Quilted Fabric Coasters

Pieced Quilted Fabric Coasters

With the two big cross country moves the past two years I misplaced my lovely fabric coasters. Oh, they are somewhere. Most likely they are in a box in the storage unit that ended up being used far longer than I anticipated. So it felt like quite the score when I found six front pieces and a dozen flannel pieces cut and ready to be made into coasters once I cut the backing pieces.

The finished coaster is about 4" square. These were a way of using up scrap fabric. They could also be made with whole 4" squares for front and back with some quilting done to them. That would actually be a great way of practicing free hand quilting.

This dresser is in front of the window and despite my putting a folded blanket on top, I see a lot of cat claw scratches in the wood. I can picture him sliding across the top as he leaps from the bed. Silly cat.

I really do like these fabric coasters though. They work really well to protect furniture from cold, sweating glasses of iced delight. They can be tossed in the washing machine if they get dirty or spilled on.

I used flannel for inside. It's got a nice weight and still wicks away the moisture. If the coasters are too thick they might wobble and make it easier for a glass to tip over.

Cut 4 1/2" squares of backing fabric and 4 1/2" squares of flannel. For the top cut 4 1/2" square of a fun fabric or piece together a fun design, trimming to 4 1/2" square. The design pictured is a log cabin style piece.

Place piece of flannel down, put pieced (or front) piece right side up (wrong side against flannel), and backing piece right side down. The two fabric pieces should be right sides together. Sew around all sides, leaving about 2-3" gap for turning. Trim corners. Turn (stick finger between two pieces of fabric to turn.) right side out. Close gap while topstitching around. Quilt as desired. With this pattern I just wander along the edges of the pieced parts.