PROJECT: Fabric Coasters

Last fall my grandmother gave me a pair of little coffee tables that she wanted me to strip and refinish for her. This was my first experience stripping and restaining furniture so I was excited to try, especially for someone as special to me as my grandmother. While growing up, she encouraged my craftiness, teaching me to sew (gave me my first ever and current sewing machine) to quilt, to knit, make macrame plant hangers and encouraging any other craft I may have used to make a mess in her house. I am very grateful for her creative inspiration and constant encouragement.

I was returning her tables at Christmastime so I decided to maker her handmade Christmas gift fabric coasters to compliment her newly refinished tables. I found the tutorial for these coasters on a cutsie little blog called Flossie Teacakes. Here is shot of the finished products atop one of her refinished tables:


I will give a simple tutorial but feel free to check out the above link for a great tutorial also. First is to gather your materials. For each coaster you will need one fabric square with sides measuring 6.5" and one with sides measuring 4.5". The fabric I used is actually from a scrap bag of quilting fabrics my grandmother gave me with my first hand-me-down sewing machine. The pieces match many of the fabrics used in her quilted living room pillows! You will also need three 4.5" squares of quilt batting to give the coaster some substance. You also need your standard tools like a sewing machine, matching thread and rotary cutter or scissors.


Layer the pieces large fabric square, inside facing up, then 3 layers of batting (this will be compressed a lot by the end) then the small fabric square inside facing down. Pin in place or use spray adhesive if desired.


Then start sewing! Begin on one corner of the small square .25" from the edge. Continue the entire edge of the square and when you reach your starting point, begin a second square .25" from the last sew line. You will be making a kind of square spiral into the center.


After sewing my layers together, my fabric pieces were a little wonky but this is fine -- if this happens to you, just trim up the edges of the large square so it is even with the small square.


Next fold over the large square edges twice and pin down as shown in the picture.


Sew a hidden stitch or whip stitch along the binding you just folded over and you are finished! Repeat for as many coasters as you desire.


Here is a picture of one of the refinished tables where these little coasters now live. I simply followed refinishing directions and used a stripper from Home Depot. The whole process is not hard, but sure is messy and pretty time consuming! I think I will stick to painting furniture or only staining if the wood is raw.


Tune in later this week for another blog post about a costume I had to craft up!

*Bonnybee