process. My old hot pads were looking tattered and worn and I thought about making new ones to give to the hubs (he does the cooking around here) for Christmas & a set for my parents too.
I like to lay it out and make sure it is what I have in mind, it also helps with sewing in the correct order. I sewed the red to the navy, making sure to keep the correct lengths on the proper sides. All seams are 1/4″.
Then attached the navy, red, navy strips to each other. I made sure to line up the bottom of the red seam so the heart would turn out. I pressed all seams to the navy. Next, fold the larger red piece in half (see smaller arrow) with seams matched. The larger arrow shows the middle – finger press this to make a small crease. Find the middle of a navy triangle on the longest side and finger press this middle also. Line up the triangle to the side of the heart, making sure to line these two finger pressed seams up, pin, sew and press. No edges will align – the finger pressing makes sure everything will work out. Another visual example of finger pressing and aligning a triangle to sew. Do the same to the other side only do not center it on the smaller red piece, use the already attached triangle on the other side to find center. Pin and attach. Press. Check the block to make sure all looks correct. Trim to square. Mine all worked out to be 6 1/4″ by 6 1/4″ Some will need a little more “coaxing” to be square.
Next it is on to the quilting! I layered my heart block upside down, the batting, then the backing right side up – like a sandwich. All was cut to the same size. I wanted a thread to really stand out so I chose red and planned on a cross hatch design with the quilting.
I began sewing from corner to corner, trying to not notice the heart pattern. Then I moved over and followed the first stitch and lined it up with my presser foot and continued this method back and forth until the right half was complete. I then rotated and did the other side.
Next, rotate and do the same method in the opposite direction. Did have a bit of a problem with this one in the middle – used the seam ripper to fix all of that! Trimmed all strings.
I cut my binding to 1 1/4″ and attach from the back first. I used a binding that I already attached a finish edge to – for this small of a project it is so much faster. Sewing a 1/4″ from the edge attached all the way around.
Corners can be a frustrating thing when sewing on binding & here is my method. Sew to within 1/4″ of edge, lift presser foot, rotate sandwich 90 degrees, ruffle/scrunch/move the binding out of the way, make sure binding is lined up with the edge of the quilt sandwich, presser foot down, sew away. The goal is to not sew over any extra binding by being 1/4″ from the edge, but you may sew over a stitch or two, no big deal. Hot pads are a great way to practice binding and become an expert quickly! Repeat at each corner.
It will look like this once all attached.
Flip the sandwich to the front and fold over the binding so it is almost touching the edge. Then fold it over again to just cover the sewing line of attaching from the back. Sew a few thread widths from the edge of the binding. I do not use pins or clips to attach my binding. I just use my fingernails and prep the binding as I go. This is a personal preference but either way could be used. I have learned that anytime you stop for any reason make sure to keep the needle in the down position so the project does not shift or move. When I forget this there are usually explicatives used.
Corners again?!?! Stop about 1″ or so from edge, prep corner by double folding bottom edge and folding corner over so it looks pleasing to you (mitered corner, folded, however – just keep all 4 looking the same). Once corner is prepped and ready, sew to a stitch or two past the bottom binding and then rotate the presser foot to sew along bottom edge. Repeat at each corner.
This is the finished product from the back. You can see the sew line from attaching the binding from the front. Not perfect – but it was about practicing my binding skills and having a finished product. The cross hatch quilting is fairly even across this one – yea me! For a first project for this style of quilting & working on binding AND finishing before a deadline (Christmas) it was a win for me!
All four of them done before I shipped 2 off to my parents. I did try a loop on the top of one & realized none of us hang them; it wasn’t worth the pain! First use on Christmas Day!
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