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Saturday, February 5, 2011

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!

16 comments:

  1. Great idea. Saw your link on Craftster. I've bookmarked it to try, my daughter and I are learning to sew together :)

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  2. What a great (and quick) idea!

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  3. I just joined craftster this morning, and your's was the first project I looked at. Awesome idea! Thanks so much for sharing it. :)

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  4. what a great idea! Leigh at The Sewing Diva via the skip to my lou linky party

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  5. Love this! I hate the look of my yucky dish towel and would love to see a pretty quilt to put my dishes on!! THanks!!

    Blessings
    Janelle
    www.usmajcole.blogspot.com

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  6. very nice idea .. thanks for the tutorial

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  7. Found this via Stumbleupon. It's lovely! Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Loved the tutorial! Relinking your blog on mine.
    Thank you for sharing!
    hugs

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  9. This is awesome! I think I'm going to make myself one today. :) I don't have a dishwasher so wash my dishes by hand and would love to have something bright and pretty to put my cups on! (Great Christmas gift idea, too - thank you!) I just pinned it on Pinterest. :)

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  10. Here's the one I made! https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xCF_or4ofktHac5Ab5bPawEvPk-wVDiwUjvvuwEbwVQ?feat=directlink

    I got off a bit on the edges and the towel behind it was tighter for some reason than the front. Any suggestions on how to prevent that? It happens to me sometimes. I'm a beginner teaching myself to sew by doing so I just keep trying, lol. It could be my sewing machine foot.

    ANYWAY, thanks for the tutorial - I love that I get to look at this pretty fabric when I do dishes now. :)

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  11. What a cool idea. I am going to link it on Pinterest.

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  12. Now, why didn't I think of that? I'm always just wiping up the puddles of water! Genius.

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  13. what a Great Idea. I just want to run to my sewing machine and fabric stash right now and make one for myself. These would make a lovley gift also.

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  14. Hi, when I do one I will be sure and post a picture on my blog: Creative Lady's Creative Thoughts for you to see @ www.dianeswett.blogspot.com

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