Mug Rug Tutorial

It's teacher appreciation week, so I'm taking a small break from other projects to create something special for my daughters teachers....and who can't use a pretty mug rug?

Here's a little easy peasy tutorial for you, in case you had a late start on teacher appreciation week like I did...or just want to make a couple of mug rugs for fun!  Click on the photographs below for a larger view.

 I started with a few Moda charms and mini charms I recently purchased.  The large charms are 5" by 5".  The small charms are 2.5" by 2.5".  The only cutting I had to do were the bricks to go in between.  Each mug rug calls for four 2.5" by 5" rectangles.

If you like this look you could quilt it up now!  But I thought these pretty modern fabrics needed something extra...

By trimming the corners the mug rugs look a little more - modern!  Don't forget to add 1/4" to the edge so when you add a binding you don't lose your points.  :)

Save those squares!  I'm a scrap saver...you can do something fun with those later.  Another thought, you could rearrange them at this point and sew them back on if you wanted to mix up the fabrics a bit.

I liked them kind of like this.  Now...the fun part...go crazy with quilting.  You can draw your designs on with a water soluble marker if it helps, then after quilting go back and remove the marks.

Isn't that a fancy schmancy yet easy mug rug?  Bind it using your favorite method - a bias binding is not necessary.  You could also finish those edges off with something fun and different like ribbon or pom poms!

Tomorrow is my day in the For the Birds blog hop!  I'll be revealing a project I've been working my patoot off on these past weeks...I cannot wait!  Check out the hop while you're here tomorrow, the bird projects so far have been fantastic!  :)

-   Valerie