I’ll admit I take most of my sewing inspiration from craft blogs. I see others trying new projects and think, “Oooh… I should so do that!” This all started several years ago when I made the fateful discovery of Craftster. The rest is history.
This zakka patchwork mat follows a similar story. I saw it first on LittleBirds and then found another great version made by Autum. I am a scrap saver — mainly because my mom is this incredible quilter and always appreciates when I give her the extras. I pulled out a bag of scraps I’d intended to give her and realized that some of these colors would look so cute in a kitchen mat…

CU, kettle

Slowly but surely I used my Quilting 101 book and my rotary cutter and pieced together these strips. It was easier than I thought it would be, even though it was quite time consuming. I love these color combinations and it isn’t as glaringly bright in person. Pink, orange and lime are another favorite of a certain someone I know. I’m thinking she needs a new Fall kitchen mat, don’t you?

My pink and orange copy

And don’t worry Mama, there are plenty of scraps left!

Patchwork close up

{Funny tangent, my mom finds it all too strange that I took up quilting, sewing and a love of crafts about two seconds after their moving van pulled away from their house in Arizona, headed to the new casa in Texas. My mom has been sewing as long as I can remember. There are some clothes she sewed me in elementary school I’d actually rather not remember. Regardless, the woman is darn crafty. I don’t find my new hobbies strange in the least. I’m missing my family + crafty mama = me sewing to feel like a piece of her is still here. Easy math.}

~K