Leaf Potholder Binding Tutorial

This curved leaf potholder from Amira Ameruddin–found on Instagram (amira__little mushroom cap)–really needs a bias binding. Note that I made my top and bottom as Amira showed, then used a freezer paper template to cut out my leaf as I was hopeless with freehand cutting.

Start binding on the right side of the bottom of your leaf–after choosing which side you want to be the top side of your potholder. At the pointed upper end, treat that like a normal mitered quilt corner. ***Note that when I am almost to the end, I folded the binding at the start over.

Overlap the binding and sew to the end of the potholder edge.

Back up to reinforce.

Trim the hanging strip–and turn under and press the end you just trimmed. **Note that I trimmed this one a bit shorter than I should have.

Fold the strip in half and press it so you get a center line.

Line up the cut edge with your pressed fold center line.

Press and pin the hanging strip together.

Close up the bottom side and pin. ***Note that to zig-zag (or however you want to sew down your binding) you will be doing that from the top side AND ***you will want your pins to be pinned with the heads on the bottom as you sew, so you can easily pull them out as you proceed. So, my pin below will need to be reversed when I pin the binding down.

On the top side, sew down the binding. I use a zig-zag stitch–and I remove the pins as I go around. ***Start at the side that is underneath where the binding ends–not the strip side. And just start at the edge of where the top binding lies–not on that upper binding.

When you get back to that starting point, change to a straight stitch and go down the length of your hanging strip. Sew down the folded end as best you can. It can be tricky to handle the thickness, but if you turn the potholder and use something to help the feed dogs grab the bulk, you’ll be ok. I suppose whip stitching that end closed is not a bad idea either.

Turn the loop and sew it down. ***Turn to whichever side you think would be the best back side. I found that sewing it down outside the bulk of the binding was easier.

If you missed grabbing some part of the binding, just catch it with a hidden whip stitch done by hand. I am terrible at this machine sewing down of binding–and on this curved leaf potholder with the added layer of the Insul-Brite, I think maybe is also a factor of making the binding thicker and trimming well before turning the binding and sewing it down.

This machine sewing of a binding has been a learning curve for me.

I’m getting there with each try. And these potholders are visually forgiving and will be used and washed, so there’s no need to be crazy about perfection.

A Saturday Quilty Update: November 9, 2024

It has been a busy week for me. But we did get a good rain. I’ve had a sore knee, but am now walking again. I have no idea what I did to it. And I’m so happy with my quilting work. I mailed “Pot Pourri 4” to a niece with a new baby. And I’ve been contemplating tiling my outdoor screen porch. Neighbors just tiled theirs, and it is so lovely. They are encouraging me…

“Arrowheads” is almost bound. Yeah! It’s gorgeous! Pics to follow soon now.

“Diamonds” is on the longarm. This pic does not do it justice I don’t think. I really like this quilt. And I’m enjoying making this series using the half-rectangle triangle block made with the Hurty ruler (Latifah Saafir). On to the next… I have TWO ideas to trial.

And then there are three leaf potholders–but yesterday the orange one went to a neighbor who had a birthday, along with a rope bowl. As requested by a reader I did take pics of how to do this binding and will post them soon.

Tara Faughnan, in our online “Blocks 2” class showed us her method for corralling solid scraps so they are easy to see and use. She clips color groups together and then links groups together with big rings. I had some small clips on hand, but ordered 2-inch ones and the rings. Wow! No more pawing through strips. I can just reach for the ring that holds the colors I want.

And now I can’t stop playing with these scraps rather than using the very pretty palette I pulled for this month’s block play. The pic on the left is from the grey strips–and you can see how very varied they can be and how their colors change according to what other color next to them. I’m going to hand quilt it and bind it. I have sorted all my strips but the greys–which will be a task for today.

What I want to do with the hexagon and the triangles (there will be a green triangle next–with an orange center and background) is to stretch them over 10-inch canvases to be used as little gifts. I am so excited about trying out this idea.

“Pot Pourri 5: Crosses” is all laid out. Now if I can make myself stop playing with this month’s block project, I’ll get it sewed together. (Remember this one is part of the 5+ years of using up Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society 3 1/2-inch squares. The bins are about half gone now, and the colors are starting to run out.)

The scrappy “Glitter” blocks are growing, but I’m not really engaged with this project. The block is intriguing, but so fiddly, even with the templates I broke down and ordered. I have two more cut out. So one more row, than…a decision.

It is another beautiful day here today! I’ll be getting out into it shortly.

More on the Hurty Ruler

Debbie Jeske of A Quilter’s Table blog did a recent post on Latifah Saafir’s Hurty Ruler. I loved what she did–she used a scrappy version in her half-rectangles, but in places she kept the triangles plain, so the eye can follow the underlying structure of her piece.

Diamond CutBy noreply@blogger.com (Debbie) on Oct 29, 2024 08:20 am
The HuRTy ruler by Latifah Saafir @latifahsaafirstudios had been in my studio for two full years, and last week I finally pulled some scraps from the bin and gave it a try. Let’s just say I was duly impressed! Never had I made HRTs so effortlessly. So I decided to try my hand at a small quilt of HRTs, and chose a tetrad (four-color) palette made up initially of Kona Rich Red, Heliotrope, Orchid Ice, Key Lime, and an unidentified green similar to Kelly.

Here’s the little quilt she made–isn’t it delightful?

I couldn’t get a link to Debbie’s blog to work, but you can just google it.

She shows her backing and discusses how she quilted it.

Enjoy!

“Arrowheads” Quilt

…is off the longarm.

It took me a while to quilt it as I had planned to use a daunting pantograph for the first time: “Nemesh’s Feather Grande” by Bethanne Nemesh.

I was intimidated. For sure.

But once I got organized with this panto, I found it was fun to use–all those cute swirls. And it lays down what would be a double/wider run, which means a more intense run, but double the amount it does on the quilt–so less runs to do.

It proved to be PERFECT. The texture is just awesome. Here is “Arrowheads” just finished.

Here’s a close-up of the texture:

And here is “Arrowheads” all trimmed and bound and ready for me to sew down the binding. I lay out a quilt on the floor to lay out the binding so I don’t play “binding roulette” with where a seam falls near a corner.

I’m liking this striped binding a lot:

“Arrowheads” is the first quilt in a series–using Latifah Saafir’s Hurty ruler–with which I am currently obsessed.

The second quilt, “Diamonds,” will come off the design wall later today–and I’ll likely use this same pantograph to quilt it. And I have enough of this striped binding to use it again. And I have a backing.

I have two more ideas to play with regarding at least a third quilt.

Meanwhile, I’m loving pulling so many cool fabrics out of my stash to make these blocks. This project is allowing me to play to my heart’s content.

More Potholders!

And a rope trivet too.

And a fall lamb soup/stew.

With the last of my units made for my online monthly class with Tara Faughnan, I made these adorable POTHOLDERS. (And the rope trivet for a neighbor, who also collected two of these potholders yesterday.)

I wanted to just play with the leftover “hourglass” units I’d made to see what kind of patterns would emerge. Two of these (hourglass squares in the middle) are just the straight hourglass units–and they make the intriguing square–which would make a nice quilt block if set off with sashing. Hmmmm. Two use trimmed hourglass units combined with the half-rectangle triangle units and trimmed in an improv way. And one just uses up the remaining scraps from this month’s “play” block.

What was really fun was to figure out this new way to bind a potholder so that one leaves a tail that can be made into a loop. This way means NO need to join the two binding ends somewhere in the middle of the little potholder (about 6 inches finished). The end tail just folds over–turn in the raw ends–and sew it down. Then make the loop and sew it to the potholder. I sewed just outside the actual potholder as that was easier.

I’m sewing down binding on the last two projects from this month’s class, and it’s a good thing as the next project comes November 1st. It’s all good, and I certainly enjoyed this October project.

It’s cooler now, so it’s time for warmer dishes. I made a lamb stew the other day, and it has been rich and delicious. I bought a rolled leg of lamb some time back and unrolled it. I cut the thicker piece into a roast and cut the thinner piece into chunks for k-bobs or a stew–and froze the two packages. The roast was cooked some time back, and now, this stew.

I wanted some turnips, but couldn’t find any organic ones. They were a fall staple in Maine. But, I did find parsnips, so included those. The green is collards. The rest is chopped onions browned with lots of garlic–then carrots, potatoes, the parsnips, red peppers that needed using, some onion chunks, and herbs–all thrown into the pot after I browned the onions and garlic–then when the mixture started caramelizing, I threw in the meat and cooked for a bit, the added water.

It has been delicious!

And Now There Are TWO

How fun they are!

Next I think I’ll try a green one.

I’ve worked out how to easily handle the binding now–and I do like the zig-zag stitch to hold it down–sewn from the front. And the loop encloses itself so just needs to be doubled back and sewn to the potholder–which means no need to join the circle of a binding when the ends meet. Here the ends meet at the bottom of the leaf.

Reminder, I got this idea from Amira Ameruddin’s video on Instagram: amira_littlemushroomcap. This leaf potholder idea was featured on the weekly post I get from Aurifil threads that highlights various quilt/sewing projects using Aurifil threads.

It’s Friday!

I spent HOURS yesterday watering plants and grass. It is so dry. My grass was trying to die–and this centipede grass is a water hog, for sure. It makes a mat like a rug that is 2 or more inches deep. My neighbors who have irrigation systems have grass that isn’t showing stress and browning, so I knew that mine browning was not due to fall/winter, but due to lack of water. So…watering had to happen. (My new little sprinklers are really helping as they have so many different, reliable settings that let me direct water to exactly where I want it to go.)

Here’s the last piece I’ll piece for this month’s “Hourglass” block in Tara Faughnan’s “Block 2” online class. I pretty much used up all the remaining blocks I had made and the scraps I had cut from this palette. (I just finished quilting the second half-rectangle triangle piece I did–the bright one. So now it needs facing or a binding.)

How fun is this? I’ll hand quilt it in some sort of incoherent wacky way to highlight the improv nature of this block. I also have a stack of potholders to sew–where I played with improv arrangements with this block. They’re fun. Pics when they are all done.

“Pot Pourri 4” is washed and ready to mail to a niece with a new baby girl. I like to hang a recently washed quilt over the sofa back to make sure all the moisture drys out before I mail it. And I’ll mail on Monday as I don’t like my quilts traveling on weekends.

I’ve grown very attached to this quilt–it is so lively and fun.

It is just a great scrappy quilt.

The Charleston Modern Quilt Group met this week. As always, the Show and Tell quilts were awesome. They are on that group’s open web site if you want to see more. But here is the latest from Cathy Beemer–another amazing quilt top.

I thought I was done piecing “Diamonds,” part 2 of my series with half-rectangle blocks. BUT, I realized I needed one more row as the width was 72, as planned, but the math escaped me for the length, which was only 64 inches!!! I put the top back on the design wall and thought about the issue for two days–and woke up yesterday with the best solution to extend the quilt. Yeah!!! Taking apart one row to add another inside the top was needed, and that is now done. I’m working on filling in that row. Our brains are amazing. Give them a problem to solve and give them time to solve it.

Have a great weekend folks!

A WOW Quilt

Here’s a really fun quilt–be sure to scroll down to see the maker’s dress as it matches the gingham used in this quilt. (You might have to copy this link to get to this post.)

https://mailchi.mp/thencamejune/three-things-weve-never-done-before?e=cf2adeac48

This quilt is super bright, yes. And I think the bright neon thread is a gutsy choice that works well.

This little project from Tara Faughnan’s online “Blocks 2” class is finished. I tried facing for the first time, and it worked well I think. I like the clean, modern look facing gives.

This one (18-inches square) can be used as a decorative table topper I think. Here it is with large and deep rope bowl I made as an example. But a thinner vase with flowers would be lovely and more in proportion.

I’m hand quilting the bright version now.

I never would have thought of this “hourglass half-rectangle block” on my own, and I am intrigued. Note: you have to cut two of the half-square rectangle blocks on the diagonal to get the 4 colors of the hourglass block–then sew those two halves together.

I’m now making some potholders while playing with versions of a straight hourglass block combined with this half-rectangle hourglass block–and having lots of fun trimming blocks into pieces that will make a kind of collage look for the potholders. Pics to follow at some point.

Have a great week everyone!

My First Leaf Potholder

There is a quilt on the longarm, the design wall if FULL of blocks that need to be sewn together for two quilts–plus some Glitter blocks in process. There are ropes waiting for me to make trivets and baskets, the “play” with Tara Faughnan’s first block class this season (Hourglass block) is ongoing, and the leftover fabrics from Prickly Pear are waiting for me to use them to try out an alternative block or two and maybe make a lap quilt…

So in the midst of all that chaos, yesterday I couldn’t resist this leaf potholder–and it took me all afternoon as, for me, there was a learning curve–starting with when I cut the two slabs separately on the diagonal and the joined rows didn’t line up. Probably I didn’t cut each on the same diagonal angle. Add into the learning curve that that I cannot easily cut the leaf shape on the slabs free hand. I needed a freezer paper template, LOL. And that it worked better to cut out the leaf with scissors. That meant two more slabs to make. But who cares? It is a learning curve. You do need TWO slabs so each half of the front and back is different from the other side on the front and back. (That is also true of the little Hourglass half-square rectangles I’ve been making. You need two half-square rectangles to make the 4 colors.)

I also didn’t cut binding wide enough to manage two slabs, a batting layer, and a layer of fluffy Insul-Brite–next time, 2.75 wide binding I think. AND, this little potholder DOES need bias binding for all the curves. I managed with straight binding, but it was tricky. A walking foot is absolutely necessary.

BUT, it is so darn cute! I can see it in scrappy reds, in winter blues, in spring greens, etc. And like most learning curves, once you’ve “gotten” something, it all goes much, much faster.

A reminder, this idea was created by Amira Ameruddin, and there is a video on Instagram: amira__littlemushroomcap. Her video made it look easy and fast, and maybe it is…now. You really DO have to quilt all the layers before cutting out the leaf. Amira only uses one batting layer, but I don’t think that would really protect with a potholder.

Also, if the binding process goes faster next time, maybe I will try this binding zig zag method from Stitched In Color. I think it would be a nice addition–if I can do it as nicely as Rachel Hauser does. She makes this method look very elegant.

https://www.stitchedincolor.com/blog//2011/11/zigzag-binding-tutorial.html

Another learning curve yesterday was making FACING for one of the 18-inch square Hourglass half-square rectangle little quilts, and that went well. I do like the “clean” look of that method. BUT, putting on a hanging sleeve would mean putting it on after the facing is done. Just noting. I don’t intend to hang this little quilt. The bright one will be hand quilted next.

Here they are side by side before I faced the one on the left. I do really like this block: big or little! I will try it out big for my quilt series on the half-square rectangle using Latifah Saafir’s Hurty ruler.

Today, I’ll–RIGHT NOW–go upstairs and do at least ONE row on the longarm quilt. Then I’ll walk. I don’t have to cook today, so the rest of the day will be mine to play upstairs.

Rachel Hauser’s “Stitched in Color” Blog on Using Scraps

4 articles and lots of pics in this blog post

https://preview.mailerlite.io/emails/webview/243679/134265931723441322

I thought many of you might enjoy seeing some ideas on scrappy quilts. Rachel Hauser, btw, is from the Netherlands.