Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Chevron Mug Rug


This is a set of mug rugs that I made during Christmas. The fabric is Christmas themed, but these mug rugs can be done in any fabric to tie them into any theme, holiday, decor that you would like.

I only have a few pictures because I sent them off as a present. So, I'll link to YouTube tutorials to explains things, like the way I make half square triangles (also known as HST in the world of quilting).

Two Chevron Mug rugs, 10x15 inches




Materials
12 different fabrics (I used six red and six green)
1/4 yard of Backing fabric
1/4 yard of White fabric
2 lengths of binding, 55 inches long each
1/4 yard of batting, cotton or insulbrite batting (insulated against heat)
sewing machine
rotary cutter or scissors
ruler
iron
thread

Cut
12, 4.5 inch squares, one each of the 12 fabrics
12, 4.5 inch squares of the white fabric

Take each square of design fabric and match it up with a white square of fabric, right sides facing each other. Sew 1/4 inch around the whole perimeter of the fabric square sandwich. Then cut across the diagonals of the square, in a big X. You just made four half square triangles. Do this with all twelve fabrics. You will have 48 HSTs when you are done. Press them open. You can press the seam open too, but I don't. Just personal preference. I like to trim off the dog ears (little triangles that hang out past the sides of the square).  Here is a link to an awesome tutorial with pictures on how to make HSTs: http://www.blossomheartquilts.com/2012/07/hst-tutorial-and-maths-formula/


Lay the HSTs out in a pattern that is pleasing to you. 4 rows of 6 squares for each mug rug. Sew each of the four rows together using a 1/4 inch seam. Then, sew the 4 long rows together. Press flat.


Trim a piece of backing fabric to size, matching the quilt top of the mug rug. Also trim a piece of batting.  I actually like to leave about an inch of extra fabric and batting around the edge so that after I quilt it I can trim it up all nice and have a little extra fabric just in case the quilting pulls the bottom fabric out of place. Just a little safety net.

Make a quilt sandwich. Use your preferred method of basting. I'm pretty sure I just used spray glue for this project. Quilt. Trim. Bind. Repeat.

You're done! And you have two super cute mug rugs.