I made this teal mug rug a couple of weeks ago. Still use the green and teal scraps from my scrap buckets and I cut them into my fave square 2.5" x 2.5". The size is rather biggish - the finished size is 7.5" x 11.5". I think it will be great as a mug rug or mat for smaller tables, side tables, etc
This scrappy mug rug is very easy to make. All you need is assorted 2.5" scraps and you are good to go. And if you prefer you can always machine quilt it but I love to hand quilt it in the kawandi style. That is quilting from the outside edge first and moving inwards in a circular way. The effect on the reverse side (if using solid backing) is just beautiful. Plus with hand quilting, the quilt always turns out softer.
I made many small quilts that I quilted this way and here's one that I recently did. I keep a bunch of ready-to-quilt small items near my computer table and I can easily pick them up and quilt away as I am catching up on the Kdrama or Cdrama!
For the scrappy mug rug, I used Indian mul mul fabrics for the patchwork and poplin cotton for the back. I added a thin fleece batting, sometimes I used cotton batting too. I made placemats in the same color hues earlier.
Don't you love the effect of this big stitch quilting style on the back? This can easily become a reversible mug rug!
If you've been thinking to start learning about hand quilting, you may want to start with this kind of big stitch quilting and you don't have to start with a big quilt! I wrote and uploaded the video about what needle I used and the process in THIS POST
I have a mountain of scraps in buckets and bags all around the house. Somehow I just don't have the heart to throw them away. Whenever I see my fabric scraps I feel inspired and full of ideas, but then those ideas remain on my "bucket list".
A few weeks ago, Tina and I discussed the next swap, after the successful swap we has last month in Desi Quilters. This time she has with the idea of exchanging Potholders and as usual, she came up with the most suitable name "pot of gratitude". This is to remind us to always be grateful during this Pandemic and by making a gift for our virtual friends who always be there to help in our crafting or quilting journey.
So, let me talk about potholders that I usually make.
1. Batting
The first question that people ask is always about what kind of batting to use for potholders. Well, we don't have thermal batting for retail here in India. I usually use double or triple layers of cotton batting. A few years ago before cotton batting was easily accessible, I use a few layers of cotton flannel (like THIS coaster). If you have scrap batting, you can use it even if it's narrow strips you can layer them.
2. Fabrics.
Store-bought potholders usually use thicker or canvas cotton. I normally use quilting cotton or poplin cotton. And if I use Indian fabrics (mulmul) I usually use nonwoven interfacing to give additional weight. On the back, you can use casement fabric or canvas if you have one.
3. Quilting.
You can either sandwich two layers of batting with top and backing and quilt them together or you can quilt the top and back separately like in THIS mug rug. I personally prefer the latter because it turned out thicker which is perfect for potholders. You can quilt the top with denser quilting lines but I'd suggest using less dense quilting lines for the backing.
4. Binding
For square or rectangle potholders, I'd suggest using a jellyroll strip. A 2.5" wide is a good one, but if you use thicker batting, you might want to use a 3" wide binding. I normally used 1.5" wide binding for small quilts, but since we're going to use the potholders a lot, thicker binding is always better.
The same applied to bias binding. In this pumpkin potholder video, I use scraps of about 11" x 17" fabric to make 2.5" wide binding which yields around 1.65 meters of binding strips. Enough to make 2 potholders.
I wrote about making bias binding in THIS POST using a square of fabric. You can make bias binding from fat eighth or fat quarter like in THIS VIDEO
- Embroidery can be added but avoid beads and sequins
- The edges must be finished with binding or facing.
- There must be a loop for hanging the potholders.
- Must be made according to your partner's mood board. Sonalee wrote how to create a mood board on her blog HERE.
In the videos below, I shared 2 projects that I made using fabric crumbs. Not really make a dent in my scrap bins but I am using only scraps here. So I'm pretty happy!
Making patchwork mug rug is my fave scrap buster project. This time I made this super easy one using strips of fabrics from my scrap bin. It's fun and quick to make plus it's a perfect project to make if you're looking for a quick last-minute gift.
Without further ado, here's what you need:
Assorted fabric 5" long fabric strips 1" to 1.5" wide
Contrast or solid fabric 6" W x 8" H
Backing Fabric 12" W x 10" H
Batting 12" W x 10" H
Binding 1.5" Wide x Wof (40")
Let's get sewing!
1. I used narrow strips, less than 1.5" wide. They should be enough to make 8" long patchwork panel. Don't be afraid to mix and match. The narrower the better, IMO :).
2. Sew the strips together using 1/4" seam allowance. You can use those selvages scraps too. My panel here finished at 5" W x 9" H. Iron the patchwork panel flat.
3. Now sew the patchwork panel and the solid panel right side together using 1/4" seam allowance. Now your top panel is almost ready.
4. Iron the top panel flat and trim it into 10" W x 8" H. The patchwork panel is about 4" wide after trimming.
5. Now sandwich the batting in between backing and top panel and quilt it as desired. This time I did a diagonal gridline quilting which you can watch in the video tutorial at the end of this post.
6. Once the quilting is done, trim the quilt top into 10" W x 8" H and now it's ready for binding. Watch the video below on how to sew the binding. I cut the binding 1.5" wide for small quilts, so it won't be too bulky.
If you want to finish the binding by machine, attach the binding on the backing first. I attached the binding on the front first because I prefer to finish the binding by hand for small quilts.
Now your scrappy mug rug is ready to use. Make a few for your family and friends!
I hope you find the tutorial helpful! Don't forget to subscribe to my blog or YouTube channel for more tutorials.
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