Gifts... or how to pretty-up somthing ugly

Any guess what those are?

First, a story.

My kids are blessed with grandparents who enjoy spending time with them, attending music recitals and watching them play sports.  This means they spend a lot of time in cold rinks.

A couple years ago, my husband gave me an ugly "hot seat" to sit on at the rink.  He didn't buy the ugly one on purpose... they all are!  As much as I like being all warm and cozy, I just could not walk into the arena with a thing that said "Lava Buns" on it, so I made a cover for it.

Before

After

I enjoy the seat, but when the grandparents show up, I usually offer it to one of them. So this year, for Christmas, the grandparents got their own hot seats.  Ladies and gentlemen, I present you "Heat-A-Seat".  I guess the Lava Buns wasn't so ugly after all.  These things are hideous.  What were they possibly thinking?

So of course, I had to make covers for them.

I went for simple.  No piecing, single fabric, just quilted on one side, a zippered back, and a handle to carry them.  I used up some batik that I love, but doesn't really go with anything.  With this red one, I quilted wavy lines.  I guess I should have used a contrasting thread because you can barely see the quilting:

I won't bother showing a close up of the blue one.  I quilted a spiral using - you guessed it - blue thread, and you can't see it at all.

After a short evening of work, two seat covers were done!  I included convenient handles to transport them.

The perfectionists among you might notice that the covers are not really "fitted" and the sides are a bit loose.  This was necessary because the seats expand a bit when you sit on them.

It so felt good to dress up these ugly orange things, I had to take a picture of the "zipping up" maneuver!

Bye bye ugly seat.  Hello, elegant to sitting at the rink.  These will be put to good use very soon.  Go team!