Kickstarter Potholders

violet scarf

My sewing machine reflects my mood.  By the end of the day yesterday, I was certain my machine needed to be cleaned before I could use it again.  I had to take out a line of straight stitches on my wall hanging three times because they kept skipping.  My thread cutter no longer works.  All signs of a dust clogged machine.

So this morning I designed my day around not using my machine.  Kim said she’d take about five scarves to sew and see how it felt on her shoulder which is still recovering since her surgery.  So I got my piles of hankies and started designing scarves.  The first one took what seemed like forever, but with each one I got into the groove and by 12:00 I was humming along.  I knew I was in the zone and reminded myself that designing scarves doesn’t always come so easy, so I should keep at it and enjoy it.  Make hay while the sun shines, as the saying goes.

I was able to keep the groove going after lunch than around 4:00, just before taking the dogs for a walk, I picked up one of the hankies from my pile of  hankies too small to make scarves from.  It was something my friend Sally gave me, a blue hankie with a butterfly embroidered on it.  There were four more like it in different colors, some with flowers instead of butterflies.  I wanted to see something beneath the shear blue, something hidden.  I found a piece of fabric with big orange and blue flowers on it, then tried putting a different color beneath the butterfly to make it stand out.

hankie potholder making

First a piece from a white hankie with a crocheted edge, then black, finally settling on green.  I sewed it together using the same fabric on the back of the potholder as beneath the hankie.

hankie potholder

I sewed the hanger in the corner, but after having it all together realized it looks better hanging straight up  and down.  So I’ll change the hanger tomorrow.  On the second one I made I used a the piece of hankie with crocheted edge and a different fabric on the back, which feels better to me.

second pot

I’ll move the hanger to the middle on this one too.

The idea to make potholders out of hankies came from my Kickstarter Project.  If someone pledged $50 to the project, they get a potholder.    My plan was to use pieces from the hankies that were torn or worn, and I may still do that.  But I’m drawn to the sheerness of the hankies.  I like the subtly of the fabric seen beneath the hankie.   I made a quilt like this, a while ago, called Red Square.  Now that I’m writing this and looking at the pictures, I think more layering will work even better.  I could use  pieces of hankies beneath a white hankies.   If I weren’t so tired I’d go back to my studio right now to try it….

"Red Square"
“Red Square”

4 thoughts on “Kickstarter Potholders

  1. Maria — love what you are creating with the hankies. Congratulations on having your project funded.
    Debbie

  2. I am so excited!!! I pledged $50 so I would get a pot holder and to find out it is gonna be a WHOLE NEW DESIGN!!!! I AM SO HAPPY!!! Love them!! XOXOXO

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