Potholders and pillow cases!

A few weeks ago I was wandering through a fabric store when I found one of those Alexander Henry prints. If you've seen then, you know what I'm talking about: the prints featuring shirtless men. Yeah, *those* prints.
There happened to be a print with firemen on it, which made me think of my mother in law. No, she's not a man, nor is she a fire fighter. But, my father in law is the mechanic for their fire department, and a few years back he was part of the yearly calendar. For the entire month of May, many calendars were open to a pic of my father in law, shirtless, posing with his toolbox, fire engine in the background. Having three boys, I don't think my father in law will ever live that down. But my sweet mother in law insisted on having the calendar set to May for the entire year. (It may still be up at their house, I haven't checked recently!)
So anyway, I decided that my mother in law needed a pillow case made from this fireman fabric. And being the equal opportunity shop that it was, I was able to find an equally awkward print suitable for my father in law.

Who wouldn't want to receive these awesome pillow cases from their daughter in law? Well, a lot of people, I guess. Luck for me, my in laws have a great sense of humor and they seem to appreciate my quirky gifts!
Now you're probably wondering how this could possibly relate to potholders. Or maybe you've already forgotten the title of this post. Well, in truth the two have little to do with each other. See, I included a Halloween picture from Addy in with the pillow cases. We had another picture to send to my parents, and I wanted to include something hand made. I haven't made potholders in a looong time, so I thought I'd use some of the fun fruit fabric that popped up at the quilt shops recently!

The strawberry potholder is a square in a square in a square. The orange potholder is my first try at a wonky star!

 A fun batik on the back, quilted with organic lines.

 Random straight line quilting, another of my favs! (The back of this one is the lime green print used in the border.)

I used insul-brite for batting in these potholders.

Finished size 9" square.

So there you have it, 1 blog post encompassing innocent potholders and scandalous pillow cases. I'm happy to report that the gifts were loved by all. Do I know my audience, or what? :)