Dish Mat 2.1

Dish Mat version 2.1 is another Crazy Dish Mat in the same colors as Dish Mat version 1.0. The two primary differences are that 1.0 was quilted in parallel lines while 2.1 is crazy quilted and 1.0 has edge binding while 2.1 will have a serger edge.

Getting better at that straight seam; learning not to watch the needle. Getting faster; not counting quite as many stitches. Getting better at consistent seam allowances even though that isn't as important in the Dish Mat Projects. Getting better at edge binding will have to wait for another project. Want to get better with my serger thus the edge decision for this project. Red serger thread cones arrive tomorrow; hope to finish the project then.

Meanwhile, food for thought.

Picasso is said to have created over 50,000 works of art only about 100 of which are today considered masterpieces. While most of us will never be Picassos, it's worth following his example: create no matter what people think, create something.

<4 days later>

Finished up this project this morning. It came out OK. I had to completely re-thread my serger and that slowed me down a bit. In addition, the tension is not exactly right for this type of material and the edges aren't truly what I hoped for. However, it does look OK and it is MUCH MUCH faster than traditional edge binding.

My one significant regret is that I didn't try to refinish the back of the mat. I used white thread to do the crazy quilt as you go and it shows up on the red of the mat back. Red thread would have helped but the lines would still have been visible. I want to try adding a piece of fabric.... Next time.

That's the end of this story. Five days to complete a 1-hour project. Although to be fair, I lost 48 hours waiting for Amazon to recover from their systems failure and deliver my thread.

dks, 23 Oct 2025