"Bowl" Potholders

Yesterday I finished potholder set number three.

Since I'm not working with a fixed pattern, each set is a different size.  I think the first set might be too small, the second too large, and this is yet another size - nearly 9" square.  Sounds about right.

The block features stacked bowls from Cups and Saucers by Maaike Bakker, a book comprised strictly of kitchen designs.

All the blocks in that book are paper pieced.  Here I'm fussy-cutting a chunk that will make up the bottom bowl. 

You see that yellow acrylic ruler in the top of the photograph?  It's an "add-a-quarter" cutting guide.  If you like to paper piece, and don't have one of them, I highly recommend you buy one.  Before sewing a seam, when you fold your paper back over an index card, a little ridge is formed.  The ruler has a groove on the back side that snugs right up to that ridge, providing an automatic 1/4 inch seam allowance to trim in preparation for the next seam.  Jo-Ann Fabrics sells them for a reasonable price.

I love paper piecing.  And I don't know how I sewed without this clamped-on light I got last year.

To quilt the silver stuff on the back, I stitched over its grid using grey thread on the silver side and mustardy-colored thread on the fabric side.  For the first two sets, I stitched horizontal rows through the middle of the diamonds.  But the stitching on the piece of silver stuff I had left was coming unraveled, so I needed to stitch on top of it.  It turned out OK.

To quilt the top block of the pocket, I echo stitched.

I machine stitched the binding, to make it nice and sturdy.

I'm making each set in a different color palette.  This set works well with many colors of Fiestaware.

 I'm using a 2.5" binding strip now and it's wide enough to easily cover the very thick edge.

Pocket demonstration.