Everything’s Better in Fabric
The other night while putting away dishes after dinner I had an idea. We have three very nice Calphalon non-stick frying pans that nest inside one another in a cupboard. To protect these pans 
from scratching each other, we layer everyone’s favorite kitchen accessory-paper towel-between them. While putting one of the pans away, I ripped the paper towel protection for what seemed like the 300th time. Then I thought…what if I made pan protectors out of fabric?!?!
And the perfect 10-minute project was born. I measured the diameter of the two largest pans, hunted through my sizable stash for some fun fat quarters, and got to work. I simply layered two fat quarters right sides together, cut them to the appropriate-sized square, and stitched around all four sides, leaving an opening. I turned this right side out and top stitched all the way around, which closed the opening and created a nice finished look. Voila! Goodbye paper towel, hello fun fabric squares!
If you wanted to, you could improve on this quickie project by adding a layer of batting and/or quilting the finished square (great place to practice some machine quilting!), but I was happy with the simple version. Some cute kitchen-themed fabrics would be fun too-actually, watch for an entertaining themed project with some black, red and white kitchen prints in the August-September issue of Quilt, on sale in early June.
p.s. My mom was visiting this past weekend and I showed her my pan protectors. She really liked them but also mentioned that a friend had started using bubble wrap between her pans. That’s also a great (and faster) idea, but fabric is way more fun!
p.p.s. Oh and one more thing…this 10-minute project became a 15-minute project because unbeknown to me, my darling 2-year-old had gotten loose in my studio at some point and played with the tension knob (thank you, Thomas!). So my first round of stitching had to be redone because it pulled right out. I know that checking my machine before starting each time is a good idea, but for me, it’s kind of like flossing, something I should do for my own good but don’t.
Lisa Swenson Ruble
About the Author: Lisa Swenson Ruble
I made my first quilt when I graduated from college and realized that I needed a hobby to fill all those hours that used to be dedicated to homework! Eleven years later, I'm completely addicted to quilting and thrilled that my day job as the managing editor for Quilt, Simple Quilts & Sewing and Quilt Almanac allows me to "play" with quilts and the friendly world of quilters!
Find great quilting and sewing references at our 
Leave a comment