Once upon a time, I found these vintage quilts at a Habitat ReStore in the North Georgia Mountains. It was very much cutter quilt, falling apart in my fingers and even making a mess in our car. But I knew it would be perfect for projects, and decided to make a quilted pot holder from a piece of it.
As you can (hopefully) see here, the cotton batting was literally disintegrating into dust.
I’d already repurposed a portion of it to display in an old window, which I absolutely loved. But I still had a few decent sections remaining.
In my early Sadie days, I actually created a super simple trivet from my wine cork collection– and I still use it for smaller sauce pans and soup pots. But I was definitely lacking the right potholder for my favorite baking dish, and the quilt was the perfect project catalyst!
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From Cutter Quilt to Quilted Pot Holder
First things first, I needed to figure out a good size for my quilted pot holder, using my 2 quart baking dish to measure it (approximately).
The secret to a making your own quilted pot holder is something magical called Insul-Bright. I’m acting like I knew for a while but in reality, I just discovered it with this project in mind!
You can guess the purpose it serves from its name, right?
It’s the insulating layer!
Next, I sandwiched a rectangle of Insul-Bright between my quilt piece (top layer) and some plain backing fabric (from the remnants bin). And in the spirit of all things quilting, I decided to “stitch” my layers together with Basting Spray.
To keep all things safe and clean, I covered my outdoor porch table with plain newsprint (i.e., packing paper), and sprayed each layer individually before layering them on top of each other.
Next, I turned my attention to the edges of my quilted hot pad. Bias or binding tape would have been ideal, but I decided to just wrap wide grosgrain ribbon around it.
I also loved that this particular bright blue ribbon with contrasting white stitching was almost an exact replica of the entire backing of the original quilt.
Then, I gave my sewing machine a fun workout (due to this project’s thickness) but it handled it like a pro. I even got to try my hand at mitered corners with the grosgrain ribbon, which turned out ok.
Isn’t my large kitchen hot pad cute? It looks like a miniature version of the original quilt!
Quilted Pot Holder from a Vintage Quilt
Lastly, I stitched a piece of the same ribbon (pressed in half, width wise, with a scorching hot iron), and a simple D-ring to the back of my quilted potholder.
Now I can hang it on the inside of a kitchen cabinet door!
And there it is! My perfectly adorable, can’t-wait-to-make-enchiladas-now-so-I-can-use-it hot pad made from a vintage quilt!
And it truly is the perfect size for my baking dish.
And for anyone that bought or paged through my book, “Crafting with Flannel”, did you see my flannel version of this project?
Oh my gosh, I love making projects with this vintage quilt. Now I just gotta decide what I’ll do for Project #3- hmmm…
If you enjoyed this upcycling idea for a quilted pot holder from a cutter quilt, then you may also be interested in how I repurposed a framed cross stitch, too!
Craft on!
S
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Sarah Ramberg is the owner of Sadie Seasongoods, a website that celebrates all things secondhand. From upcycling ideas and thrifted decor to vintage-centric travel itineraries, Sadie Seasongoods is a one-stop shop for anyone who loves thrifting and approachable repurposing ideas. Sarah is also the author of “Crafting with Flannel” and has been featured in numerous media outlets and magazines.
Another fantastic idea! You were so smart to match the hotpad to your favorite dish.
Happy Thoughts of Home. You rock!
This turned out REALLY cute. Great job!
Thank you, Melissa!!! Hugs. 🙂
I love your ideas. I look forward to them. This is perfect. I have an oversized glass casserole that I use when the grandkids come for dinner. I am going to make this this weekend.xoxd
Thank you so much, Deb! TGIF. 🙂
Where did you get the amazing fork?
At Landrum Eclectics- one of my all time favorite antiques stores!
Super cute–love it!
Thanks, Donna!!
I love this idea. When I read hot pad I was thinking heating pad. You know, you could use this idea to also make a heating pad cover as those covers they come with do not stay on well and are too thin. Hmmm….
You are very right- it might work for that, too!!
I love this! I have an old quilt and have been thinking about what I can do with it. This solves that problem. Casserole Gal Rhonda
Thanks, Rhonda!
This is a wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing at Snickerdoodle Sunday!
Great idea and use for a vintage quilt. Thank you for sharing your project and wonderful tutorial at Vintage Charm.
So pretty!
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
What a great idea! I’ll take a set, please, lol! Thanks for linking up to us on Throwback Thursday!
Mollie
Beautiful, I love what you have done with this quilt. Great ideas!!
Thanks, Kelly!
This is amazing! You are so creative! Thanks for sharing at #HomeMattersParty
Thanks, Michelle!!
Basting spray, who knew? Certainly not me and I may never quilt anything but this might come in handy. Love what you’ve done with the quilt and love that you keep sharing all these wonderful projects with us at Celebrate Your Story.
Right?? It was new to me, too, but it worked perfectly!
Thanks for sharing on Peace Love Link-up! We hope to see you at our next party. It goes live tomorrow at 6 so grab a button and drop off anything else you might be working on! : )
Thanks so much!
Great idea, so useful and pretty!!
Thanks for sharing with us at Sweet Inspiration party, enjoy the rest of the week!
What a great idea! I see these old tattered quilts for sale all the time and had never thought of this. I am thinking this might be a great idea for placemats, too! I had no idea about that insul – stuff! This would be perfect! Thanks so much for sharing over at the Celebrate Your Story! link party!
Thanks, Chloe!!
I love vintage quilts, and this is a brilliant idea — love it! Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday!
Thank you, Dee!
This is a wonderful idea! I hate to see quilts go to the trash because they take so much time and love to make. And now I really want a large hot pad for my casserole dishes. Pinning!
Saw your feature at Cozy Little House, congrats! This is a great idea and I love patchwork.
Mary
Thank you, Mary!
What a great idea for a worn out quilt! Thanks for sharing on the Pleasures of the NW’s DIY party!
Love this idea, just another time I wish I knew how to sew. Thanks for sharing at the Family Joy Link Party!
Thank you, Sammy!
This is a beautiful way to repurpose something that may not be usable as is! Thanks for sharing at the Family Joy linkup!
Thank you so much!
Love both the hot pad and window. I’ve got both a widoow and quilt here at home and need to put this together.
Thank you so much, Ellen!
What a wonderful way to salvage a lovely old girl!
Thank you!!! She was truly the perfect repurposing candidate and I hope I’ve done her proud. 🙂
I can’t wait to see project #3. Any TINY scraps would make great fry pan handle pot holders; just a tad narrower than a simple eyeglass case!
Ahhhh, I need to work on Project #3! Both projects are from last year and my poor cutter quilt has taken a back seat this year…hmmm…
I love old quilts and this us such a great way to reuse them when they start to get worn out. Love the vintage quit frame too!