Weekend Project: Watched Potholders Boiling

You don't sew with a fork, so I see no reason to eat with knitting needles.

Miss Piggy on eating Chinese food

Cooking is like sewing - it's all about having the right tools for the job. I spent much of the weekend working on the potholders that my Grandmother requested to give as Christmas gifts to her friends.

I have them basically assembled and only need to quilt them. I am planning to do a quick hand basting stitch to ensure a good alignment between the patterns on the front and the back of each potholder before machine quilting.

Note that, within each pair, the back of one potholder matches the front of the other (and vice versa), so that each person can expose two matching faces if so desired. Without further adieu, here they are:

In other news, my Mom and Dad (69 & 71 years old, respectively) returned from their six-week biking & camping trip through Croatia (yes, you read that right!) and my Mom was delighted with her birthday blouse. Happily, I picked the best size (given that I didn't have her measurements or anything).

Finally, a quick update on Ana and Juana. Everything is going really well! They are each working on a project with the fabrics that I picked up for them in New York City. Ana is making a blouse using the same pattern that Juana used for her dress. Juana is making a skirt using a pattern from the Patrones magazine - this is a new experience for ALL of us! I'll tell you more about it later.

Today, however, we took a break from those projects to make pants patterns, using the article in an issue of Threads magazine. Susan (the bride of the Wedding Dress Saga) came over to help us. Susan and Ana made her pattern, while Juana and I made hers. It took us about 2.5 hours. Afterwards, Ana served us all a Mexican specialty - arroz con leche - sweet milk with rice (and a dash of cinnamon).

I was really happy with how well it went - especially Ana working with Susan, as Susan doesn't speak any Spanish. Susan also took the time to admire the clothes that Ana and Juana have made so far - and they really enjoyed showing off for her! It was a really nice afternoon. :)

I'll be sure to show you how their pants come out! If the pattern is a success for them, I think we'll work on translating it into Spanish, so that they can make pants patterns for their friends.