Monday, April 19, 2021

Kitchen Stitchin Blog Hop (and a Give Away)

Thank you Carla for this wonderful idea. 


When Carla announced this hop I felt it was a no brainer that I sign on, after all I make kitchen goodies all year long.  The problem was the "what".  I started a list and it contained all of the basics. Problem with that was I wanted to do something(s) that weren't all that basic.

A couple of these ideas have shown up on my posts before but these versions are new just for this hop.  

First Up are my faux paper towels.  These came to be in my kitchen about a year ago when paper products were in high demand but no where to be found.  At that time I found an old king size flannel top sheet and cut it into 6.5 x 11.5 chunks.  I folded the edges in about .25 inch and zig zagged in place.


The picture shows the Bounty towel that I used as my guide  next to a cut piece (1 of 12) that I found still in my UFO box, and a finished one that I have been using since last March.

 I  use these for just about everything. I now only use paper for things that are greasy,  floor related or dog related.  


I keep them on my counter is a basket I found in my garage and 


they have their own laundry basket where they share space and weekly laundering with my dish towels and cloth napkins.
I have cut my paper towel usage at least in half over the year.

Second on my list is my new favorite.  A Dish Drying Mat.  This is a wonderful quick gift idea. For Christmas one of my quilty friends made me one.  With it she included  this link for the youtube video she based my  mat on. Instead of batting these mats are filled with foam. The one she made was filled with Bosal and the one I made is filled with Pellon Flex Foam. Of course since I opened mine a day before Christmas it gave me time to make a couple as gifts and to share the link with a couple of my  quilty friends. Each and every one of us have made and gifted away several of them and they were received happily.  


I made this one for the gal who made mine.  As we are all too familiar with the concept that you make and share a goodie and then don't have one of your own I thought she would be a great target for my Kitchen Gift Idea for this hop.  


Front and Back


I think that this mat with matching dish towels is a wonderful and very useful hostess gift idea. If you wanted a slightly larger gift add matching pot holders or bowl buddies.  I knocked out the mat and towels on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

My third and last item for this hop was the most fun and just a little bit challenging because I've not seen it done before so I had to logic it out on my own.

Do you remember when the candy bag zip pouches came on the quilting scene?  Well at that time I got the idea that I could do something else with the concept like make a placemat. So 3 - 4 years later I was finally ready to give it a try.


 So the other day I gathered together these items  A couple of McDonald's plastic carry out bags,  a roll of iron on vinyl, a sheet of large card stock and my quilting cutting and ironing stuff.

This became a learn as you go project.  The bag is only placed on the card stock so when laying the vinyl on top things started to shift and things started to stick to things. Lots of swearing, and giggling and learning involved.



for anyone interested the bag is about .5 inch smaller than the card stock on all sides.  the card stock ended up about .5 inch smaller than the vinyl on all sides after ironing it all together and trimming.  It may have been easier to do with out the bag on the back but I really feel it was well worth the effort.



These placemats have already been gifted to a friend who shares my love of McRibs.

Ok so I don't know if this counts as number 4 or 3.5 but here goes.  
A couple of days after finishing the placemats my brain had another major twitch.  I was thinking about making one of these placemats for my great nephew who is 2.  When trying to figure out what I wanted to use for the design I thought a coloring book page would be fun.  


Then I thought that maybe it would be more fun if it could be colored over and over again.  I was so excited to give this a try that I forgot to lower the setting on my iron down from cotton which caused a lot of puckering of the vinyl on the outside edge. I will use this one to test different types of coloring tools before trying it again. Oh, and up to the time of ironing it was easier to just stick the vinyl to the cardstock. Once I master the coloring part the next one I will just print different designs  on front and back of the card stock.

I'm thinking GIVE AWAY,  I think I'll make a seasonal type drying mat for one of you who leaves a comment.  Just let me know what holiday / season you might like a drying mat for.  I'll pick a winner Sunday evening 4/25/21

I'm done now.  Please stop in and visit all of the greatly talented and creative folks participating in this hop.  The variety of ideas will just knock you over and fill your must do list.  I'm thinking Christmas gifts (may be) getting completed very early this year.  Here is the complete list for your viewing pleasure.

50 comments:

  1. Wow, lots of great projects. I love the idea of the paper towel replacements. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  2. Great projects! The re-usable paper towels are a wonderful idea.

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  3. Your projects are all so cute! Especially the coloring placemat idea for kids and the drying mat. I could use one or a few of those. Right now I just use a plain dish towel. A mat would be so much prettier. A Christmas one would be nice.

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  4. Love all your projects! Practical and cute. That drying mat is the winner for me, though! I have a Christmas one so a spring or summery one would be a nice change. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. I really like the coloring page you made, and not just for the little ones. I think it would be a fun idea for adults also. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. Great projects all! I'm on the fence which I like the best, the paper towel replacements or the drying mat. I may have to add the drying mat to a to do list, if I can find room on it to add anything else.

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  7. I have always wanted to make the reusable paper towels. For my babies I used reusable wipes and cloth diapers but I just never got around to the reusable paper towels. Your project inspires me to make some soon. I also love the coloring book placemats. My kids and even I would love them. Thank you! As for the drying mat, anything would be amazing!

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  8. I like this idea, thinking I'll try it for my own kitchen! Drying mats as well! I surely love the fall season! Or Summery Yellow! Looking for some lemon fabrics now!

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  9. Great projects!! I love those drying mats and can never find enough of them clean in my closet. I especially love the alternative and environmentally-friendly paper towels. I used to never use paper towels but years ago we had a cleaning person who asked for them. What a bad habit this has become now!! I'ld love to go back to not using them and maybe your project idea is a good start. We'll see....with young adults still living at home from the pandemic, it's a long shot idea! Thanks so much for sharing. The drying mat giveaway is a lovely idea. I love all things red (except xmas sorry.) I have only two of them now and they're rarely both clean at the same time. Thanks for the giveaway possibility and for a great blog post!

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  10. Great projects, Selina! I’ve made and used those drying mats for years. They work so great. The fabric paper towels are a great idea for reducing land fill. What a cute idea to make coloring book placemats for kids. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that I’ll be you’ll have a few adults coloring on the placemats too. Ha! I know I would want to. And the McD’s bags make fun placemats!

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  11. Yoh have some great ideas that has ramped up my sewing juices!! I need a drying mat for Thanksgiving. We have children that live far away and only get to come once a year. Since they share holidays, we typically get Thanksgiving, and consequently, lots of dishes!!

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  12. Gosh Selina so many great projects. I have had making those fabric "paper" towels on my list forever. I did make 2 drying mats also using foam a few years ago when we got our kitchen remodeled (so you don't need to include me in your give away, since I have 2 already, but so nice of you to give to a lucky winner). I made them using scraps for the top and love them! I have used that iron on vinyl making some zippered pouches from other packing (not candy) and that stuff wrinkles if you have to turn it right side out like for a bag. Fun placemats.

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  13. I love when your brain has "major twitches" because you have such great ideas. Those placemats are awesome! One of these days I'm going to make one of those dish drying mats, hopefully. My sister is a prepper and she would love how you make those "paper towels". I need to make some of those, too. Thanks for sharing!

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  14. I love the drying mat idea a lot, I need a bright cheery one for my camper especially!

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  15. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love fall! I love your ideas and your instructions. Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!

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  16. Oh my goodness, you always inspire me. What a great idea to use flannel instead of paper towels. I wish I had not gotten rid of all the flannel scraps I had, now. LOL!! Isn't that always the way??? Your McDonald's placemats crack me up. What a fun table setting they make. I see kids loving them from all their different favorite places to eat out. I'm anxious to see how your coloring placemat progresses. That's a genius idea to keep kids busy at meal time.

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  17. Wow! You filled up my brain! I use placemats a lot, but never though to cut up the McDonalds bag! Genius! I have made dish drying mats. Using old bath towels. Now I’ll try the foam stuff! A new summery one would be fun!

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  18. Oh what wonderful projects. I love when we can learn as we go and really get excited about something. Hmm, I think a winter type mat would be wonderful. I decorate for all of winter with snowflakes, snowmen and penguins.
    quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

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  19. All your ideas were very useful. I especially liked the dish mat. I have used commercial ones for years but the colors and patterns were limited. Voila. You inspired me to made some.
    The coloring pages and vinyl experiences with making placemats were nice and practical. Thank you.

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  20. Oooh, what wonderful ideas you have! The reusable towels and dish mat are officially on my Christmas to-do gift list for this year! As for me, I love spring or summer themes! Thanks for sharing some great ideas!

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  21. Brilliant projects for the Hop, Selina!! If I'm the lucky winner of your drawing, I would like Spring-themed drying mat.

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  22. Love the matching mat and dish towels!! Perfect!

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  23. Oh, reusable dish towels are great. I'll have to make me some.

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  24. Such wonderful kitchen Projects! I have made quite a few dish-drying mats, also. I love the idea of adding the decorative tea towels to make a nice gift!

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  25. Great projet ideas! I think that I need to make some drying mats; mine is getting a bit bedraggled after years of use. Thanks for sharing.

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  26. Wow, such great ideas!!! A Christmas mat or an autumn mat would be lovely!

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  27. I love the paper towel replacements....great idea. The drying pad is terrific tooo. I am excited to make a few more items!

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  28. You've been as busy as a beaver with all your projects. They are all so useful and sweet. Doing a project and sharing it with a friend is a great idea!

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  29. I love the coloring placemat idea and I’m going to have to try the drying mat. I think it looks ideal fir camping in any summery theme.

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  30. I love the coloring placemat idea and I’m going to have to try the drying mat. I think it looks ideal fir camping in any summery theme.

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  31. I love the coloring placemat idea and I’m going to have to try the drying mat. I think it looks ideal fir camping in any summery theme.

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  32. Great idea on the paper towel replacements - I'll have to make some

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  33. Love your creative ideas. I will have to try some of these. Would love to have a seasonal drying mat for canning season--that is when I need these.
    slrdowney at hotmail dot com

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  34. What terrific ideas Salina! I have never seen any of those ideas before and love them all. If I was lucky enough to win, I would just like a spring related drying mat. Thanks for sharing all your wonderful ideas!

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  35. How creative and fun. Thanks so much for sharing your projects. Thank you for the chance to win. The first season that always comes to mind is Halloween, but a Spring version would be beautiful.

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  36. Wow, such clever ideas! Love those paper towel replacements - and the drying mat is a brilliant project. Thanks for the link to the instructions, I must try this!

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  37. Your post is stocked full of so many great ideas. I love everyone of them. Thank you for hopping with us. Your projects always inspire me.

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  38. LOVE the drying mat idea!! this is awesome - also the paper towel replacement!! Thanks for such great ideas - I would love a Christmas mat - I'm in Florida for Christmas usually and it would be a nice addition to my kitchen! Thanks for sharing

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  39. Selina, your creativity never ceases to amaze me. I love the placemats and your cloth towels. Not entering since I've won one of your giveaways in the past but I had to let you know I stopped by :)

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  40. I love your paper towel idea, and the drying mat. I like the idea of a fall drying mat. Thanks so much for your generousness!

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  41. What great ideas for the kitchen. I also made something simular to the paper towel. I cut served pieces of flannel rolled together and put in a wipes container with a bleach and soap solution. Great for wiping down the counter and cupboards. Love your give away. Any season would work for me.
    In stitches
    Annette

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  42. Great kitchen ideas. I love fabric towels, and yours are really nice.

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  43. Wow! So many great projects! I’m not sure which one to try first since they all work perfectly for a few little gifts I need to make. Thank you for sharing all these fun ideas. I’m thinking Christmas dish mats, Christmas “paper towels and colouring book place mats for some of the grands and all of the great grands. 😉 Carol

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  44. So many awesome projects. I have a drying mat in my future works right now too. Great ideas for gifts too. Oh and the paper towels is an awesome idea. I have been using old T-shirts that were past their prime.

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  45. Great ideas, thank you for sharing them!

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  46. Wow, those are great projects!! I had the same idea with the faux paper towels but never got to them! I will have to try some soon :) xx

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  47. I have made a dish drying mat out of old blue jeans and used an old towel for the filler. I don't chane it out so any holiday would work for me. Thank you for the chance to win one of yours.

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