Do you think that potholders make good gifts? I mean it’s a humble thing, maybe a little on the silly side, but I like them as gifts. Potholders don’t have to be boring, and most of us could use a new set. I enjoy my patchwork ones several times a week.

If you’d like to make potholders, I have two free tutorials: here and here.

I opted to make a set of patchwork potholders for my friend Anna’s birthday. My inspiration fabric was the multicolor Hindsight backing (top left) by Anna Maria Horner. When I showed Anna my Seafarers quilt once upon a time, she oohed and aaahed over that fabric, so I figured it was a safe choice. Using the Hindsight fabric as a guide, I selected scrap fabrics to match.

Here is my string-block style potholder in progress. I’m using a foundation sewing method where the patchwork is built directly on the insulated batting square. This makes it easy to choose efficiently-sized string scraps.

My other potholder will be a pretty pinwheel.

As always for potholders, I use two layers of batting. One layer is Insul-bright, which is a special heat-resistant batting, and the other is just a normal batting scrap. This makes a nice thickness and a very usable potholder!

Quilt, bind, and they’re done! Add a cookie mix or something else to make baking extra fun, and it’s a gift!

Well, I seem to have a thing about making potholders as gifts. Click and scroll for lots more patchwork potholder inspiration!