Fat Quarter Friday {Cooling Mat Tutorial}

This week I'm sharing a tutorial for something that I desperately needed. Most of you know by now that when I bake or preserve our veggies and fruits, I do so in large quantities. That means my kitchen usually becomes a huge mess and I end up using every pan and bowl in sight. The only problem that I usually run into is the lack of cooling racks and the size of the racks. I get so irritated because even though I have a bunch of cooling racks I still never have enough cooling space. I knew there had to be an easier way of cooling pans and that's when my crafty mind came up with some cooling mats. The cooling mats are made the same way as hot mitts or hot pads, just increased in size to 24" x 14". Can I tell you how much I already love these mats!! Seriously! I made the mats big enough so that I could place two muffin pans or two pie pans side by side. The mats will also fit one large jelly roll pan, perfect for when we make pizza's. These mats are also going to work great for canning. And for those of you that are lucky enough to eat at a dining room table how fabulous would these work for putting your hot dishes onto the table? I made one mat with bias tape and two without. I love the looks of the bias tape trimmed cooling mat, but love how much quicker the other two mats without bias trim came together. Of course you could really spice these mats up by quilting them before adding the bias tape. Ok, I think you all get the point...I love these mats!

Cooling Mat Tutorial

(allow 1-2 hours depending on which mat you make)

Materials Needed:

*2 large pieces of fabric (a little larger then a fat quarter) to your desired size for your mat.

I cut my pieces 25" x 15" to give me a 24" x 14" mat.

*Insul-Bright (same size as fabric pieces)

*Warm and Natural cotton batting (same size as fabric pieces)

*Bias tape about 85" long (about 1-2 packages if store bought) I made my own bias tape.

Cut your two pieces of fabric, Insul-Bright and 2 pieces of cotton batting to your desired sized. I cut mine a little larger then a fat quarter 24" x 14".

Layer all of the pieces together like so: Fabric piece right side down, cotton batting, Insul-Bright, cotton batting and then the other piece of fabric on top, right side up.

Pin pieces together.

Trim any uneven edges.

Grab the bias tape and start pinning onto the fabric pieces, just until you get to the first corner.

If you are using homemade bias tape make sure you sew in a little from the middle of the crease in the bias tape. If you are using store bought tape, make sure you pin the smaller side onto the pieces of fabric first. This will keep you from seeing the stitches on the other side of mat.

When you get to the corners, take your time and square the corners off like shown here. This is a great tutorial if you are new to using bias tape.

This is what the front looks like when the bias tape is sewn onto the front.

Flip mat over and fold bias tape over and under. Start pinning bias tape in place again. The more the pins, the better! Top stitch bias tape and that is it!Super easy, right?!

Now, the next cooling mat is for those of you that do not want to take the time to sew with bias tape. Follow the first few steps above. Except this time you only have to cut the top piece of fabric to the size you want. You are going to use that top piece of fabric as your guide when sewing the pieces all together. Then once the pieces are sewn together you can trim the excess fabric off. I have found it much quicker to do it this way, less cutting and easier to do because you dont have to keep the edges lined up perfectly when sewing.

You will still need to cut two pieces of fabric, two pieces of cotton batting and one piece of Insul-Bright. I cut mine 25" x 14".

This time you are going to layer them a little different.

Layer the pieces like so: cotton batting on bottom, Insul-Bright, cotton batting, One piece of fabric right side up and then the last piece of fabric ontop right side down.

Pin all the pieces together.

Sew all the pieces together, leaving a 2" opening for turning right side out. The pieces don't have to line up perfectly at this point. Just make sure the cotton fabric piece on top is the size you want your mat to be. Another little trick I do is make the sew seam a little bigger on the side you have the opening on. That way when you go to tuck the opening in it is easier to sew shut when your top stitching.

Trim off excess fabric, but leave a little extra fabric at the opening. This makes it easier to fold the opening in when top stitching.

Turn right side out.

Iron flat and top stitch and the edges two times.

And that is it, your finished!

**Please feel free to use this tutorial for your personal sewing projects. You may link this to your blog and use any photo's. Just please be kind and give credit where credit is due.**

Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me. If you make one using this tutorial, please add it to my flickr group. I would love to see it and you just might see it featured on my blog someday!