Quilted coasters... and a box to keep them in

This was a last-minute gift for my sister, made especially to complement the colors in her farmhouse living room, with sage green and dark red and gold and navy blue. And like the other gifts I made this year for Christmas, it was totally fun to do!

The coasters were easy: fabric scraps foundation pieced to 5-in. square pieces of muslin, backed with fusible fleece, matched up with coordinating fabric, stitched and turned and topstitched. Then I quilted them using a simple stitch-in-the-ditch technique.

The fabric box was also easy, once I figured out the best way to cut the corners off square pieces of fabric to make a plus shape, which is then stitched together, turned, and top-stitched. I made the box deep enough to hold many more coasters, and it's the perfect size to hold other types of coasters, too. Like my favorite distressed marble coasters from wineries.

I found inspiration from a few blogs, but in the end made my own version, which has inserts of soft needlepoint canvas to help the sides hold their shape, and beads on the embroidery floss that tie the sides into a box shape. I plan to do a tutorial for this project in the new year.

Like the sewing kits and notebook covers I made for Christmas gifts, this fun little quilting project let me use some of my favorite things: mismatched buttons (which I buy at yard sales and thrift shops), and beads.