Cookie Book Kitchen Set {Handmade Gifts}

I’m taking a break from quilting bees this year. I participated in two last year, and eventually fell behind {I’m down to only two blocks left to catch up!}. I have come to terms with the fact that, while lots of people adore quilting bees, they’re not really for me in this season of life. But, I did love the little community that develops around a bee. So, this year, I joined a handmade birthday club. There are twelve of us involved and each month we send a handmade gift to the birthday girl. For January, I sent this fun potholder set to Jenny.

For the patchwork, I used the scrappy trip method by Bonnie of Quiltville and just adjusted my number of strips {4 for the potholder and 8 for the oven mitt}. The oven mitt was surprisingly a lot easier than I had anticipated! I used the pattern from Gingercake Sews and loved that the mitt is placed on the fold, so there isn’t a seam down the side opposite the thumb! I now need to make myself some!

The potholder is the pretty little potholder by Amy of Nana Co. and was a little bit more challenging. I’ve been working on my bias binding skills, but still felt that this didn’t quilt turn out perfect {it probably would have helped if I’d have had navy thread, but, of course, I didn’t, and the snow kept me from trying to find some!}. Also, after doing my best to put navy binding on with gray thread, I realized I forgot to bind the top pocket…but I think it worked out in the end!

Since the Cookie Book selvages were so cute and say “full cookie jar, happy home”, I felt I needed to include them. So, I found some white tea towels and sewed them on. My selvages were shorter than my towels, so I used two on each.

I really enjoyed making and sending this gift. Do you  use homemade potholders in your kitchen? I admit, I have some, but they hang on the wall. I think I need to put them to use and replace all my old ones with handmade!