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Home Sewing Patterns Tray cloth and coaster set

Tray cloth and coaster set

Designer

Susie Johns

Pattern Guide

Download

Designer

Susie Johns

Pattern Guide

Download

About this pattern

Hand-pieced patchwork is one of the most rewarding projects that you can undertake as a stitcher. But, it is often associated with larger makes such as bed covers and throws, that it can seem a little overwhelming to the beginner. Help is at hand however with Susie Johns’ bite-sized tray cloth and coaster designs. Not only are they a fantastic introduction to this age-old technique but they are a great way to breathe new life into scraps of plain and printed fabric from your stash.

Essentials

Fabric: patchwork, cotton scraps, plain, five different colours, printed six different designs; border, printed cotton, gingham, 35cm square; lining, printed cotton, floral, 50cm square
Bias binding, floral, 25mm, 2.5m
Quilting thread (optional)
Vanishing pen
Wadding, thin, 50cm square
Ruler

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Make a tray cloth

Locate the diamond template and trace onto scrap paper 60 times. Using one of the paper shapes as a guide, cut out 30 plain fabric diamonds (six from each colour) and 30 more from printed cotton (five from each type of print) leaving a 1cm border around every shape.
Lay a paper template on the wrong side of a fabric diamond, so that it sits in the centre. Fold over the edges of the fabric around the paper template then tack into position, sewing through all layers. Repeat for the other 59 diamonds.
Once all of the the pieces have been tacked, lay them out in rows of six, alternating between plain and patterned fabrics, and rearranging where necessary until you are satisfied with the overall look.
Join the diamonds by placing them right sides together and oversewing the edges in whipstitch. Sew all of the pieces in this way, then pull out the tacking threads and carefully remove the paper templates.
Cut four 8cm x 35cm strips from gingham fabric for the border. Fold each one under by 1cm along one long edge. Neaten the edges of the patchwork by folding any excess to the wrong side, pressing with a hot iron, and then pinning and tacking into position.
Place a gingham strip along one long edge of the patchwork with right sides together, ensuring that the folded edges line up and oversew the pieces together. Attach a second gingham strip along the other long edge of the patchwork in the same way.
Fold under any excess fabric on the short ends of the gingham strips, then stitch the remaining two border pieces to t