Bustin' Out With Granny

Stars are nice (what am I saying? I love stars!), but I thought it would be good to have at least a little variety in the items for the Holly Bazaar so I switched things up a bit, came up out of my rut, and made four more potholders using the Granny Square pattern. I used this one last year but at a much smaller scale with four rounds of colour instead of three.

This time around I went bigger and I like them just as much. I cut my blocks 2 1/4" so they are seven inches square.

One set was decidedly Christmas...

and the second, while still red and green, could be used year round. I cut up a remnant from my Country Charmer border, added some polka dots and a little dab of my favourite red from Fig Tree, and a potholder was born.

They are very simply quilted, almost in the ditch, along one set of diagonal lines. I tried quilting them in both directions but there was just enough of a shift in the fabric to make the block look a little odd so I ripped that out. I think if I was using a softer insulated liner it might help, but all that I can find in this neck of the woods is the fabric for covering ironing boards, which does the job of protecting your hand but is a little on the stiff side.

So, four more to add to the pile (yay!).

Add that to the four with the star pattern and there's a total of eight, a there's a nice selection to choose from; I think I'll stop there.

These little projects are lots of fun - you get to try new patterns, play with your fabric, and the binding comes together quickly over a nice warm cup of tea....M