By Janome Maker: Victoria Newmyer
It’s summertime! And many quilters will begin canning their summer bounty in the next couple of months.
You may have seen some easy jar opener tutorials floating about, but I will always want to add a quilting touch!
These quilted jar openers are a great little project for your scraps. They measure 5.5” square when finished, but you can always increase the size if you prefer a bigger jar opener. Just make sure to increase your starting fabrics by 1.5”-2” all around so you have room to quilt the fabrics.
Here is what you will need to make this project.
Supplies
- (1)-7.5” exterior fabric square
- (1)-7.5” lining fabric square
- (1)-7.5” layer of batting (I recommend thin batting like this one, but you can use regular batting as well.)
- (1)-7.5” square of grippy shelf liner
- Printable template (click HERE)
- Heat/air erasable fabric pen
- Hera marker (you can use the back of a butter knife if you don’t one)
- Thread
- Sewing machine
- Basting spray
- Iron
- Quilting ruler
- (1)-Optional: 4” length of ½” or ¼” ribbon, folded in half
Instructions:
- Create a quilt sandwich by layering your exterior fabric (right side up), the batting layer, then the lining fabric, (right side down). I recommend using some basting spray between the layers to help prevent shifting. Use an iron to set the spray.
- Using two different marking tools, mark a grid pattern on your fabric. I used a 1” grid. I marked the center lines using a heat erasable pen. You will NOT be quilting on these lines at first. They will be quilted later. Mark the remaining grid lines. (I used a Hera marker for these.)
- Take your quilt sandwich to the machine and quilt on all the lines except the center “X” (marked in heat erasable pen in this photo).
- Using the template, trace and cut the quilt sandwich and then the grippy shelf liner. I creased the template just to make sure it would be centered on my “X” quilting lines.
- If you used a heat erasable pen, iron the fabric to erase the center lines marked with the pen. Remark the center lines using a Hera marker. (You won’t be able to use the iron once the shelf liner is on or it may melt the shelf liner.)
- Layer the quilted fabric, right side together, with the shelf liner. If using the ribbon, sandwich it inside the two layers in a corner, making sure the ribbon is completely inside the sandwich. See the pic on the right for the ribbon placement.
- Clip or pin your sandwich, leaving a gap at the top for turning.
- With the grippy side down on your machine, sew a ¼” around the edges, leaving the gap open for turning. Make sure to backstitch at the beginning and end.
- Turn the project right side out, using your fingers to press out all the edges.
- Once the project is turned out and flattened as much as possible, fold in the gap and sew all around the edges using a 1/8” top stitch. Make sure the grippy side is down again so it’s easier to sew. Backstitch at the beginning and end.
- Quilt the last “X” onto the jar opener. This will complete the quilted grid and also keep the shelf liner from shifting during use.
And there you go! This quick project will make a great hostess gift this Christmas and will also be a useful addition to your kitchen. I hope you enjoy making it.
If you have an Instagram account, please follow me and tag me using @midlife_quilter! I would love to see your finished project.
