A flimsy and a (short) tutorial

While hunkering down with all the rain we've had recently I managed a little some sewing time, not much else to do once the animals are fed and the fire stoked!
I (finally) got Goodnight Irene, the scrappy sewalong hosted by Terry of Terry's Treasures, to the flimsy stage!! I am really happy with how she is looking! At this stage I have no idea how I will quilt her (any thoughts?) so I guess it's ok that she sits on the flimsy pile for a bit waiting her turn - it will give me some thinking time :-)

"Goodnight Irene" onto the flimsy pile :-)

I also had a little fun making this trivet/hot mat —

I had come across a video on YouTube, Potholders and Kitchen Quilts by Kaye Wood, and thought it would be nice to try it out. It was pretty straight forward to make, and a little different, too. So I don't have to watch the video again I started to take notes, and then thought that it could be a good idea to take photos to remind me and then I thought why not put them on my blog in tutorial form so I can easily access it all and so that others could make one too, if they wished ..... So here it is —
(Full credit to Kaye for her YouTube instructions; there is a lot more information on the video, including variations, than what I am writing here, so do go to the link if you are interested.)

Step One; Start with a Hexagon. The ones Kaye used were 8" (measured from a straight side to the opposite side) but mine is 8 1/2" so I adjusted some measurements accordingly.
(Kaye talked in detail about fussy cutting the main fabric so a feature or detail ended up in the centre of the star. I didn't bother).
You also need a 5" strip of contrasting fabric. Because my hexagon was slightly bigger I cut my strip at 6" wide. To determine what width to cut if you have altered the hexagon size, go to step two and play with a square of paper.
Press the strip right sides together and sew LESS than 1/4" along the bottom edge...see photo below :-)

 Step Two; Slice the strip into 5" pieces.... if you have altered the width of your strip, slice it at that measurement..ie.. My strip was 6" wide so it got sliced into 6" pieces. You will want 6 pieces.
Fold the strip as shown in the photo below, pressing as you do it so that you have nice crisp edges to your triangle. Find the centre of each side of the hexagon and pin on the triangles, matching up the centres.
(*If you are altering the sizes, the bottom of this triangle should measure about the same as a side of your hexagon*).

 Step Three; Sew down the centre of each triangle (where the folded edges meet)to secure it. This is indicated by the pin in the photo below.

 Step Four; To complete your trivet you need some Insul Bright and some cotton batting (this absorbs condensation), both cut the same size as the hexagon. Make the hexagon for the back about 7/8" bigger all round. This will be folded to the front as binding so use a fabric you like for this!!
Lay the background down, wrong side up, then centre the cotton batting, the Insul Brite and the top piece (right side up) on top of it.
Pin through all layers to prevent them from moving, then press over the edges of the backgound twice to form a binding. Pin in place.

Step Five; Carefully machine stitch the binding on. Sew around the outside of the folded triangles (but not on them) to add more definition to the star.

Tada! One finished trivet! These don't take too long to make and I think they would make nice little gifts :-)
I'm keen to make some more...these would be fun as coasters and placemats too..... Maybe they will inspire some of you too.
And thank you to Kaye Wood for her video.
Happy creating everyone, and thanks for visiting,