The No-Mistake, Mistake....

I saw these fabric on fabric.com a few months back...They were on sale and I loved them....perfect quilting fabrics.  Alas, when they came, they were a deco fabric..too heavy for quilting...I was so annoyed with self for being a dummy!   

Today..good came from bad! I decided to started on holiday sewing.
Ironing pads!!
 They are 36 by 22...as I wanted to get the best use of the ironing board fabric. (I did not use pre-quilted, but quilted my own). I left the back bigger so I could self bind...with the enormous help of heavy duty starch to keep the binding in place.  I put inside both batting and Insul-Bright because I am always worried about ruining furniture on a retreat or at someone's house.  That, with the decor fabric, makes them quite protective.

I adapted these from the tutorial here.

Ironing pads

The dog got Eva's bear.  I mended it best I could cause I know a bear is a well loved creature.  She looks a bit rough, but a girl has to take care of herself..and this one will. While looking for extra stuffing for the arm, I found some ironing board material....hmmmm

So,in keeping with my mindless work nowadays (Joy says it is ok!)...I decided to make some Ironing pads.....While my mat is about 20 by 36, I had enough fabric left for four small mats...about 16 by 18 inches.  I used the green ironing material with Insule-Brite and backed it with the funky IKEA fabric left over from the    hotpads. When you look at funky...keep in mind that this fabric won first place in the Stockholm university student art contest.  I put the ties on and the hangers on...and mindless became a task accomplished and a good day.  I may consider donating one or two to our Guild's shop at our quilt show in March.

On one retreat, we ruined the ironing board cover.  Ever since, Sherry has convinced me that these small mats put on the ironing board in a public place saves grace and..put next to the machine are very handy.