Best Tips for Perfect Potholders

Hello! Today’s post is all about potholders!  Potholders are one of my favorite things to make with fabric scraps, and they are also one of my favorite things to give for housewarmings and holiday presents.  I knew it was only a matter of time before I got around to making potholders with our new The Front Porch fabric, and I love, love, love these!

I think I’ve found my perfect combination of patterns, too…a simple patchwork small potholder along with a more fancy slightly larger one.  I decided to mix just the navy, blue, and green prints for this pair, and I love the color combinations! It’s always so interesting to see how versatile a fabric collection can be when you mix and match just certain colors from the group.

I was so excited when I realized that I could make both of these potholders using Layer Cake squares (you will need to piece the ruffle fabric make it from a Layer Cake square).  The bias binding for each potholder was cut from a 10″ x 10″ square, too…how cool is that?!

The potholder above is one I’ve been wanting to make for so very long, and now that I’ve made it I don’t know why I haven’t tried this pattern before.  The tutorial for it comes from Nana Company’s Pretty Little Potholder tutorial. Amy’s tutorial is absolutely wonderful!  I followed almost all of the directions exactly except that I used a 2″ wide double fold binding for the ruffle binding, used 2 ¼″ wide outer binding, used Clover Wonder Clips to hold everything in place while stitching, did cross hatch quilting lines about ¾″ apart, and used this tutorial for the cross hatch quilting. I will definitely be making more potholders from this pattern in the future!

For the smaller potholder I used my scrappy patchwork potholder tutorial and made the 16-patch version. I added a bit more quilting than I have in the past and ended up really liking having the additional quilting. I also used two layers of Insul-Brite in the small potholder rather than one layer of Insul-Brite and one layer of cotton batting as I suggest in my tutorial.

I think the backs are just as cute as the fronts! There are so many possibilities for fun potholders!  I can’t wait to make some of these using just the reds and greens from The Front Porch…perfect for Christmas! Now for some more ideas for your potholder sewing…

If you like making potholders or would like to make some, here are my best tips for sewing them:

• If possible cut pieces a little larger than you want your finished size to be so you can trim evenly after quilting.
• Use a walking foot while quilting…with so many layers fabric tends to shift, and the use of the walking foot will help prevent that.
• Use two layers of Insul-Bright to make your potholders extra heat-resistant.  The Insul-Bright product directions state that it doesn’t matter which side faces out, but I always place the two metallic sides facing the outsides of the potholders.
• Zig-zag stitch around all edges before binding to help make it easier to bind.  This is especially helpful when binding bias edges.
•  Use Clover Wonder Clips, Red, 50-Pack instead of pins.  
• I used Creative Grids Non-Slip Rotary Cutting Circles – Set of Five Quilting Ruler Templates CGRCRCL to round the edges (I used the smallest template in the set)
• Simple hanging tabs can be made from 2 ½″ x 4″ rectangles.  Simply press in half lengthwise, open up and fold raw edges into the center, then fold in half again, encasing raw edges.  Stitch ⅛ ” away from either side to secure.

Another of my favorite potholder tutorials is my Log Cabin Potholder Tutorial!  

Well, there you have it…my favorite ideas for potholders…I’d love to hear if you have any other favorite potholder patterns, tutorials, or tips to share!


Thanks so much for stopping by!