TUTORIAL: Quick & Easy Quilted Dish Mat

Do you have a dish drain that lets water drip all over your counter?  I do, and it really bothers me.  I also find that when I empty my dishwasher I always have a bunch of wet dishes that need to air out - of course my dish drain will already be full, so I end up laying a kitchen towel on my counter to place these extra dishes until they dry.  With a little extra time, and a desire to make something with the fabric duo I gave away last week, I decided to throw together a more stylish dish mat for my kitchen.

This project is so simple, I'm not posting a pdf for it....here is:


WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• Fabric Scraps
• An old (or new) hand towel or dish towel
• Coordinating thread
• Rotary Cutter/Scissors & Ruler

STEP 1:
Cut strips of fabric and lay them on top of the towel as you want them to sit making sure they are long/wide enough to cover the towel (or at least as large as you want your mat to be).  I used 5" strips for the Paisley and 3" strips for the Polka Dot.  **Remember to account for your seam allowance (I used 1/2") when cutting your strips.

STEP 2:
Sew the strips together by placing them right sides together working left to right

 After each strip is sewn, open and iron the seam flat

 Continue this process until you get all of the strips sewn and ironed

STEP 3:
Center your fabric on top of your towel right sides together and trim any excess fabric so all edges are even.  Sew around the perimeter leaving a 3-4" opening to turn.

STEP 4:
Clip the corners

 Turn right side out and iron

 STEP 5:

Top stitch around the entire perimeter of the mat (I stitched about 1/2" in from the edge)

FINISH:
Quilt down each seam.  If you have a walking foot you should use it.  (My machine has "accufeed" which is basically a built in walking foot)  Make sure not to stitch past your perimeter top stitch.

 That's it!  You're done.  Now you can dry your dishes and enjoy your handiwork while you do it!