Fabric Loft Coasters

Need a quick hostess gift? Would you like to show off your quilting skills? Coasters really are useful to protect painted or wood furniture, so it doesn’t get too ‘rustic’.  Match a novelty print with the host or hostess and you have a thoughtful gift.

Fabric Loft’s Motley cotton, almost solid lime and white, will show your quilting stitches. Use a print or two if you’re a bit timid with your stitches.  You’ll need a front and back, about 5 1/2” square will fit most glasses, and a square of cotton batting.  Layer the batting, then the front and back right sides together and sew around with a full ¼” seam, leaving a 2” opening. Clip the corners so they will be pointy, turn right side out, then press, paying extra attention to the opening, making it nice and neatly pressed. Instead of hand stitching it closed, we’ll edge stitch it all the way around, all in one seam.

You could stop there, with a little edge stitching, but let’s quilt them so they’ll be especially giftable.  Pick a green thread for the top and white for the bobbin, or if you’re a confident sewist, go with hot pink. Use the edge of your machine’s foot as a guide. Set the machine to have the needle stop in the ‘down’ position so you can pivot. Start at the outside side, stitch – stop – feet up – pivot – feet down, repeat until you reach the center.

To end, tack with a few back and forth stitches. Tip:  If you leave the cut tails long, you can thread them into a needle, pull to the back, knot and tuck the tails into the batting for a neat finish. Time consuming, but such a nice finish!