Week 19 of 52 Weeks of Hot Pads | Maple Leaf Quilt Block - The Little Mushroom Cap: A Quilting Blog

Welcome to the 19th week post of the 52 weeks of hot pads / quilted pot holders. This week we’re making Maple Leaf Quilt Block Hotpad

Here are the list of past week’s posts in this 52 Weeks of Hot Pads Challenge:

I thought it would be a great challenge for me to do a pot holder a.k.a hot pads every single week of 2019. (but I am currently falling way behind, maybe I’ll catch up but if not, it will just be a 52 weeks but not in a single year)

I am planning on having it displayed in my kitchen. They make great decor don’t they?

While I am at it, I am going to be sharing with you a simple tutorial on the process.

You can join in the challenge and make the same hot pads I make every week with the same design or any of your own choice.

Maple Leaf Quilt Block

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This time of the year always reminds me of the piles of leaves. We use to have a maple tree in our backyard that is beautiful when they start changing colours.

It always makes a great scene for photos. I took a finished quilt photo with the maple tree for this quilt HERE>

I thought for this time round, I’ll make a hot pad with the maple leaf block.

This is a classic popular quilt block. And pretty easy.

Things I love & make this 52 weeks of Hot Pad project a lot more fun:

This ruler set – perfect size all of them
This rotating mat – can’t imagine one without this these days.
This Spray Baste – have always been a fan of spray baste, for small quilted projects – a must! although in most of these hot pads I also use pins as they are more than just a single batting in between.
This Batting – the perfect one for hot pads. Or in this hot pad, I am using two layers of cotton batting + aluminium insulation sheet in the middle (I love the final crisp sturdy and heat reflect of the final hot pad with this combo)
My Fabric Scraps!! – read more how I sort my scraps HERE>

How to Make Maple Leaf Quilt Block:

Made from simple patchwork pieces, this block is very popular and I think it’s perfect for an autumn / fall season quick sewing project.

I used scraps from my scrap box, which were all already cut into the common size. You can read more about my scrap organization HERE>

I picked some from the low volume piles and the ambers.

They were 3″ squares and 4″ squares.

From the 4″ squares, I made a 3″ half square triangles.

Making Half Square Triangles

Picking 1 each of the 4″ squares from the low volume and the amber, I place them right side together and sew a quarter inch away from the diagonal line. The I cut through the diagonal line. You can make two from each of this combo. I made 4 blocks.

I only used one from each combo as I wanted the leaf block to be scrappy.

Making the stalk

As for the stalk, I cut through the diagonal a piece of the 4″ square (low volume) as the background and sew a 1″ strip (brown) in the middle back into a roughly square shape.

Then it was trimmed back to 3″ square paying attention the centre of the stalk to be in line through the 45′ diagonal line on my ruler. I love the square rulers. The one similar to mine is available HERE. This set of square quilting rulers has been on my wish list. It is so much easier trimming blocks with these rulers.

Then it was a matter of putting them in the arrangement to make the leaf shape. I love using the portable design board as it makes it easy to transfer from the cutting table to the side of the sewing machine. You can purchase a portable quilting design board here.

Once the block is done, it is time to layer a quilt sandwich. This time I use double batting and a layer of the aluminium insulation sheet.

With so many layers, pins are always better to baste them all together. makes it easier to baste quilt sandwiches.

Time to practice your quilting skill..

I decided to make a simple stipple. I love a good stipple. Not overwhelming and not taking over the patchwork design.

This week we are also working on this motif through Free Motion Quilting Bootcamp. It is so much fun seeing everyone in the bootcamp progressing with their stippling practice.

I always, always recommend people to practice their skills on little projects like these. They don’t go to waste and you’ll get satisfaction to continue on practicing.

Now that it is all quilted, time to trim it so it is all squared up again.

Make a hook and a binding tape (you can follow the tip in this post for piecing the binding tape perfectly when they meet up in the round ).