Canister Potholders

I finished my last set of potholders today.  I'm glad I only had enough silver backing for four sets, instead of five like I originally planned.

The central block is a paper-pieced pattern from Cups and Saucers by Maaike Bakker, the same book I used for the bowl potholders.  It's supposed to be a jam jar, but I turned them into canisters, which seemed more relevant to baking.  

The potholders are shown here with vintage plastic canisters from the 1950s.  You can faintly read "FLOUR" on the large one, and "TEA" on the small one.  It sure would be nice if the "SUGAR" one was in the middle, hidden by that potholder, and I'd like to believe it was true.  But it got lost somewhere, sometime, by somebody, which means it wasn't available for me to buy.

How did I transform them from jam jars to canisters?  By embroidering labels on them.  (They still look like jam jars to me.)

The pockets for all the potholders were made the same way, by stacking three layers:  batting on the bottom; covered by the lining, face-up; topped with the block, face-down.  Stitch across the top, flip the block over so you have a batting sandwich, then quilt and trim.

 

Here's a close-up of the silver stuff that is on the back of the potholders.  The other side is a flimsy white cotton, so you need to face it with some normal fabric, coordinated with the potholder pocket.
 

Because the stitching on the silver stuff unravels so much, I learned it's best to sew seams before trimming to size.  

All ready for some baking once they get to their new home.

And I'm all ready for some new projects.  That silver stuff dulls metal, so I've already changed my rotary blade and needle.  The sewing table is all clear, and I'm thinking maybe elephants.