Kathy's Kwilts and More: From the Heart blog hop

Well, we are less than 2 months away from Christmas. It is almost November and time to start thinking about neighbor gifts, office gifts and friend gifts.

Hi and welcome to the 2nd day of from the heart blog hop. This hop is hosted by Carol at https://www.justletmequilt.com/?m=1

I love to make handmade gifts for the people I love. Hot pads seem to always be a welcome gift. I know they are something I use a lot.

Today I want to teach you how to make a basic hot pad. For your hot pads you want to make sure that everything you use is 100% cotton. The reason for this is that cotton burns and polyester melts. Also, make sure your thread is 100% cotton

Materials list
1 - 6 1/2 inch square of fabric for the front
2 - 1 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangles of a contrasting fabric
2 - 1 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangles
1 - 10 inch square for the backing
2 - 10 inch squares batting 100% cotton

1 - 10 inch square insulbright

You will take your 6 1/2" square of fabric and your 1 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangles and on two opposite sides you will sew the rectangles. Use a 1/4" seam allowance. Once you have sewn the two short rectangles on, then press the seams towards the darkest fabric.

You will now take the 1 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangles and do the same thing. Press towards the dark side of the fabric.

Now you have the beginnings of a hot pad. Good for you.

Now, comes the fun part. Layer and quilting the hot pad. Sometimes I will free motion quilt them, but for this one I decided to just do a simple crosshatch with 2" squares. So, take the top of the hot pad and mark 2" segments across the top and bottom. Unless your fabric is directional it does not matter which side is the top. Then turn the fabric 1/4 turn and mark again. Now layer the top piece with the right side up, 1 square of batting, insulbright (shiny side facing the front, so lay it shiny side down) 1 square batting, then your bottom fabric with the right side down. (You have just made a quilt sandwich, Good for you). Begin quilting at one of your markings and go all the way down. Do on one side first, then 1/4 turn and do the same. You will have some cute little squares on your hot pad.

In this photo you can see that one side has been

done, and now I am doing the other direction

You are almost done with your first hot pad. Good for you. Trim all sides of the hot pad so front and back are even. Should be approximately 8 1/2". Now comes the binding To do the binding, cut 2 strips of your fabric for the binding at 2 1/4" x 8 1/2" and then cut 2 at 2 1/4" x 9 1/2". Take the 2 8 1/2" long pieces and fold in half lengthwise and press. Stitch using a 1/4" seam to opposite sides of the hot pad on the front side.. Now, take the 2 remaining pieces and fold down a 1/4" on each of the short edges and press. Fold in half lengthwise and stitch with a 1/4" seam to the two sides that don't have binding on. Now you can do the next step by hand or machine. It may get a little tough with the machine, so I suggest trying it first, if it is hard, then do this by hand. You are going to fold the binding to the back and stitch it down.