When I was planning a post for this month, I realized I’ve never shared this little mug rug I made quite a while ago.

If you’ve never heard of a mug rug before, it simply is a little mini quilt, smaller than a placemat, but bigger than a coaster. It’s just the perfect size for a cup of coffee (or tea) to rest on with some extra space for a cookie. These quilted mug rugs make wonderful little gifts. Take a look here at some Christmas mug rugs I made last year.
 
For this specific mug rug I appliqued a design onto the one side of the mug rug. I added a pieced strip on the right side, quilted the little quilt and added binding.
 
For the applique (picture) part, I first drew the design on paper. As I’m no great artist, this always takes me a bit of time.

Once I was happy with the design, I used Heat ’n Bond Lite to adhere the separate pieces of the design to the background fabric. Some people complain about this product gumming up the sewing machine’s needle, however I did not have that problem. 

Once all the pieces were in place, I machine stitched a blanket stitch around all the edges. I also machine “embroidered” the structure and ladder below the vanes of the windmill. Then I added the side pieces which include a couple rectangles of corduroy to give it some extra texture.

After I’ve layered the mini-quilt, I outline quilted the applique and added some straight stitching on the side panel.

Lastly I added the binding. As you can see this is another great scrap buster plus you can really be creative and add any design you want - like this cute bird/heart design.

It’s hard to believe, but Christmas is right around the corner! I love making gifts for those special people in my life and since handmade gifts take time to make, it is never too early to start sewing (or crafting).
 
I decided on making mug rugs, since it is a handy gift but also a fairly quick sew. You may think, well, what is a mug rug? Good question!  A mug rug is a little mini quilt, smaller than a placemat, but bigger than a coaster. It is just the perfect size for a cup of coffee (or tea) to rest on as well as a cookie.
 
It can vary in size, but I like my mug rugs to be around 6” x 8” (15cm x 20cm). Since it is small in size, it is an easy project for beginners. You can practice your piecing and quilting without the daunting task of finishing a large quilt. It also is a great way to use up some of your scrap fabrics. And as all seamstresses know, scrap fabric is a recurring theme in our lives!
 
Mug rugs can be little art works - some people quilt it, others appliqué it or use a combination of both. The possibilities are endless!
 
For the mug rugs in this post, I chose simple block designs. For each little quilt I picked fabric from my scrap bin for the top, back and binding. I did use 100% cotton and batting for all rugs.
 
For the first two I used a variation of the Log Cabin block, called Courthouse Steps. In both these quilts I used a patterned fabric for the center and solid fabrics for the side strips. I quilted a maze design on both.

The next block is called Sister’s choice. I used a solid color for the background which makes the design stand out. I used a combination of outline quilting and straight line quilting. The gray, red and white colors might very well become my favorite Christmas colors.

This one features the Four X Variation block. First I pieced fabric strips together, alternating light and dark fabric. Then I cut the pieced strips into quarter square triangles which give the design basically an hour glass design. I think it might have looked better if the greens and reds were opposite one another. I quilted a spiral design onto the quilt.

The Mosaic No 3 quilt block is set on point. I fussy cut the gingerbread houses and other designs on the right hand side of the block. If you’re not familiar with fussy cutting, it is simply cutting out specific designs from fabric, instead of cutting yardage into random pieces. I used a combination of outline quilting and straight line quilting.

The next block is called an Eight-pointed star. You get so many different star blocks, but I picked this one because of the very pointy triangles. I used a patterned fabric for the background and a solid for the star. I quilted straight lines all over the quilt.

For the last quilt I picked a Christmas tree design. I pieced different fabric strips together which I used for the tree design. I quilted straight lines all over.

There you have it! I hope this will inspire you to try your hand at a mug rug. Or if that’s not your thing, how about making a pincushion? Check out this new tutorial.