Hello Summer!

Tomorrow, another school year comes to an end.  My little 3rd and 4th graders will advance to 4th and 5th next year *sniff sniff*.  One of the teachers has had my children 3 years in a row, and they just adore her.  I've spent part of the afternoon preparing gifts for their teachers, principal and the school secretary (who is so much more than that!).

Of course the gifts had to be sewn.  Just sayin'.  The kids and I had an idea to make them coasters for their desks.  I first set out to make some quilted ones, but then I remembered these reversible wipe-clean coasters I had bookmarked quite some time ago.  I had even bought a whole yard of 16-gauge vinyl thinking I would churn out a stack to have at-the-ready for hostess gifts.  And then the vinyl sat rolled up in the corner of my bedroom, sadly collecting dust for a year or so.

Last week I received Art Gallery Fabric studio scraps from the lovely Pat Bravo and AGF team.  So pretty, and I thought they'd be perfect for the teacher gifts.  So I pulled out the vinyl, had the kids peruse the AGF scraps and got to it this afternoon.  Why have I never made these coasters before?

 

 

The making of them was quite easy.  I just had to flatten the vinyl by cutting 6" squares and pressing them straight under a stack of heavy books for the better part of a day.  The only mod to the tutorial I made was to cut the fabric into 5" rather than 4" squares so the recipient can use it for a cup of tea or a bowl of soup. 

If you decide to make these, definitely follow Allison's advice to do a test run to get the tension right, and utilize the paper that comes with the vinyl to keep things moving smoothly.

Now I'm off to plan stay-at-home summer camp for the kids.  Along with the academics, I think I'll throw a little "home ec" into the curriculum.  Time to teach them the fine art of cooking, sewing and, most importantly, housekeeping!