627handworks

I’ve been wanting to make these for a while so I thought I’d put together a little tutorial.  It’s Jelly Roll friendly if you have any leftover strips lying around.   The final result is a 5″ wide, thick, absorbent coaster.

Fabric Options – 4 Coaster Set

• 1 yard of fabric (cut into [12] 2.5″ strips)
• or  1/3 yard each of 3 different fabrics (cut each into [4] 2.5″ strips)
• or  12 Jelly Roll Strips

VIDEO BELOW!

Grab 3 Strips

Start braiding with medium pressure, you don’t want it too tight or too loose.  To hold mine in place I pinned one end to the design wall.

Take one end and push the end pieces up against the sides to start your coil.

Set your machine to a wide zig zag stitch and tack a few stitches to start.

Keep stitching around and keep your braid laid flat.  Try to have the coil on the left and the braid on the right meet in the middle. This way the zig zag stitch will catch both sides.

When you near the end, trim two of your pieces so they are a little shorter than the 3rd.

Wrap the longer piece around the other two.

Fold the fabric end up and push it between the coil and remaining braid.

No raw edges on the end.

Here’s a quick little video:

Here are a few examples of other fabric choices:

The plaid shirting is the same on both sides, so I didn’t have to worry about too much ‘wrong side’ showing on the braids.

I really like these because they are thick, super absorbent, and fast to make.

I have a few sets available for sale in my Etsy shop here, here and here!

Last month I was featured in Online Quilting Magazine with a new paper piecing tutorial.  I call it Split Hatchet.

I was asked to provide detailed instructions for people that are new to paper piecing, so I wanted a simple block that still holds some interest.

At the time I was working on my Gypsy Wife quilt and had just finished a hatchet block. So there’s where the idea came from.

image source – susan dague quilts

Here is a hatchet quilt that I’m totally in love with. Vintage perfection. It shows how changing the direction of the blocks creates an entirely different look.

You could do O’s (like I did), XO alternating, all one direction like above, every group of 4 a different direction, or even play with a zig zag look.

The templates come in sizes 3″, 4″, 5″ and 6″.  Mine is using the 5″ version.  The smaller template sizes really help eat up some of those tiny fabric scraps.

Download the Paper Piecing instructions, there are a lot of photos for guidance.

Download the templates here or here.

If you aren’t familiar with Online Quilt Magazine, you should sign up! It’s a free publication that is emailed to you each month.

Have a wonderful weekend –