Log Cabin Hexi Potholder Free Sewing Pattern

log cabin hexi potholders

You will love sewing this Log Cabin Hexi Potholder Pattern! These cute potholders are the perfect way to use up fabric and batting scraps and practice quilting. Plus when I’m done I have a beautiful and useful item.

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The Log Cabin Hexi Potholder patter in the blog post below is free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The Optimized for Printing PDF download for $3 is optional.

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Sometimes I give them away and (I admit) a lot of the time I keep them for myself. Having a cute potholder makes cooking bearable for me. Why only bearable? Because I’d much rather be sewing. 🙂

I stitched these three potholders in an afternoon. Two of them are totally scrappy – one from my green scrap bag and one from my pinkish-purple scrap bag. I decided to use mostly solids on the third one so the tutorial photos wouldn’t hurt your eyes. 🙂

Except for the Insul-bright insulated batting, these were made entirely of scraps from other projects. So let’s get started!

Log Cabin Hexi Potholder Pattern

You will need:

  • scraps of fabric

  • a piece of Insul-Bright insulated batting at least 9” x 10”

  • a scrap of cotton quilt batting at least 9” x 10”

  • a piece of fabric at least 9” x 10” for the back

  • a scrap of ribbon about 6” long

To cut the center hexagon, you will need a hexagon template with 2’’ sides. I used a 2’’ hexagon paper piecing paper. I also made a printable template for you that you can download here.

Cutting

Cut your scraps into strips 2” tall. You will need:

  • 6 strips 4” or longer (for the first round)

  • 6 strips 6” or longer (for the second round)

Then cut out 1 hexagon with 2’’ sides (using a 2’’ sided paper piecing paper as a guide).

Sewing

1. For the first round, use your shorter strips that are 4” long. Lay the first strip on any side of the hexi (right sides facing).

Line the bottom of the strip up with one corner of the hexi and let the rest hang off the top.

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2. Start sewing halfway down the first side of the hexi with a 1/4” seam allowance. This is the partial seam. You will sew half of it now, and half of it later.

3. Open the fabric and press or finger press flat. Trim away the extra triangle of fabric to make a straight edge for the next strip.

4. Working in a clockwise direction, place the second 4” or longer strip of fabric on the next side of the hexi. This strip should cover the hexi side plus the first strip. Sew with a 1/4” seam allowance.

Press or finger-press the second strip open and repeat Steps 3-4 until you have 6 strips sewn to the center hexagon. You’ll need to fold back the first strip to sew on the 6th strip.

5. Fold back the first strip to trim away the little triangle from the last strip.

6. Pin the first strip over the last strip, taking care that it extends in a straight line. Stitch, ending your stitching in the same place where you began. Press.

7.. Using a ruler and rotary cutter (or a pencil to mark the place to cut) trim away the extra fabric from each strip. You should be able to align the seam lines with the 1 3/4” mark on your ruler and slice off the top.

8. Repeat steps 1-8 with the 6” or longer strips for the second round.

9. Use your finished ‘top’ as a pattern to cut out one backing, one piece of Insul-Bright, and one piece of cotton batting.

10. Stack the finished top on the piece of Insul-Bright (shiny side toward the top) and ‘quilt as desired,’ or don’t quilt at all if you wish. On this one, I quilted in a spiral pattern in the middle of each strip and stitched ‘in the ditch’ along the inner seams.

11. When you are done quilting, fold the 6” scrap of ribbon in half and baste the ends near one corner of the potholder.

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12. Stack the piece of cotton batting on the bottom (if you are using one) and the backing on top (right sides together). Pin in the corners. Stitch all the way around, leaving a 4” opening on one side (not the side with the ribbon). Clip the corners without cutting the stitching.

13. Turn right side out, pushing all of the corners out. Press. Hand-sew the opening shut. Alternatively, you could topstitch all the way around the potholder to close the opening. But I like the puffy edges so I would rather not topstitch.

Now comes the hard part… are you going to keep it or give it away? Make sure to share the potholders you make with my potholder pattern on Instagram and tag them @sewcanshe so I can take a look.

Happy sewing!

P.S. If by any chance your log cabin hexagon turned out a bit wonky, you will LOVE all the tips and techniques that I share in my new My Log Cabin Hexi Pincushion Video Course. Let me show you how to make perfectly shaped log cabin hexies – plus a new size is included!

Disclosure: some of my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of those links I may receive a small commission, so thank you for supporting SewCanShe when you shop! All of the opinions are my own and I only suggest products that I actually use. 🙂

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28 Comments

  1. Sue Gilliam says:

    I am having trouble getting the template to print to the correct size. Is there any way you can send me a link instead of in the tutorial?

  3. Liz Vyhnalek says:

    Thank you! I absolutely love love love this pattern and tutorial. I am making these for the swaps I’m participating in this season and as gifts for friends and family. It is so quick! I added an extra piece on the back to make it easier to stay on while grasping hot pies from the oven. Beautiful tutorial. Thank you!!!!

  4. So I successfully completed the first round but I do not understand how to square it up so I can sew the second round. I need clearer steps?

  5. conniecrafter says:

    Just saw this on pinterest, cute pattern, will have to give these a try, thanks for sharing!

  6. Joyce Hardt says:

    Love this pattern…quickly made one up….making theses for my Christmas baskets this year…thank u….😀

  7. Love all your posts.. great ideas.. one wish… print button?? would love to print some of the instructions! thanks..

    1. Hi Sally! Have you downloaded the free pattern from Craftsy? That’s where I’m offering it as a printable. My blog provider does not offer a print button, otherwise I would put it up. 🙂

      Caroline

  10. Ever since I got this pattern on Craftsy, I have kept a plastic bin where I place any 2 inch strip scraps that are 4 to 8 inches longs. I also cut hexi’s from cute fabrics for the center pieces and toss them in the bin. I also cut the batting in multiples when I can. When I am in the mood to sew and don’t feel like a big project, I will put a couple of these together and keep them in a drawer for gifts as needed. I love to make these, and have even used "team" sports fabrics for guys in my life. Love this pattern.

  11. I must be doing something wrong… my final hexagon "top" is too big to fit in a 9 inch by 10 inch piece of fabric, no matter how I rotate it! It needs a 9 by 11 piece to fit…
    Suggestions? All of my fabric pieces fit together and I’m pretty sure that I trimmed them correctly, but it doesn’t fit!

    1. Perhaps your center template got enlarged during printing. No worries! Just use the amount of backing, batting, and insulbright that it requires for nice big potholders! If you don’t want big potholders, you can trim it to the desired size now.

  12. Denise Wichman says:

    This is a great pattern and fun to make. I’ve just started log cabin quilting and enjoy the versatility. I made this one today and am so pleased with it. Would live to share a pic with you. I look forward to your daily emails to see what to add to my Projects to Do list. Thank you for sharing your passion and skill of needle arts.

  13. I have polyester batting on hand. Is it OK to use that instead of cotton quilt batting?

    This looks like a really cute project!

    1. I would be cautious using polyester batting because it wouldn’t react well to high temperatures. But if you do try it, let us know how it works out! xoxo

  14. Rosemary b says:

    I love this. Thank you dear dear Caroline for everything you share

  15. Leslie Hahn says:

    Just finished my first log cabin quilt. Can’t wait to try these.

  16. Cheryl Smith says:

    Thank you for sharing! I’m always on the look out for fun/easy projects for Christmas gifts for my coworkers and now is not too early to start planning!

  18. Thank you for all you share..I made a couple of these and LOVE them, at first I wasn’t sure about the scrappy look, but in the end they are my favs!! So fun and easy!

  20. I love this pattern — I have lots of left over 10-inch squares that need a project of their own! Thanks for the inspiration.

  22. Nancy L Crawford says:

    I may be going blind, but I could not find the pink box or the link to the PDF, Really cute pattern.

    1. Nancy L Crawford says:

      All it took was saying I couldn’t find it, & magically it was there the next time I scrolled to the bottom!!!

  23. These are super cute and I want to make them – do you use two pieces of cotton batting and one piece of insul-brite? And, do you quilt through the insul-brite layer?

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