Teatime Towels
When you're picking up new dish towels, buy a few extras and stitch pretty quilted tea accessories. Choose towels with a windowpane-plaid design for easy quilting guides. You'll also need cotton batting and lining fabric that matches the towels' color. To make a tea cozy: Download the template and print it. With a disappearing-ink pen, trace two templates each onto towel, batting, and lining. Cut out. Stack one piece of batting; lining, right side up; and towel, wrong side up, as pictured. Stitch 1/2-inch seam along the bottom edge to secure pieces. Fold the towel layer up under the batting, so the batting is sandwiched between the towel and the lining. Pin the pieces in place, then stitch along the lines in the towel's pattern to create quilting (or stitch a grid at desired intervals). Repeat to make second half of cover. Pin halves together, towel sides facing, as pictured, and stitch 1/2-inch seam. Invert. To make a trivet or coasters: Start with one square each of batting, fabric, and towel (we used 5-inch squares for coasters and 9-inch squares for the trivet). Stack, as above. Sew 1/2-inch seam along three sides. Stitch fourth side, but leave a 1 1/2-inch opening in the center. Trim corners and sides with scissors. Turn the square inside out. Tuck in the raw edges, and stitch closed. Stitch to create quilting.
