I’m just so excited about these flickr swaps.  I mean, I have plenty of people (family and friends) to sew fun things for, maybe I don’t really need to spend all this time and effort to make something for a stranger?  And also,  I have a list of garments I’d like to make for myself too, but these swaps, sheesh, they are addictive.

So, this work in progress (wip) is a set of quilted coasters for the Potholder Pass 9 swap.  I chose the coasters because I don’t have the inulsated, heat-resistant batting required to make a potholder.  The swap mamma, Amy, offered the option of making quilted coasters in this round.  So, that’s what I chose.

My partner seems pretty open to whatever, and her flickr favorites and photostream is fun and bright and modern.  She did make mention of the color red, so I’m going with red 🙂  I have some leftovers from my New Wave Quilt and some Black Quilter’s Linen I’ll use for the front.

I jotted down and sketched out some ideas in my moleskine during a meeting at work – lets call it “doodling” – and this is what I ended up going with.  At least so far.

Reverse applique.  I’ve never done it before.  I usually go google searching for a tutorial when trying something new, but this time I decided to just wing it.  And I think I did a pretty good job of it! 

Here’s what I did:

1. I traced out the window sizes onto the wrong side of the front (black) fabric.
2. Machine basted along the traced lines.  I did this to make pressing easier.  Probably could have done without it, but hey.  I’m learning, right? 
3. Cut out the shape and snipped to the corners so I could turn under the raw edge.
4. Pressed the turned under raw edge.
5. Pinned the back (print) fabric in place and then stitched with the right side facing up a little less than 1/4″ away from the edge.

For the second coaster, I “fussy cut” the birdies on the chair.  I got smart and used the tracing paper and wheel to make the markings.  I was pretty proud of myself with that one! 

They’re looking good if I do say so myself.  I’m not sure what I’ll do for the other two, but I’ll share a photo when I’m done!

Happy Sewing!