Coasters from Leftover Scrap Fabrics (Video Tutorial)

 Hello,

I wanted to share with you what I recently made - a couple of coasters as gifts. I didn't really feel like sewing, but I needed to make something quick. So, I grabbed the scrap bag under my cutting table and started picking out a few fabrics. I decided to keep it simple and use just one set of colors for the coasters. They turned out pretty nice, and I hope my friend loved them!

These coasters are really easy and quick to make. It takes around 10-15 minutes only. Well, I spent more time picking up the fabrics. I mean, rummaging through scrap bins is really fun, right? I just made some coasters and they were so easy and quick to make! It only took me around 10-15 minutes to finish them. Although, I must admit that I spent more time picking out the fabrics. Going through scrap bins is just so much fun, don't you think?

Materials I used:

Leftover strips of fabrics 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches lightweight non-woven interfacing (optional) 5 x 5 inches fabric for backing

As I love making videos, here's the video tutorial to make the coasters!

When it comes to fabric choices, I like to use cotton batting for my larger projects, but for smaller ones, I'll use whatever is available. Recently, I made a pink-green coaster using poly batting, but it turned out a bit flat, even though I didn't quilt it too densely. On the other hand, the blue coasters I made with cotton batting and only quilted along the seams turned out great. In the video, I used block print scrap fabrics, which have different shades of every color. To give my final product more structure, I always use nonwoven lightweight interfacing, but you can skip it if you prefer a different finish.

I have a few more unfinished projects in progress. Follow me on YouTube where I share almost daily updates on my work.

Thank you for stopping by,

Happy Sewing!

Elvira

A few WIP hand quilted projects

Quilt in Progress

 

Hello, 

Time flies when you have fun. For the past 2 weeks, I have been busy with a few quilt projects and wallet making for my Etsy Shop. And I also working on my Kawandi QAL which sadly I have not been able to work on it so much. I really enjoy doing this hand quilting and want to start quilting on bigger quilts when I have enough confidence. Right now I have a few smaller projects going on, I'll do it one at a time as time permits. Now both my sons are going to have board exam for grade 10 and 12 and that really make me nervous, though they seem to relax, this hand quilting projects help me to calm down a bit. My DH keeps telling me not to get anxious and he keeps sending me to my sewing room hahaha. 

hand quilted table topper 14 x 14 inches

QIP using Handloom /Shotcotton fabrics

On the (small) business side, yesterday I finally got the dust bags for my wallets from Canvas2Craft. I ordered the bags a couple of weeks ago and Poonam is very helpful and lovely to work with. She updates me about the progress and makes sure everything was per my requirements. 

Dust Bag and Family Passport Holder

I always wanted to make dust bags as an added bonus for my customers, so that they can reuse the bag. Instead of wrapping them in paper, this reusable bag will be more useful and eco-friendly too. So here is the first order that goes in the bag. Yes, the small quilt above. I think I will order another size. 

Another happiness last week comes from Saira my secret swap partner in Desi Quilters Love and Healing Swap. When she posted her pouch in the group, I secretly wish for it et voila! My wish come true. The bag is so spacious and I use it to keep my hand quilting projects. She also sent me the pin and magnetic pins. If you're a hijabi, like me, you know these magnetic pins are a game-changer. Thank you so much, Saira!

I also completed a few wallet orders from my Etsy Shop. These two wallets are popular. I only have enough fabric to make a few more wallets. And now that many states are going to restart offline school, I made a couple of triple and double zipper pouches too. They are very versatile as you can keep extra face masks for them. I guess, we all have to accept the fact that wearing a face mask is necessary even when the pandemic is over. At least, that will be our first guard against any virus, IMHO. 

My fave wallets

Multi Zipper Bag

Triple Zipper Bag


Thats' all update for today. I hope you enjoy reading my blog. 
Take care and stay safe!

Elvira

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A few more Kantha quilts

I made a few more small Kantha quilts last month but have not written about them here. I made a larger version of the moonshine and valentine, the size of placemats. I am still using shot cotton fabrics and using Anchor Pearl cotton no. 8. I got a few pearl cotton threads from my SIL and luckily I keep them. 

I still have a few placemats to quilt with more fun colors. I hope I can finish them soon. I got sew easily distracted doing other projects :D

And here are another rectangular Kantha coasters that I finished and added to the Shop. And still using handloom cotton. I really love the handloom border and since some of the handloom fabrics only have one side borders, these coasters are very limited in stock.

what is your fave tea?

Great for your mug or indoor plant mat

And here are a few in floral print and tie-dye combo. 

Teal Floral rectangular coaster set

Fuchsia Coasters Set

I had so much fun making all these mini quilts. Handloom ones are rather hard to quilt, but the floral ones are easier and I can finish it quickly while catching up on my Cdramas :)

Thank you for stopping by!

Have a lovely day!

Elvira

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Weekly Digest

Days go so fast when you're having fun or have deadlines, even during the Pandemic. I always want to be able to write more regularly, like a few times a week, but sometimes, words just don't come to my mind when I am sitting at my desk. 

I thought I'll do a weekly recap kind of post once in a while. 

Let's see what I've been doing in the past week(s):

1. SEWING

I made a few face masks and Doitrei Pouch orders last week and as usual, I made one or two extra for stock in the shop. I made this plaid black and white spacious face mask and it turned out really cool. I also ordered jute drawstring bags to pack the face mask orders. I am thinking, many people need reusable bags to keep their masks as they go through their daily routine. So now with every mask order, you will get this pretty jute bag. Yay!

Plaid Face Mask

Also made a few face masks from Quilts Japan book using Indian fabric bundle.

I usually use this double zipper pouch to keep an extra mask, hand sanitizer, and tissue. 

Double Zipper Pouch

A customer was asking for a bigger size triple zipper pouch and I kinda liked the size. I think I'll make a few more when I get time. 

I also made this cute card wallet. This is one of the bestsellers in my shop now! I think many people love this Wonderland Fabric :).

Mini Card Wallet

2. QUILTS & FABRICS 

I finally completed the wall hanging which I posted in my previous Post and I also prepared a few coasters set for my small quilt shop! I'm so happy to get a few of my hand quilted coasters sold out! Thank you so much for the supports!!

For these teal and floral coasters, I tried using mercerized cotton thread. The effect is softer than using the anchor pearl (Perle) cotton thread but it's easier on my fingers :D

Floral Tie Dye Coaster Set

Made a set of mug rug

Coming up next....

A few mug rugs also in the making. I used this tutorial to make the above mug rug, but instead of using fabric strips, I am using 2.5" square pieces. What do you think?

New Floral Prints!

3. READING

I love reading Kathleen Tracy's Remembering Adelia. By the way, Kathleen is having a quilt along from her new book Schoolgirl Sampler. I was thinking to join in, but I'm very bad at following any QAL or SAL.

I also got 2 new Quilts Japan books! So excited to try and learn from the book. 

4. WATCHING

I'm watching this Korean Drama True Beauty on VIKI. Finally, one drama that I can enjoy watching and maybe rewatch again later. It's about the insecurity of being a teenager, the mental struggle they have to go through for being ugly, bullied by friends, etc. The story looks good so far. The actors are doing really well, esp Moon Ga-Young. Having 2 teenagers myself, I found watching coming-of-age drama helps me to know what the millennials are going through. Grew up in an all-girls family and now raising 2 boys, sometimes I feel clueless. I guess, we as parents, never stop learning. 

That's all from the last week or so. Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Sewing and have a lovely weekend!

Elvira

****

Resources:

Patterns: 

Double/Triple Pouch - Doitrei Pouch Pattern

Face Mask - Trio Spacious Face Mask

Mug Rug - Scrappy Mug Rug

Hand quilted Trivets - Moonshine and Valentine

 Here are some 9980 hours to mastering hand quilting 😃

I'm a big fan of Suzuko Koseki and I collected a few of her books. The one I particularly love and want to learn from is the Modern Quilts book. It has an interesting quilt pattern from simple to complicated ones, or at least it looks complicated to me :D. 

In these 2 mini quilts, I am using Indian Handloom fabrics in high contrast colors. I was not sure in the beginning but once done, they turned out really pretty. Sometimes, we have to try something out of our comfort zone! 

Colorful Trivet

The book only gave dimension of the block but not really gave instructions. But I supposed it was to be pieced in half circle. So I did with this teal and orange one. 

I made another one which I cut 5" square and piece quarter circle block. I don't know if this is the correct term :D. 

I called these block my Moonshine and valentine - just because it the shape remind me of the moon and I was watching C-Drama with the same title. Johnny Huang is stunning in the drama 💙! 

Mug Rug

On the back, I used glace cotton fabric in dark teal and I love the texture of the finished quilt. They turned out very soft. The trivets finished at 8" x 8" and it's just the perfect size for anything. From mug rug, doily, trivets, or even for indoor plant mat.

I am still curious about the block and plan to make more but using poplin cotton instead of handloom fabrics. Although handloom colors are gorgeous, it's a bit too stiff for circle piecing. Maybe I can do better with cotton or Bali Batiks! 

I bought this local brand needle Jyoti Needles before I did the Kantha Workshop. I was skeptical in the beginning but the shop owner didn't have Pony Needle when I went. And guess what? It turned out really good and all the needles are sharp. I always have a problem with Pony Needle for hand sewing my wallet. But this one turned out better than Pony. I may need to stock up now.

I am still doing the quilting based on the Kawandi Quilt as I really love it. I plan to make more small kawandi quilts too, but it may take a while before I finally get down to make it. I have a few UFO quilts that I want to finish. Most of them are small quilts and a few single bed quilts. 

If you want to know how I did the quilting, I uploaded a small video on my Youtube Channel. It was recorded during my first Instagram Live. You can watch it here. 

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoy your visit!

Happy Sewing,

Elvira

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Resources:

Book: Modern Quilts by Suzuko Koseki

Fabric: Handloom / Shotcotton

Reopening My Etsy Shop after Vacation Mode

 As you know, I really enjoy making simple and small quilts. And since I took the Kawandi Quilt Workshop last month, I've been hook to hand quilting. I have many small patchworks waiting to be made into something, but always got sidetracked. Well, I always have several projects going on besides working on orders. But you know what? Working in something you love is a great mood booster. And no, you don't have to follow so and so design or style or trend. Just simply do what you're happy to do. Even if it's a simple project. 

Last week I finally open my UFO/WIP bins and started working on small hand quilting projects and I am so happy with the result. In the Kawandi workshop last month, Saba told us about big stitch quilting (check out this post), which apparently trending now. I looked up about it on Pinterest and it's basically running stitch hand quilting like sashiko, Kantha, boro, and kawandi. Now, there is more than just running stitch! All those arts have a significant style and history behind it. And I'm so happy I'll be learning more about Kantha in next month's Workshop with Brinda Ma'am. so stay tuned and make sure to subscribe to my blog :D. 

I've been procrastinating about re-opening my small quilt shop on Etsy and finally a few days ago I did it! Wish me luck and if you have a little time, do check it out and favorite the shop! Thanks!!

VISIT MY QUILT SHOP

Right now, I only listed ready to ship items. Mostly are mug rugs and coasters! I really love the rectangular coasters. I used solid color at the back, so it will have a unique design and make it reversible! 

The coasters come in a set of 2 and since the gifting season is here if you buy 3, I offer free Express Shipping (5-7 days delivery)! The offer is also valid in my Handmade Shop.

What happened during Vacation Mode? 

Well, if you also thinking of re-opening your Etsy shop after a long hiatus like me, there are a few things you have to keep in mind.

According to Etsy, here's what happened when you put your shop on Vacation Mode:

• Your shop will still appear if someone searches for your exact shop name, but will not appear as an auto-suggestion in Search or other shopping tools.
• Your items won’t appear in Search.

And when you re-open your shop, it's basically like starting a new shop. What I noticed tho, my products still WON'T appear in searches for at least 24 hours after I activated the shop. Well, I used to put my fabric shop and handmade shop on vacation mode when I travel for a month or two, but I always able to bounce back within a few days. 

I think it's because the shop was not active for a long period of time, and during that time many changes have happened in Etsy, and all my previous data sort of deindexed. Now, I will have to work from scratch again! How exciting is that! :D

Now, how to get your shop up and running again after a long vacation mode?

I've been reading a few blogs and articles and I'm trying out a few things right now. When I checked my stats, I still have visitors every month even though it's very minimal. The visit mostly comes from my other shops. 

Here are a few things I am doing now:

• Edit my shop - fill up all the shop policy, announcement, about info, etc
• Editing the listing photos. If you have stock of your previous products, you can retake the photos, editing the title, tags, and description. 
• Adding new products at least one every day! If you have many items to list, DO NOT list them all at once. By listing one or a few products each day, your shop will get a little booster in search placement. 
• Post shop updates every day and
• Share it on Social Media as much as you can. Using Etsy social media updates comes with a link to your listing. It's very convenient instead of copy-paste the link from the browser.
• If you have a blog, it's a good time to post about it too (like what I am doing now).
• If you have a small budget to spare, you can consider using Etsy Ads, starts with a minimum amount, and increase it as needed.

I've seen an increase in views and visit since yesterday and hopefully will hear a ka-ching soon :D

If you're thinking of opening an Etsy shop, use this LINK to get 40 free listings! 

Thank you for stopping by today.

Happy Sewing!

~ Elvira

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