HOTH Day 1: Fussy Cut Quilted Coasters with Gwenny Penny

Welcome to Day 1 of Haul Out the Holly!!! If you thought last year's event was fun, this year promises to be even bigger and better. The next three weeks will be filled with fabulous Christmas tutorials from fifteen different bloggers. Stay tuned... you won't want to miss the awesome projects coming up!

Let's get started! I'm kicking off the series today with a set of fussy cut quilted coasters...

Last Christmas I bought this Alexander Henry "Merry Main Street" fabric...

It's very busy, and I couldn't figure out what to do with it, so I didn't make anything with it last year. I dug it out a few weeks ago and decided that if I fussy cut some of the scenes I could use them to make some cute Christmas coasters (another item that has been on my to-do list for a while). That's how I ended up making these...

There are a lot of great Christmas fabrics that lend themselves to fussy cutting. I just bought some fabric with an adorable vintage Santa print that would be great for this project. I also decided that these would make really cute quilt squares, too, so that may be in the works, but definitely not probably not until next year :) These coasters would be a great addition to your Christmas decor or a great gift for someone on your list this year. Want to put together a set of your own? Here's the how-to...

Materials (to make four coasters):

• main fabric (enough to cut four 3.5" squares of the motifs that you want)
  
• border fabric (1 fat quarter or 4 charm squares)
  
• backing fabric (1 fat quarter or 4 charm squares)
  
• binding fabric (1 fat quarter)
  
• batting (1/4 yd)
  
• coordinating thread
  
• safety pins
  
• rotary cutter or scissors
  
• ruler
  
• fabric marking pen or pencil

Instructions:

Step 1: Start by fussy cutting your motifs from your main fabric. Decide which areas of the fabric you want to cut for the centers of your coasters. I cut mine 3.5" square, but you may need to make them larger or smaller depending on the fabric print that you choose (note: doing so will require you to alter the border fabric dimensions). Cut four of these squares, one for each coaster...

Step 2: Next, cut your border fabric. I used a charm square (5"), so all I did was cut it into four 1.25" strips...

I then trimmed two of the strips down to 3.5" long and left the other two 5" long.

You'll need to do this for each of your four coasters.

Step 3: Lay out one of your main fabric squares and one set of your border strips like so...

Flip the two 3.5" long border strips over onto the main fabric square, lining up the raw edges. Your fabrics should be right sides together. Pin in place...

Sew using a 1/4" seam allowance...

Press seams open, and lay out like so...

Flip the two 5" long border strips over onto the main fabric square, lining up the raw edges. Your fabrics should be right sides together. Pin in place...

Sew using a 1/4" seam allowance...

Press seams open...

See what I mean… wouldn't a bunch of these make an adorable Christmas quilt?

Repeat Step 3 for all four coasters.

Step 4: Time to put your layers together. I cut my batting to 5" square because I was using charm squares (5”) for the back of my coasters. Lay your fabric like so: backing right side down, batting, then your pieced square from Step 3 right side up on top...

Use a couple of safety pins to pin your layers together so they won't shift around when you start quilting...

Repeat for all four coasters.

Step 5: Time to quilt, and don't be afraid if you've never quilted before because these are small and easy to handle. First, stitch in the ditch... right in the seam where your fussy cut square meets your border fabric. Stitch all the way around your main fabric square. I used a bit longer stitch length (3) and a walking foot, but if you don't have one, just use your standard presser foot. Next, stitch a square 1/4" outside of your first quilting stitches all the way around your main fabric square...

Repeat for all four coasters.

Step 6: Next you’ll make the binding for your coasters. I took my binding fabric fat quarter and cut it into 2.25" x 22” strips. In order to make a continuous strip of binding, lay one strip vertically right side up and one on top of it at a 90 degree angle to it right side down…


It’s important that the ends of your strips are square. Pin in place, and draw a line from one outside corner where the two fabrics meet to the other outside corner where they meet…

Sew along the line you just drew. Trim the corner to 1/4” from the seam…


Continue doing this until all of your strips are sewn together. Press the seams to one side. Fold the entire strip in half lengthwise and press. Your binding is ready.

Step 7: I'm going to refer you to the binding tutorial over at Crazy Mom Quilts. There are tons of binding tutorials out there (you can even find one that I did in my Out to Eat Place Mat tutorial), but I recently started using this method, and I really like the results. I'm going to share a few tips for adapting it to this project. Start at the bottom right corner of your coaster. Leaving a 6" tail of fabric, start pinning your binding to your coaster, lining up the raw edges of the binding with the raw edges of the coaster. Place a pin at the corner 1/4" from the edge of the coaster...

Do as I say, not as I do :) This picture doesn't truly show 3/4"... notice that the final binding fabric is different ;)
If you don't want to break out the seam ripper, stick with 3/4". 

Sew 1/4" from the right edge of your coaster, starting 3/4" up from the bottom. Believe me, you do not want to start sewing any further than 3/4” up from the bottom, or you will run into problems later when you try to join your tails together. Stop sewing when you reach your marking pin (1/4" before the edge). Leaving your needle down, rotate your coaster 90 degrees counterclockwise. Backstitch to the edge of the coaster...

That backstitching step is what I really like about the Crazy Mom Quilts tutorial. You need to be pretty precise with your 1/4 inches, though. Follow the binding tutorial, paying special attention to properly folding your corners. Once you get back around to the right side where you started, only stitch down 3/4” from the top edge. Cut the tail to 5”. Then you will have two tails of binding that need to be sewn together…


Take your two tails and fold them back so that the two folded edges meet in the middle along the edge of the coaster…


Press the folded ends really well.


Unfold the ends and use your pencil to mark the fold lines on both tails. Fold your entire coaster in half and pin it, leaving the tails hanging out. Pin the tails right sides together, matching up the fold lines…

Sew along the fold lines that you matched up/marked. There isn't a whole lot of room to play here, so it's a little tricky (that's why that 3/4" was so important). Just take your time. Trim the seam back to 1/4”.


Press the seam open. Refold your binding in half lengthwise and pin along the right edge of the coaster…


Finish sewing the binding down along the right side of the coaster 1/4” from the edge. Repeat for all four coasters.

Step 8: Finally, you'll need to bring the folded edge of the binding around to the back of the coasters. You'll need to decide whether you are going to finish by hand or machine. I went the machine route (if you stop by here regularly, you know I have very little patience for hand-sewing :) Continue following the Crazy Mom Quilts binding tutorial, or follow my tutorial (Step 13... My tutorial uses bias tape, but it's the same idea.)

All done!


We were away for Thanksgiving, so I’m getting out my Christmas decorations today. I can’t wait! These coasters will be finding a home on my coffee table for the next five weeks, although I’m sure my girls will be toting them all over the house :)

Thanks so much for joining me for Day 1 of Haul Out the Holly. I can’t wait for you to see all of the projects that will be shared over the next three weeks. Come back tomorrow for another fun Christmas tutorial!





Click HERE to see more Haul Out the Holly 2011 tutorials!

I'm linking up...
Made by You Mondays on Skip to my Lou
{Sew} Modern Monday on Canoe Ridge Creations
Fabric Tuesday on Quilt Story