Happy New Year of Projects!

 I was busy with a lot of projects through the fall, including Christmas gifts, which is where I'm starting for this first post of the year.

Linda (my mother in law) and Scarrie (my sister in law) suggested that I make them bowl cozies this year. What are those? you may ask, like I did. I pictured some kind of quilted cover, like teapots can get. But then I did some research.

Bowl cozies are indeed quilted, but you use them to protect your fingers from a warm bowl after you warm the bowl and its contents up in the microwave. Yes, if you make them out of the right materials - all cotton, for example - you can even put the cozy safely in the microwave with the bowl. Handy if you're microwave isn't at countertop height. I found several patterns, and decided to go with this one, from SewCanShe. It seemed pretty straight forward and do-able. 

I started in November, with making a set for my sister-in-law Naomi, who has a birthday that month. Her set has a loop, which I didn't keep adding, as I made more, and more... and more of the cozies.

Naomi likes birds!

Then when a friend of mine had her knee replaced, I figured bowl cozies would be an excellent addition to her kitchen. Soup is a great healer!

Eight made so far...

Then I got busy on the Christmas gifts. They took some time to cut out, with two layers of fabric and one of batting - get the Wrap and Zap if you want it to go in the microwave! You have to cut some darts to get the cozy to have its "bowl" shape. I made sets of four, with a few exceptions for twos, and ONE larger one on a special request from my brother. If you want to make them, remember to use cotton fabric AND cotton thread. I went through a lot of cotton thread! By the time I was done for the season, I had made over 3 dozen bowl cozies! (of course I made a set for us, too!)

Stacking up for giving!

Although they take a bit of time to prep for sewing, the sewing goes pretty quickly. I took the time to zig-zag the outer edge to help stabilize that outer edge and keep it neater. And, they should go in the washing machine well, too! I would be willing to tackle these again, and I think they made a great inexpensive, handy gift!