Protect your table and counters from hot casserole dishes with these large hot pads. They’re sized to fit under a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with room to spare.

And since they only take 30 minutes, and a small amount of fabric, to make, you may want to consider whipping up some extras for gifts.

What You Need:

A 10″ x 14″ piece of 100% cotton fabric for the front
A 13 x 17″ piece of 100% cotton fabric for the back
A 10″ x 14″ piece of Insul-Bright batting
(2) 10″ x 14″ pieces of batting (I used Warm & White)
100% cotton thread
A ruler
Scissors
Sewing pins
A sewing machine

Optional (but nice to have):

An air or water-soluble marker
A self-healing cutting mat
A rotary cutter (This is what I have)
A walking foot for your sewing machine

Warning: Be sure to use 100% cotton fabric and thread. Poly and cotton/poly blends may melt, when they come into contact with hot dishes. Since Insul-Bright batting contains aluminum, these hot pads aren’t microwave safe.

What You Do:

Lay your 13″ x 17″ piece of fabric on your work surface, good side facing down. Measure 1.5″ in on all sides, and make a mark.

Center a piece of batting between your marks. Then, layer on the Insul-Bright, the other piece of batting and your 10″ x 14″ fabric. Use several pins to hold the layers together, so they won’t shift when you’re sewing.

Use an air or water-soluble marker (or another marking tool) to draw a pattern onto the top layer for quilting. I just drew a diagonal line from each corner to form an “X”. Then, bisected the “X” with two more lines. But, you may want to do something different.

Use your sewing machine to stitch along the lines that you drew. If you have a walking foot, I definitely recommend using it. It’ll make all of those thick layers more manageable.

When you’re done quilting your hot pad, lay it back on your work surface, good side facing up. Then, fold the backing fabric in half on the long sides, so it meets with the edge of the rest of your layers. This will create the binding for your hot pad.

Trim a little rectangle out of the corners to eliminate some of the bulk. This will make it easier for your sewing machine to stitch through all the layers.

Then, fold the binding down on the long sides to create the finished edge for your hot pad. Pin the binding in place.

To create the binding for the short sides, just fold the edges like a present.

Start by folding the corners in to create a triangle.

Then, fold the binding in half, so it meets the edge …

and finish by folding it over the edge of the hot pad. Pin the binding in place. You should now have four neat, mitered corners.

Sew the binding down, 1/8″ from the edge; trim your threads, and your hot pad is ready to use!

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