Make Do and Mend Monday

 I made these patchwork potholders almost 2 years ago.
 You can read about them on my old blog if you are curious :)
I usually cook several times everyday and those once cute potholders were getting worn, you can even see the insulbrite batting poking out in  one corner.
I used the last of  my potholder batting for the pair of bird potholders yesterday. 
Make do and mend is about using what you have - and since the insides and back of the potholders are still serviceable,  I just made them over. 

 I like the robin fabric on the back and it was still in good shape so I found a scrap of heavy weight checked fabric.  I cut it a little larger than the potholders, turned under the edges to just fit on top and pinned them down to cover up the worn patchwork.

Then I just machine stitched around the edges to seal them up.
I tried out several of the decorative stitches my machine makes but I could of just used a regular straight stitch. 
Now, I have 4 more very useful potholders,  I think I spent just 30 minutes on this project. 

I used up 2 little spools of thread on this project. 

Can you see the original price was just 30 cents for a spool?

Thread costs at least 8 times that now.

I look for bags of thread at thrift stores and yard sales and have found some real bargains this way. 

thats my finger,  got that burn when I moved a pan of full of corn on the cob in boiling water to drain it.  The  pan was really full and the lid was not tight fitting and some the water splashed on my hand and the floor.  

I put it cool water right away and sprayed it with Bactine several times, and after the Bactine, it never hurt again. 

So, if you boil some fresh corn this summer,  use a potholder and a tight fitting lid. 

I hope you will join the Make do and mend party at Heidi's Cranberry Chronicle.   I think you will like seeing how another blogger posted about the cutest sewing basket that she lined with old blue jeans.
 http://thecranberrychronicle.blogspot.com/

a painted bed, double knit quilts and silly potholders

This bed belonged to my paternal grandparents.  When it was passed on to us,  it went to Nina's room.  She then took it to her college rent house and then she passed it on to Jimmy while he was in grad school.  While it was in their possession,  it had several paint jobs.  We just got it back and it had brown paint in some places,  white paint in other places and then a weird attempt for gold antiquing finish it others.  I know, I should of taken a before picture.

It also needed some new bolts. 

Anyway,  Jeff worked on in yesterday.  He sanded it down and gave it 2 coats of dark red paint.  This morning,  he moved it into one of the guest rooms and added some L brackets for good measure. 

I am so happy with how it turned it out!

I think it looks like a picture from some the Early American decorating magazines my mom had in the 60's and 70's. 

The quilt was made by my maternal grandmother.  It is all double-knit fabric and will probably never wear out. 

Another Rhonda, also in Oklahoma,  just posted a picture of  a double knit quilt her mother made about the same time my grandma made this one. 

 patchwork pathways

I made new potholders a while back, but I cook so much that they are getting rather worn out.  I did a few swagbuck searches for potholder tutorials and found one I think is darling, 

 Betsi's Darling Starling potholder tutorial 

I made mine a little differently than Betsi.  She used a retro pattern for her inspiration and uses felt and stuffing for the insides. 

I updated that part and used potholder batting instead,  several manufacturers make it and most fabric departments carry it.  It looks almost like quilt batting but has a silvery side that does a very good job  of heat blocking.

There is a open pocket section on the belly just right for picking up pot handles and pan edges.  I also used a narrower bias tape than Betsi as the narrower kind is what I had. 
Thank you Betsi for the cute tutorial.