My very good friend Maggie, who is from Missouri, has a very cool Brooklyn walk-up. Her birthday is next week, and since she just moved in to this place last fall I wanted to make her something for the apartment. She is a Southerner who appreciates homemade gestures. Her walls are cream, and she has sky blue accents and pictures of red barns on the walls. Very natural, kind of funky for Brooklyn, all Maggie. I decided to make her some quilted coasters, and I bought 4 plastic iced tea tumblers from Target to go with them.

Here is the finished product, which she’ll be receiving this weekend:

Since we are both children’s librarians and she has a barn theme, I used this whimsical barnyard print from Robert Kaufman for the back (I think it’s called “The Cow Says Moo”). The front is composed of 8 different fabrics that are generally in Maggie’s color scheme (with a few thrown in because I can’t resist bright colors). The pattern of stripes is inspired by the Mix It Up Cocktail Coasters from Denyse Schmidt Quilts: 30 Colorful Quilt and Pathwork Projects by Denyse Schmidt. I used 8 fabrics instead of 6, and I didn’t use her actual pattern. I’m kind of terrible about using patterns and following instructions. I don’t know if this makes me a good crafter or a bad one, but I like making things up as I go along. Maybe someday patterns and I will learn to live in harmony.