I just spent an
afternoon making a pair of potholders.
They are good potholders.
Well-made, sturdy, functional.
I took my time with them. I carefully chose favourite fabrics
from my scraps and put a double layer
of cotton batting inside them. I used a
stitch-and-flip method that let me construct both sides at the same time. I bound them neatly.
They will be given as
a gift to a young couple who are getting married this summer.
 |
| Scrappy potholders |
I am sure these
potholders will not match anything in the bride’s kitchen. I did not ask what colours she might like or
what style of decorating she is using. The two potholders are not the same colours
-- they are not even the same colours on both sides!
Since they don’t match
the bride’s kitchen – or worse – look like they were SUPPOSED to match but
failed! – she isn’t going to be too concerned about them. She won’t hang them on the wall to keep them looking
nice. When she moves from this home to
her next one she won’t find that they are no longer right and can no longer be
hung on the wall so they have to be stuffed into a drawer somewhere. Until yet another move comes along and she
wants to get rid of them in a yard sale but is afraid to because the person who
made them (she will have long since forgotten who it is) might come along and
see them in the sale and be offended.
No, these potholders
are so obviously not made to coordinate with her décor. So I hope she will hang them on a hook near
the stove and use them. They will help her take trays of cookies and
pans of roasted vegetables out of her oven.
They will get splattered with bacon fat and the edges will be stained
with pasta sauce and she will throw them in the laundry. One day she will look at these potholders and
realize that there are holes burnt in them, and stains that will no longer come
out and she will decide that they are totally gross and she will drop them into
the trash. That is good -- they will
have served their purpose and she won’t have to move them from place to place.
Today as I sat happily
stitching the squares and strips together to make these potholders I worked in
my love and prayers for Kirsten and John.
The potholders will wear out, but even when the potholders are long
gone, the prayers will remain, and that is far more important.
