Cleanup/clean-out energy arrived with the New Year, so I had to accept a thing I cannot change: My much-loved, constantly used, nearly worn-out favorite potholders need replacing. Hole-y, thinning potholders can add the cook’s fingers to a meal’s sizzling objects, and that takes the fun out of a functional object. I have not yet pitched my three favorite low-tech, high-performance tools, because I am having trouble locating exact replacements.
This trio, and their many predecessors, came from a gift shop at Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill. Shakertown, a place of peace and beauty, usually attracts me to visit a couple of times each year, and while there, I buy potholders and brooms, if our household needs them. During my most recent visit, the gift shops had no pot holders. Now no potholders appear in the offerings at the online craft store, though other traditional Shaker Village items look quite appealing on the site.
Why do I like them, the quilt-piece potholders? Counting the ways:
- They are beautiful without being hokey.
- They feel perfect in my hand, flexing plenty while also protecting adequately.
- Their cotton fabric feels good and works well in my kitchen.
- They wash well.
- They age well – at least to my love-struck eyes.
I looked online, hoping I could find the wise designers and makers of these lovely, handy kitchen helpers. No luck, though I did see lots of quilted pot holders that were not as elegant or appealing. I am not in despair, because friends are in search of people who might accept a commission to make several new potholders in quilt patterns, using my three as a guide. Of course, if you know the source of these beautiful kitchen objects, please let me know.
I like the potholder designers’ use of quilt designs in a functional object. I am still trying to make up my mind about the quilt pieces on Kentucky barns.
Useful Kentucky barns are their own art form. Sometimes I think the barns themselves are so lovely they overpower the attached quilt piece, even though it is always sizable. The more I see, though, the more I like the barn-quilt combo.
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I talked with Polly Sartin today about your potholders. She said to check at the quilt shop (in the old Ann’s Dress Shop building, 340-0015), they may have some. She, or someone in the guild, will make you what you need.
jd
Beautiful!
I talked with Polly Sartin today about your potholders. She said to check at the quilt shop (in the old Ann’s Dress Shop building, 340-0015), they may have some. She, or someone in the guild, will make you what you need.
jd
Beautiful!
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