Counting coaster

In an effort to be a little healthier, I have made a couple of lifestyle commitments, including the goal of drinking 8 glasses of water a day. While trying to remember whether I was on my fourth or fifth glass today, I realized that I needed a way to count glasses, and while I was considering the possible solutions to that problem, I reflected that a coaster would be nice, too, as the condensation on the glass kept it sitting in a perpetual puddle. Could I make a coaster that would help me count my daily glasses?

I quickly determined that fabric would be the best way to go, and recalled an old cleaning trick - fold your cleaning cloth into quarters, and you have eight surfaces with which to clean. When one side gets dirty, just flip it to a different side and keep going. I decided that I could use the same theory - a square of fabric folded into quarters has eight surfaces, 4 on one side and four on the other. My mind started to concoct all the different ways to mark the eight sides, quilting, embroidery, applique, when I suddenly realized that I wanted it NOW and if I made the project too complicated, I would never have the finished project. I ran to the basement, grabbed the first scrap of fabric I saw, whacked it into a square, and grabbed some paint, and within a half hour (paint takes time to dry), I had my counting coaster.

This is how it looks folded:



Obviously this is side number three. I decided to use domino dots instead of drawing the numbers mostly because they are easy. I used a pencil eraser dipped in paint to make them.



This is how it looks open. (other side). No, it isn't a very good square, and the edges are unfinished, but it is complete and it works, which really is the most important thing. Now, if I want to take the time to quilt/applique/embroider a fancy one, I will have this one to use while I am working. Sometimes, that is enough.