The 7 Pillars Home: Over the Kitchen Counter

Grab yourself a hot cuppa and come sit at the kitchen bench with me............ Since we're in the Kitchen, let's talk kitchen today.
So much time in a womans life seems to be spent in this little area of the home...... cooking, preparing, cleaning up, preserving, baking. It's an area that is a core part of our homes - we need it to work well, but there are really not that many of us who get to design how are kitchens are built. Rather than dwell on the basic layout of it today...... let's look at putting our own touch on it.
I have the feeling I may not be the only one with a stash of material.......... So this idea kind of helps a few areas...... it helps to declutter the material stash, use up what you have , provide yourself with a useable item for the kitchen, and the possiblity of making extras that can work as gifts.......... Oh and did I mention it doesn't take much to make!

Pot holders! I like to have a few on hand so I can throw them into the washing and know I have othes there to take its place! I also want them to add a bit of "sunshine" or "interest" to my kitchen - and most of all - I don't want to pay a ridiculous price for them!!!

Have a look through your material stash and pick out some fabric you like - I use a pattern for the front and a plain fabric for the back (the back will fold over the front at the edges). Before I ended up with a fabric stash, I used to cut up our old clothing that was no longer wearable - I'd throw out the worn sections and keep the good pieces, as well as any buttons and zippers etc. Check out the op shops or thrift stores too - as they often have sheeting that can be used. You will also need some wadding to go inside.

I cut my front (patterned) section 7 1/2 inches wide x 8 1/2in long. My plain backing piece is cut 9 1/2in wide x 10 1/2 in long. I use 2 pieces of wadding to make a good thickness - but it will depend on what you have or are able to get - just go by feel, remembering you will be picking up hot pots with them! Cut the wadding to the same size as the front section. I use 1 piece of iron on wadding which I attach to the wrong side of the patterned fabric, and then I have another piece of wadding which the shop tells me is "heat resistant" wadding. I also cut this the same size as the front.

Lay out your backing fabric with right side down on the table, put the heat resistant wadding in the middle of it and then add the top section (which has the iron on wadding attached). You want the right side of the front facing up at you.

Now begin to iron over the edges - fold the edge of the back to the edge of the front to just touch and then fold it over the top and iron & pin down. Do this all the way around. If you want to have a hanger you can either sew a little strip of matching fabric like I've done - or just use some ribbon (mine measures approx 6in in length and it then gets doubled over to place inside). Place it inside one of the corners as you fold it in.

Now simply sew from edge to edge on each side and "Voila"! I decided to make up a few of these so that I can put them aside for some christmas and birthday gifts. If you like this idea, then either print it out , or make a note of it and place it in your homestead binder - label it under Pillar 7 in the gift giving section.