I am a big believer in dish towels. I have tons of them in my kitchen and use them for drying all kinds of things from plates to my hands. They also work as trivets, pot holders, and napkins-- plus they eliminate the use of disposable paper towels, which is always a good thing.

The soft, absorbent Nani Iro woven solids are ideal for making dish towels. I love both of the the colors this unusual fabric comes in, chocolate brown and a lovely off-white, so I decided to make a set of four towels, two in each color. As an accent I added some very cute, yet very simple Trefle Twill Tape printed with brown and white squirrels. This little border gave me an opportunity to practice my edge stitching, a skill which I've always been a little iffy on!

I think these make a wonderful housewarming gift or wedding present. Their basic bold colors and overall usefulness make them perfect for just about anyone! Best of all the whole project takes about 2 hours from start to finish.

Just as a little aside, I make all of the projects for my "Sketchbook" in the kitchen of the apartment I share with my boyfriend. As I was making these dish towels he walked by and (totally unprompted) commented that he really liked them. It's hard to find handmade projects that work for either gender so it's nice to know these are "man approved."

If you'd like to make a set (and maybe learn how to edge stitch in the process) please visit my Quick Dish Towel Project Journal.

Oh, and the beautiful tea cups in the pictures are made by my friend Diana Fayt, a wonderful potter from San Francisco.  Enjoy! --Molly