I did very little sewing for Christmas this year (as comparted to my insane production in years past) but did manage to sew a few things.  For Nik’s brother and sister-in-law, I sewed two hot pads. I used the same quilt-as-you-go technique as my mom’s, but this time, cut a bunch of 1.5-inch strips, sewed them into one long strip and then just looped them back and forth across the hot pads.  I like the random look this method created, without me having to decide about fabric placement (something that always takes me FOREVER). The only adjustment I made was to keep any seams from lining up directly next to each other.

I though coffee beans were appropriate for a kitchen item!

I sewed one on the diagonal for a little visual interest.

I backed them with this print,  which I originally had bought for but then discarded as a color book brown. When it’s next to other true browns, it reads too gray but is perfect for a backing!

That’s a Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy reprint, in case you’re wondering.

I used just about every true monochromatic brown that I have in my stash, solid and print.  I added in that one print that’s more reddish-brown because their cupboards have a tinge of red in them.  I’m really pleased with how this turned out.  I especially didn’t want it to read, “fall”, and so left out a couple brownish-orange prints I had that looked beautiful in the stack, although it was hard to do so. (Can you telling choosing the fabric is one of my favorite parts of sewing?)

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Hot pads for us (in black and white) are on my “Finish It Up Friday” 2016 list (which you’ll see on Friday). I’m planning to take some pictures as I make those so I can write up a tutorial for making these.  They’re so easy, beautiful, and useful too!