DebraK -
what a great idea for my beginning 4H sewists. I've got a bunch of cut strip sets and this is a win-win project.....the kids take home completed project that looks complicated and I get rid of some scraps.

http://acreativeprincess.blogspot.co...r-coaster.html

Try this one. mcwillia My GD 7 and 10 sewed these as teacher gifts. I had them use 1/2" seam allowance to allow for any shifting of layers. You could then trim the seam allowance. Yes and use old towels for batting and make sure any batting/filler is cotton as polyester transfers too much heat (except for the Insulbrite product). You can even make your focus fabric a patchwork square like DebraK's.

Ronda has a wonderful tutorial in the tutorial section. Here is a link - http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...a-t234479.html

I am lazy when it comes to pot holders. I make the ones that don't require binding - where the fabrics are folded over one another like a box top. I've made them with fabrics folded on the diagonal as well. They do use more fabric, but that's a good thing, right? We're trying to use up those scraps! And you can use a block on the side that's not folded if you want to get fancy.

this would be a good opportunity to practice making blocks that you've never made before. any of those can be finished into potholders. try quilter's cache and just pick a letter and see what blocks come up.