Potholder Pass

I'm participating in this round of the Potholder Pass swap, and this round the theme is monotone.  My secret swap partner picked grey as their color of choice.  I have to admit, at first I was not super excited about making potholders only in shades of grey, but I must say, after seeing them come together, I almost want to keep them for myself!

I made a two coordinating string X blocks, and my finished potholders measure appx 8 inches square.  I used a layer of the insulated batting and a layer of regular batting on the front part.  I have never used insulated batting before, and while I didn't have any problems in the construction stage, it's a little strange in that the potholder almost "crackles" (sounds kind of like wrinkling a plastic shopping bag) when you move it around, but it did quilt quite nicely.

Here's a pic of the back portion with the cut out to insert your hand and a close up of the quilting on the back.  Ever since I had seen Kati from from the blue chair's lattice quilt quilting, I had been wanting to try some "loopy" quilting, and I thought, why not here?  I'm really digging this style of free motion quilting, and can't wait to use it on a bigger project!

I wanted to make a little something extra to send along with my potholders, so when I came across this tutorial from pin.sew.press for a "stay put kitchen towel" I knew it would be perfect.

This was so super quick and easy to put together, and will definitly keep those kitchen towels from falling on the floor!  I will definitly be making more of these in the future for my own kitchen.

I hope my secret swap partner likes their goodies, I certainly had fun making them!