How I Made My Quilted Oven Mitts

---

There are a lot of helpful tutorials and tips out there on the net to make Oven Mitts. I did my research, read probably about 30 “how to’s” and cherry-picked from those I liked.

When gathering up your fabric choices make sure you select 100% cotton for fire safety precautions. You will need a top fabric and a lining fabric plus batting and insulated lining.

MAKING OVEN MITT TEMPLATE

First I traced around an old oven mitt I bought years ago at the Dollar Store. Make it slightly larger than the actual mitt. Plain and simple shape. Nothing fancy. I bet you have something similar laying around your house.

Use hard stock paper for tracing if you have any. You can cut out several templates to make cutting go faster.

CUTTING OVEN MITT PIECES

Cut two (2) mitts from the top fabric. Thumb facing left. One facing right.
Cut two (2) mitts from the lining fabric. Ditto above for left and right.
Cut two (2) mitts from the insulated lining (see bottom of post for what I used). Shiny side up. One thumb facing left. One right.
Cut two (2) mitts from your ALL COTTON batting.

QUILTING

Pin in this order.

One top fabric and one Insul-Bright. Shiny side facing the WRONG side of top fabric.
One lining fabric and one batting. Batting facing the WRONG side of lining fabric.

Quilt the above “sandwiches” in two steps. Just as you have them pinned. Top fabric and Insul-Bright. Then lining and batting.

For the top fabric, sew simple, slightly curved lines from top to bottom. And one arched line from inside of thumb “V” down along the thumb’s outside curve.

You only need to match up one seam, if you wish. For the side thumb seam. Mark this spot so front and back seams will line up when sewn together.

The rest of the quilting lines can be random. But if you make three lines on the front, as I have. Make the same on the back.

Quilting on the lining/batting should also be simple, though I did add a few more vertical lines. To keep the inside from bunching when washed, I added two horizontal lines.

Eyeball it and sew one about 3 inches down from the top and one about 3 inches from bottom of the mitt. Not too many since you don’t want the fabric to shrink from a lot of quilting.

Repeat for the second set.

SEWING QUILT SANDWICHES TOGETHER

Sewing top and bottom sets together.

Use your Walking Foot, if you have one, and set it to the default zig zag stitch. I didn’t adjust the stitch. Start anywhere along the edge. Go all around. Repeat for the second set.

Top fabric.

Lining fabric.

MAKING HANGING TAB

Cut a strip of matching or coordinating fabric 1 1/2″ by 5″. Fold in half along the longer side. Now fold the halves up toward center fold. Iron or finger press. Sew down the middle of strip. Set aside for later.

SEWING TOP TO THE BOTTOM

Pin zig zagged sections together with lining fabric on outside, front and back.

Insert hanging tab (folded) about 2″ up from the bottom on one side. I put mine on the straight side, not the thumb side.

Begin sewing. Again using your Walking Foot and the zig zag stitch. Yes, you will be zig zagging on top of the zig zagging. Start on the bottom end of the mitt on one side. Go around and stop at the bottom end of the mitt on the other side. Do Not Sew The Bottom Opening. Leave it open.

TURN OVEN MITT INSIDE OUT (Main fabric will be on the outside)

Look over your mitt. Make sure you are happy with how you sewed the top to the bottom. If bunched in the thumb area, go back inside and clip in the “V” area, careful not to cut the stitches. If you are satisfied, turn mitt back to lining on outside. Now do the final sewing. Go back along the zig zag path with STRAIGHT STITCHES. Just to reinforce. Now, turn inside out. Main fabric will be on the outside. Use something stiff (not pointed) to push out the curves along the sewn edges of the mitt. Just using your fingers doesn’t push the fabric out. (This photo is showing two mitts.)

FINISHING OFF BOTTOM OPENING

Binding, bias binding, cuff. Your choice.

I decided on a mock cuff. Cut a strip of 2 1/2″ by 12″.

Pin cuff strip to the inside of the bottom opening. Right sides together. Stitch along the zig zag path, above it.

I removed my tools case (I guess that is what it is called) from my sewing machine so I could fit the cuff onto the arm.

Stop sewing before you get to the side seam of the mitt. Make a side seam in the cuff strip. Make sure it fits perfectly along the rim. Trim excess from seam. Finger press open. Continue sewing.

Turn cuff fabric up. Turn edges down. Top stitch all around.

And done!! Enjoy!!

These instructions will make one oven mitt. Repeat for a second one, if desired.

---

This is the insulated lining I used. Insul-Bright. I got it on-line at Fabric.com. It comes with great tips on how to use it. Also has an oven mitt template on the packaging label which I plan to print out to use in the future.

---

TWO Hot To Handle

---

And now there are two. Oven Mitts.

Finished the second one yesterday. So glad the way I am doing them has worked out. I am working on a tutorial so you can see how I am making mine.

But for now, I will just show you these photos. Hot off the press. Hot and ready for baking. And cooking.

All eight of the matching place mats have been quilted. And using straight lines. Surprise!! You know how I don’t “do” quilting straight lines. But I was able to manage it this time.

Now I can work on my Halloween stuff!!

---

Not Finished But Just Have To Show You!!

---

Ta-dah…

Well, at least, half of a Ta-Dah.

This came out GREAT!! I carefully zig-zagged the quilt “sandwich” for side A and also for side B. Then ditto for combining the two sides together. I even remembered to stick in the hanging tab on the side before sewing the seam.

The floral fabric is the inside lining.

Now I have to decide if I want a cuff (as pictured in the 1st photo) or if I want just a bias binding.

It came out better than I thought it would. I held my breath the whole time I was sewing. I used my walking foot to zig zag. Never tried it before. But it has a wide mouth so I figured it should work. And it did. Yippee!!

I’ll go into more details when I show you the completed mitt.

My first oven mitt. How about that!!

---

Eight Is Enough and An Oven Mitt

---

Eight it is… Tired. Don’t want to make anymore.

Isn’t it tough to keep making the same thing and trying to get them all to match up?

Yep, it is. At some point you are ready to move on to the next project EVEN before you finish up what you have been working on for DAYS!! Now you see why there are so many Works In Progress out there in Crafty Land. WIP’s just sitting waiting for you to circle back to them. Pushed aside from Sheer Boredom. You are probably thinking about some cool new fabric you just bought and want to cut into.

Me? I have Halloween on the brain.

I want to get started working with these.

And these.

And these.

But FIRST, I need to sew the tops and bottoms together for these eight placemats.

Was going to stop at six but kept thinking that was odd. Odd number. Two sets of 3 each. If you look at the three connected together, looks like something is missing. I think it should be just two or at least four. (BTW, I changed my mind on the how to arrange the pie pieces. I like this arrangement better. The eyes can land on a spot and not get you all silly dizzy.)

So, I made two more. To make two sets of four. Different arrangements.

And I need to get them quilted. No binding. Just edge to edge, turn inside out and quilt.

With the leftover fabric, I am going to make a couple of oven mitts. I have been wanting to try my hand at oven mittens for some time. I have a pattern somewhere around here that I bought. Too lazy to go find it, so I searched on the net. Found lots and lots of patterns. Fabric, yarn, felt. Google “oven mitt” and you will find hundreds.

And after a while, they all start to look the same. Even the directions begin to blend together. BUT… you can make the traditional mitt that looks like you traced your hand or make the puppet style. There’s even one that looks like a “feminine product” (if you get what I mean). Oval shaped that you slip both hands into. Another one I saw was made up as an apron with attached mitts. Like those snow suits for little kids with gloves dangling. I kid you not. For real.

I’m going to go all traditional for my first one. Safe. Here’s what it looks like cut out. I hope I did this right.

More photos in a day or two.

Waaaaaa.

I WANT TO WORK ON MY HALLOWEEN STUFF!!

---

Not Eye Popping, But…..

---

Back to BROWN!!

This is what I am working on now. More pie pieces cut with my Fons and Porter pyramid ruler.

The colors don’t pop out at you and lock onto your eyes as the cranberry and orange ones did. But I am still liking them and am delighted to use up some of my fabric stash.

So far, I have enough wedges cut to make something. But what? A quilt? Not sure yet. When I first started, the plan was to make placemats and make them interchangeable. Using different sets of fabrics. This is the first set.

If I don’t get bored, I will probably see what else I can come up with to go with them. Maybe using some of these fabrics you see here in this photo.

To me this is the fun part. Gather up a bunch of fabrics. Mix and match. Add, subtract, replace. Start off with a blank surface and fill it with different designs, shapes and colors.

After sewing the strips and cutting the pyramids, I got an unexpected surprise. See the brown and turquoise floral in the middle?

It wasn’t my plan for them to line up next to each other.

Now, when I sew the wedges together I have to match up the seams. Wasn’t my plan. AT ALL!! Oh well. Wish me luck getting them all lined up.

---

Doll Quilt Props. Cuteness Overload!!

---

On Wednesday, a week ago, I stopped off at the local Salvation Army to drop off two boxes of donations.

One box was full of office supplies. I had a talk with my former 9 to 5 self. We both agreed there were things hanging around I would NEVER need or use. So, I went about the house collecting up J O B related stuff. Such as navy blue Follow Up cards. Nice, expensive looking, but where would I use those now. I don’t suppose my customers want to get a follow up message when they buy something from me. LOL!! Hilarious!!

And three-ring binder sized plastic holders for business cards. I kept a couple. Plus old stuff for the Franklin Planner I used to use. No need to plan my day. I can do what I want, when I want. Plus extra this, extra that. Do I really need 300 rubber bands. Not hardly. I use about one a month. I think you get the picture. Loads of stuff this crafter won’t be needing in the craft room.

The 2nd box was full of unwanted/already replaced VHS movies and empty clear plastic VHS cases. I have tried for years to figure out how to recycle the cases but so far nothing has worked out. So out they went too.

And you know what that donation meant. I COULD GO SHOPPING. One Out. One In. I can’t buy unless I first discard.

I drove around to the Thrift Shop entrance anxious to see what was new. Senior Day. 25% off.

Made my rounds to the usual racks and shelves. Got some cute red material with Chef’s and veggies. A bargain. Actually a steal!! With my senior discount it was only $5. Four yards/60″ wide.

Next I checked out the latest in the wood aisle. You can NOT just breeze by that section. So much to consider. I stop, look and touch. Oh, no. Don’t Touch!! You know when you touch something, you will probably buy it.

These got lots of touches. AND ENDED UP IN MY CAR!!

And the best part. $3 for the chair and one dollar for the cute little doll cradle.

Now I am all set with doll props for my next craft show.

Sew Quilt Binding By Hand Or Machine

Which are you? Do you prefer to sew your quilt binding by hand or by machine?

I was a “by hand” sewer but after getting great results like this, you can move me to the “by machine” group.

I did do by machine one of my smaller quilts. But hadn’t thought to try it on larger ones. I guess I just thought that was how it should be done. By hand. Until…

I watched a couple of You Tube video demonstrations on how to sew the binding for larger quilts by machine. They didn’t tell me to start from the bottom. I just figured that if I wanted only one row of stitching showing from the top, then I had better begin from the bottom.

I like that the width of the binding turns out wider on the top. And that I can get pointy points on top and bottom. When hand sewn, I could only get a good point on only one side.

For the thread, I used light beige in the top and dark brown in the bobbin. My tension must have been correct because the brown thread can’t be seen on the top.

The Front.

The Back.

It took less than a half hour to go around this 54″ by 54″ quilt. By hand, and as slow as I sew, it would have taken at least 3 hours. So, then, there is that. If possible, I plan to machine sew all of my quilt bindings from now on.

All finished. Moving this baby to the Completed Quilts page.

Which way do you prefer? And why? Do tell.

---

Cranberry Candy Corn Placemats

---

Fall is definitely on the way. At least in my parts of the country. Windows are closed. My winter housecoat now warms my arms and shoulders. The bed has its winter layer on. When it gets cooler, I add a 3rd comforter to snuggle under at lights out. Even the lawn has a sprinkling of golden leaves. Yes, it is headed here and fast.

Usually fall means brown to me. As you know I LOVE BROWN. But for this project, I decided to give brown a rest. Change up. It was so easy to make my selection now that my fabric stash is organized by color. I kind of had an idea on what I wanted to make.

Place mats or a table runner.

Here are the fabrics I rounded up. Some I have had a long time. The 2nd piece from the top, I think I got it at JoAnn’s about 5 years ago. It has so many colors going on. I kept returning it to my stash. A couple of these, the cranberry with the black leaves and the light orange print, came in the scraps I bought on Ebay. The 4th piece was in the Lennette stash. It really goes well with the other fabrics.

I wanted to get out of my comfort zone a bit, so I dusted off my Fons and Porter 60 degree pyramid ruler. Was still in the plastic shrink wrap. It was about time I unwrapped it. No sense buying rulers and templates if I am not going to use them.

The pie pieces look like candy corn, don’t they?

When I sewed the first block, it was kind of wonky in the center. Looking at it, I realized what I had done wrong. I had sewed the pie pieces in a circle, one right after the other. For the second block, I sewed three wedges together. Then three more. And sewed the two sections together along the long edge. That produced a better center. Not perfect. But better. (These next photos are of the 2nd block I made.)

I finished these yesterday but needed to make a candy corn run to the drugstore. (You know they have Halloween stuff out already!!)

Here I have three table mats lined up together to form a table runner.

So… what do you think?

Oops… I forgot to show you the back. I used the fabric I had the most of.

Placemats measure 14 1/4″ by 12 1/2″.

---

All Quilted And Headed To The Finished Line

---

I made myself a promise the other day.

Only sew projects that fit inside the throat area of my sewing machine.

Anything larger and my stress level shoots off the chart. My panic button gets pushed so often, it is completely worn out. Sewing is supposed to be fun. Relaxing. Not stressful.

I had dreaded starting on this quilt top.

I knew I would be up to Excedrin #999 by the time I finished. And oh yes, did I ever struggle. It is only 54″ by 54″ but I had to push, pull, tug and cuss. Even with my quilting gloves with the grippers. (Cussing helped some. )

But… the quilting part is FINALLY FINISHED!! I worked on it off and on for a week.

If you look closely you will see that I appliqued the Dresden Plate wedges and centers by machine to the center of each 9 square block.

Then sewed straight lines around each 9 square block. Next I stippled around the wedges keeping the stitches within each block and not overflowing to the next. My plan was to do loops inside the ivory border but decided to leave it as is. Then I stippled the brown polka dot border.

Last step. I still have to sew on the binding.

I am totally happy with how it looks thus far. I have it hanging in my newly organized “closet” for me to admire.

Here’s the back.

Notice my fabric stash. My reorg is looking great, eh? By color. I have little piles of each. Except for those fabrics with really busy prints in numerous colors.

They got pushed into several Catch-All groupings.

My charm packs are stored here in these fabric cubes.

The whole reorg thing is still a works-in-progress. Slowly it is coming together like I want. Hopefully seeing all the neatness will inspire me to create more.

Three more quilt tops to go. All larger than this one. All made months ago. The brown and cream Log Cabin one, the purple and lavender Stair Steps one and the blue jeans quilt.

Got to catch up. And then I will keep reminding myself of the promise I made. If I can’t machine quilt it stressfree, don’t make it.

---

You can read about the making of this quilt here.

http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/a-plate-full-of-dresdens/

http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/going-small-with-the-dresdens/

http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2011/03/27/made-a-pieced-back-for-my-dresden-plate-quilt/

http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/the-new-back-is-finished/

---

Snap Out Of It, Donna

Maybe I need someone to hit me over the head with this brick. I have been down in the dumps sad for a week now.

It all started with a three day weekend trip back to my hometown. I won’t mention the town but it is the Land of Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Van Dyke, Gene Hackman, Bobby Short and Donald O’Connor. A little town of about 34,000 people. I secretly think the cows and chickens got counted. It’s that small.

As soon as we crossed the sign announcing the number of residents, memories of the 50′s and 60′s flooded my head and clouded my eyes. The area looked sort of how I remembered. I could see the hotel we would be staying at. New name. Same building. Spruced up for the weekend reunion.

The place was packed. Full of people like me who returned for 3 days to… to… I am not really sure what. I hadn’t been back home in YEARS. And if memory serves me, the last four times over the last 40 years were for funerals.

After checking in, the first few hours were spent lying and looking like a deer-in-headlights. Each person to approach me had to tell their “story”. How they lived on the same street. Or played jump rope with me. Or their sister liked my brother. Yes, I remember you. Not!! Scenes like this went on for most of the first day. A few faces I actually DID remember. And like me, familiar facial features had been replaced with wrinkles, sagging, a bit of gray here and there, a walking cane here and there, a few in need of a Weight Watchers membership card. OMG!! Where did all these old people come from!!

The second day had a few bright spots. I saw some relatives. Cousins. No aunts, uncles, grandparents. Those generations who used to live there are now smiling down on us from above. Gone, gone and gone. And no one from my immediate family lives in the area any longer. They are all in Ohio and weren’t able to make the trip.

So… it was up to me to meet and greet and try to shake out a few memories to attach to the hugs I kept getting. It’s funny but I think some of them were having memory issues same as me. I overheard my name as I walked by a group of people at the picnic hubby and I attended on the second day. I could hear, “that’s Donna, that’s Ducky”, the dreaded nickname I got stuck with until the age of 12. It was good to know I wasn’t the only person struggling with Who Are These People!!

Saturday night was a fun night. Dancing. Now, seriously, how many of you are interested in seeing 60-70 year old people dance? Hands up. Thought so. Well, good thing some of the younger townsfolk didn’t mind spending the evening with the Oldies But Goodies. They were fun to watch. I even got asked to dance a few times. By hubby. When the DJ played something slow that we knew.

And then out of the blue, my first time to set eyes on him, the crowd parted and there he was. The Love Of My Young Life!! He made his way across the room and headed in my direction. Even after all these years he was still recognizable. The eyes. He had these dreamy eyes. Well, the eyes were still dreamy but there was a noticeable emptiness. No front teeth. LOL!! Oh my, we all age in different ways, don’t we? I introduced him to hubby. I had no idea how long it had been since I last saw my TLOMYL. He said it had been 41 years. Ah… I see someone had been keeping track.

OK, so we made it through Friday, the 1st day’s Meet and Greet at the hotel, then Saturday’s afternoon picnic and evening dancing. Sunday was church service and an afternoon talent show. But we decided to skip the talent show to make the rounds and TAKE PICTURES instead. It would be our last day there.

I think this is where my sadness kicked in.

Remember that brick up there? That is all that’s left of where we lived until I was around 10 or 11. The whole block is gone. I could see through the fenced in area.

No clue what business was being conducted behind it. As I looked around, taking photos, I saw a pile of bricks. I needed something from the area of my youth. So I took one. I have plans to turn it into a doorstop.

On to the next photo shooting stop. Things didn’t get any better.

My teen-age home. It now stands empty and rundown.

Hubby said, “you could have at least moved the garbage can.” I walked up the front steps, tried the doorknob, AND THE DOOR OPENED. OMG!! Now what, I was thinking. I peeked inside. Full of mattresses and other household junk. Ceiling in the front room peeling and showing the wooden slats. I could hear hubby saying, “Donna, now you have gone too far.” Husbands!!

That was a pretty house in its day. I loved sitting in the sunroom watching the neighbors.

Next.. My grandmother’s house. Where she taught me how to hem. Not in the best shape but someone is living there.

On to my favorite aunt and uncle’s house. It is smaller than I remember.

As I took pictures, the lady living there came from the front porch down to our car. We chatted for a few minutes about the fun times I had sleeping over with my cousin. As we drove off, I heard her say to someone, “some of the old original town’s people.”

Continuing on… the church I was raised in (now empty and has landmark protection status).

The building where I had club meetings and drill team practice.

A grade school on the street we lived. They sometimes had dances on the weekend for us kids.

This used to be one of the places we hung out, ate junk food and danced. It was either The Sweet Shoppe or The Chicken Shack. I can’t remember which. Right in the middle of this building. Long gone…

This is where the sign to the Carver Park I knew once hung.

Nothing but an open field now.

The sign was moved to the opposite side of the street in front of a much smaller park.

Back in my day, that place was huge!! It was on three levels. Low income housing on 1st level with softball fields. Street level had a community activities building and a very large park area with picnic tables, playground equipment and a double basketball court. Third level, more housing. I spent many hours there with my friends. This is where hubby first saw me. At this park. In a tight pink dress. Guess the dress was memorable and made an impression.

Moving on to my best friend’s house. The family members have either moved out of state or passed on in life.

I hadn’t planned to take this picture. We were driving by to get to another street. But hubby insisted. A friend of his had dated my BFF and hubby remembered the house. So, ok, one photo for his Down Memory Lane Collection.

The last stop was what used to be General Electric.

Though I did work there for a hot minute making $80 a week during the summer of 1962, I mainly took the photo for my mom. She worked there FOREVER. 20 some years. I think another company sat up shop but now it is closed, empty.

So, that’s how I spent my Labor Day weekend. Trying my best to remember the faces and places of my youth. Taking it all in with my eyes, ears and nose. Who knows when our paths will cross again.

You know how they say you can never go back home. Well, actually, you CAN go back home. Just don’t expect that the place stood still. It won’t have.