Want Better Quilting Results? Practice 4 Techniques with Cute Coasters

Four finished coasters in Paperless Piecing technique, Machine Embroidery, Raw Edge applique and Hoop Machine Applique techniques fully stitched and appliqued on PFAFF creative icon 2 sewing machine

One house, four ways to sew it. This post covers four 9″ [22.9cm] house coasters, each made with a different machine technique. They are paperless piecing, built-in machine embroidery, raw edge applique, and in-the-hoop applique. Each has its own free pattern.

Four finished coasters in Paperless Piecing technique, Machine Embroidery, Raw Edge applique and Hoop Machine Applique techniques fully stitched and appliqued on PFAFF creative icon 2 sewing machine

materials

fabric

  • scraps in ombre green, warm yellow, off-white, brown, blue, and burgundy
  • backing and batting, 11½″ square for each coaster
  • a 2″ x 33″ burgundy bias strip, or lace trim, for binding

thread

  • 40 weight polyester to match each fabric, for both needle and bobbin
  • 40 weight embroidery thread in burgundy, black, blue, and green

notions

  • temporary adhesive spray, clips, and fine pins
  • sharp scissors and pinking shears
  • rotary cutter, 6″ x 12″ ruler, and cutting mat
  • water-soluble or heat-removable marker, and a chalk pencil
  • medium-weight tear-away stabilizer and ultra-firm stabilizer
  • double stick fusible web, a fabric glue pen, and a stiletto
  • ¼″ quilting foot, a spring foot for free-motion, and a fancy stitch foot
  • 4¾″ square embroidery hoop

Download the patterns

Get the free pattern for each coaster: paperless piecing, machine embroidery, raw edge appliqué, and hoop appliqué. Print at actual size.

Coaster 1: paperless piecing

The finished patchwork coaster is fully stitched using the PFAFF creative icon 2 sewing machine

Print the pattern, and glue two pages into a 9″ square template. The templates have no seam allowance. Cut them apart. Flip them onto the wrong side of the fabric, and cut with pinking shears. Leave ¼″ on inner sides and ½″ on the outside edges.

Start with the section of many small pieces. Pin each pair right sides together along the drawn line, then stitch with the ¼″ foot. A foot that stops half a step up lets you fix stitching and pull pins safely. Press after each section. Join the sections, then press again.

Baste the block to batting and backing with adhesive spray. Quilt with simple straight lines. Trim to 9″ square, and bind with a bias strip, mitering the corners. Fold it to the back and blind-stitch.

Coaster 2: machine embroidery

Sew this small house coaster on the PFAFF creative icon 2 sewing machine.

Here the house wall carries an embroidered flower. Hoop the off-white fabric with tear-away stabilizer, and trace the wall template on top. Scan the hoop, then choose a flower from the built-in library. Resize it to about 2⅛″ x 2⅜″, and use the projector to place it. It stitches in roughly 10 minutes.

Wash away the stabilizer, then dry and press. Cut the wall with a ¼″ seam allowance. Piece the rest of the house as in Coaster 1. Add a decorative quilting stitch over the binding, following the projector lines.

Coaster 3: raw edge applique

Sew this small house coaster with the PFAFF creative icon 2 sewing machine.

This coaster is house-shaped, with seam allowances included in the templates. Stitch the wall and roof, and trace the silhouette. Glue two matching shapes of ultra-firm stabilizer to the wrong side of the front and back. Clip the curves, and fold the seam allowances over with a glue pen and stiletto.

Trace the door, window, leaves, stems, and buds onto double stick fusible web. Fuse them to fabric and cut without seam allowance. Arrange them with a clear template, then press. Free-motion stitch around each piece, twice, with a spring foot. Draw berries, and stitch loops over them.

Place the front and back wrong sides together, with a lace loop in between. Clip, then free-motion stitch around the shape and the roof.

Coaster 4: hoop applique

My Little House Coaster 4 using the PFAFF creative icon 2 Sewing Machine

Hoop a sandwich of off-white wall fabric, stabilizer, and burgundy flower fabric, all right sides up. Take a loose stitch in the burgundy fabric before hooping, and wrap the thread around a pin. That loop keeps the layers aligned later.

Choose an applique flower from the online design library, and resize it to about 2¼″ x 2⅛″. The machine ghost stitches the outline first. Remove the hoop, pull the loop up, and trim the applique close to the stitching. Return the hoop and stitch the stamens and petals. Press the finished piece on layers of batting, from the wrong side.

Trace the house on the background with a chalk pencil. Markers can stain or vanish when pressed. Fuse the house, door, and window, and zigzag around each piece twice. Use two straight lines for the window. Bind with lace trim instead of fabric, folding the corners.

Original series by Olesya Lebedenko on QUILTsocial.com. Photos by Olesya Lebedenko

Related posts

Have you made your Christmas Tree Skirt yet?

Quilted Placemats from Men’s Shirts

A Log Cabin and Batik Leaf Wall Quilt