How to Make a Set of Quilted Coasters

Draft Your Pieces

Grab some paper, a pencil and a ruler. Draw a hexagon where each side is 6 cm (2.4″) long using the below steps:

a. Draw a vertical line 12 cm long making a mark at 3 cm, 6 cm and 9 cm.
b. At the 3 cm and 9 cm marks, draw two long horizontal guidelines.
c. Draw two 12 cm diagonal lines between the two horizontal guidelines, that run through the central 6 cm marking.
d. Connect these dots. There you have it, a perfect hexagon!

Now that you have your hexagon, you can split it up into pieces that we’ll quilt later anyway you like. A nice, simple block to start with is three diamonds with 6 cm (2.4″) sides. This is what we will be using as we continue this tutorial.

Cut the Pieces

Take your three fabrics and cut one hexagon and three diamonds out of each fabric.

Take your batting and cut out three hexagons, using your pattern but adding an extra 1/4” (1/2 cm) seam allowance around each side.

Make Your Top-facing Hexagon Block

Sew together two diamonds of different fabrics right sides together along one long edge with a 0.6 cm (1/4”) seam allowance.

Now, attach the third diamond fabric, pinning it right sides together to one of the attached diamonds and stitching from the outside of the hexagon toward the center. Stop sewing when you hit the previous stitches.

Pin the remaining open sides of the third and first diamonds together, folding the remaining diamond in half between them. Sew from centre out, starting at the centre stitch line.

Snip the seam allowances as close to the centre as possible and use an iron to push them open, pressing the full block nice and flat.

Make a Little Sandwich

Place the diamond block on top of the plain fabric hexagon, right sides together, then place this on top of your hexagonal batting until you have a little fabric and batting sandwich. Pin together and sew along only five sides with a 0.6 cm (1/4”) seam allowance.

Trim the seam allowance down close to the fabric’s raw edges and clip into the seam allowance around the corners without breaking through the seam.

Flip the coaster right sides out, turning out all corners completely and neatly. Press the almost finished coaster with your iron, and then turn in the open edges of the sixth side by 0.6 cm (1/4”) and close with a whip or slip stitch.

Quilt The Coaster

Now it’s time to quilt! I would recommend topstitching in the ditch along your block pieces to keep all your coaster layers neatly together, but after that the world is your oyster. There are all sorts of quilt stitch variations you could try. You could even experiment with hand-quilting or sashiko techniques.