Great Granny Pot Holders!...

Good Morning cute people!!!...

or should I say good afternoon...

(i'm a bit late posting today:)

Today is

Great Granny Along 

day and I have a new project to show you.

I made 2 potholders using 1 1/2" squares instead of 2 1/2" squares.

I needed a quick gift 

and in keeping with 

using up my scraps...

I pulled out some FMF leftovers

 that I had been saving.

These scraps came from a project 

where I used my

 Easy Corner Triangle Method

(tutorial here)

When trimming for the

 easy corner triangles...

I always save the leftovers

 if I can cut them into a 1 1/2" square.

The FMF scraps were perfect for this

 and so I cut some into squares ...

I love making a project completely

 out of scraps!!!

I cut enough for 2 blocks and laid 

them out on my design board. 

The amount of squares that you

 will need is of course exactly 

the same as the 12 1/2" blocks...

and the method is the same as my

 Great Granny Tutorial

the only difference is

 the size of the 

squares and rectangles...

For this size block you will need 

8 - 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" 

for each block row ends...

and you will need 

4 - 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" strips

 for the corners.

After you have sewn them

 together...

you will need to use a 

6 1/2" square ruler 

to trim them up!

This size is sooo cute!

I think I see another Great Granny quilt

 in my future with 6 1/2" blocks!

But for now...

these are pot holders...

 so for each one...

I cut an 8" square of 

backing fabric,

 an 8" square of batting

 and some leftover

 silver ironing board fabric

 that I always use when I

 cover my ironing table.

 (I buy it at JoAnns)

I also cut a 2 1/4" strip x WOF

 to use as binding.

I layered as follows...

top, batting, silver fabric and backing.

 I did some quick and easy 

straight line machine quilting...

(make sure you use a walking foot)

I then bound each potholder 

and stitched a drapery ring 

to the top corner for hanging.

The Great Granny blocks are cute 

hanging on the diagonal!

All in all...it took only 

a few hours from start to finish

 for both of them.

I am planning on making more

 with my scraps to use as Christmas gifts.

They could also be used as a mug rug...

or six of them would make an adorable

 little dolly quilt for my Sophie Belle! 

What do you think?

Do you see 6 1/2" Great Granny blocks

 in your future too?

xx

Lori

Introducing Polka Dot Stitches...

Yay!!!!...I have a new fabric line coming out!

My new line was inspired by 

circles, doilies, crochet,

 the 60's (when I was born) 

and of course...embroidery.

I learned how to embroider when I

 was 6 years old...

 and so I have been having 

an ongoing love affair

 with stitching ever since:)

Introducing

......

POLKA DOT STITCHES

......

by

Lori Holt

of

Bee in my Bonnet

for

Riley Blake Designs

I just have 2 yards of precuts to 

start designing with and to 

get working on a few new patterns!

It's always soooo hard for me 

to cut into my pre yardage because

 I'm afraid I will run out 

before my bolts of the 

fabric line get here...

which will be in about 3 weeks!

YIKES!!!

Here are my 2 yard cuts 

in a nice little stack 

in my front room. 

 I am missing the 4 solids 

that have not arrived yet.

The solids are

 red, aqua, gray and white.

Total number of fabrics in 

Polka Dot Stitches...

28

 including solids:)

Red/Pink/Gray 

colorway

By the way...

the circles on this print each 

measure 2 1/2" across:)

Aqua/Yellow/Gray

colorway

Gray/AppleGreen/White

colorway

I'm really excited about 

these 3 "words" prints that

 I designed to go in the line.

First I drew up diagrams 

for common embroidery stitches ...

(just like they used to put 

in the iron on embroidery patterns) 

And then I added words that

 have to do with stitching. 

(vintage embroidery stitching

 and crochet stitches:)

I think these "word" prints will

 make fun backgrounds!

I currently have them all rolled up and waiting to be played with.

They are waiting impatiently...

inside my cute new aqua utility cart! 

I picked it up from IKEA while

 there last month...

lucky me...

I have an IKEA 10 minutes

 from my house:)

As you can see from the

 quilt hanging on the wall...

 (Vintage Dishes - made with Sew Cherry)

Polka Dot Stitches fits in rather nicely 

with my other fabric lines.

I have 4 new quilts drawn up along with 

2 other quilty patterns....

I will start cutting into it 

first thing Monday morning!!!

I'd love to hear how you feel

 about my new line....

I hope you like it and that you want

 to play with Polka Dot stitches too!

I love hearing from you and 

I read each and every comment with 

a smile on my face...thank you so much for all of your kind words!!!

Until then...

have a quilty kind of day!

xx

Lori

Fusion Blanket Crochet Along...

Hello again!

I can't believe it's been a week

 since I've posted!

My summer is still in full swing 

around here and time gets away 

from me too fast.

I hope all of you are enjoying your 

summer as much as I am.

Today I wanted to show you the project that I took along with me on my camping trip.

My project was inspired by a photo that 

I saw on Pinterest....

using 5" squares that are sewn together and then adding crochet.

You know that I love to add crochet edgings on several of my fabric patterns

so when I saw the photo...I was inspired and started immediately!

I just kind of made up my blanket

 as I went along but I have now 

discovered that there is 

a tutorial 

by Corey@Little Miss Shabby and a 

flickr group 

and it's a crochet along as well!

It's called the 

Fusion Blanket Crochet Along.

Fabric/Crochet fused together = fun!!!

I love the fact that I have been able to use up even more of my precut leftovers from 

Sew Cherry, Daisy Cottage and Millie's Closet.

I chose to use "I Love This Cotton" yarn in 

68 Aqua that I bought at Hobby Lobby.

It's so soft and the color is yummy and goes with all of my fabrics...and is 100% cotton which is a big plus for me.

I like to work with natural fibers 

as much as possible.

I have several squares completed so far...

they really work up fast.

I did a single crochet into each buttonhole stitch and then a double crochet into each single crochet and that's all!

Easy peasy.

*Take note that on the corners...I did 3 stitches instead of one:)

I love the scrappiness of my blanket...

I put some of the squares up on my 

design wall together to see 

how they will look when I crochet them together.

I will just use a single crochet stitch when joining them and I think I will leave the holes in the intersections...I like how it adds a lacy kind of look.

Of course I will make the final decision on that when I join them all together:)

I know that today is Tuesday...

and week 5 of

The Great Granny Along!!!

I don't have anything new to show you yet...but Jodi has some new blocks...so go over and see them!

All of the beautiful blocks and quilts that are showing up on the flickr group 

are just amazing!!!

It's been so fun to see all of them 

over the last 5 weeks:)

Next post...I will be showing you a sneak peek of my up coming fabric line.

Until then...have a quilty kind of day:)

xx

Lori