Scandinavian Quilted Mug Rug

What is it about quilted mug rugs that I find so irresistible?

Well, for one, I suppose it’s the cuteness factor. It makes a mini quilt completely functional, which you know me and loving anything that is both adorable and functional.

You get to play! Who doesn’t like a good quilting play session?! And you not only get to play with fabric combos but also with patterns that you might not want to commit to in a full-size quilt.

Plus, they make awesome gifts! Which is what this one is intended for!

Thankfully, my brother doesn’t follow along with my ongoing projects; otherwise I would have had to keep this one under wraps until it gets gifted later in February. And I really wanted to share this recent finish with you!

Not only because I find it cute. But also because it’s another step in working through my fabric scraps! It’s feeling really good to see those piles slowly (and I do mean sloooowly) start to dwindle. 

Does anyone else find that even when solely using fabric scraps for a project, you seem to end up with new scraps, albeit smaller ones, after the project is complete?! It’s the like the never-ending fabric scrap story!!!

I have quite a few fabric scraps left over from my Winter Star Quilt, which is what I used here. Namely Droppar Moondust, Hus Hoot Gra, Unn Cross Ochre, Tender Green, Spruce, a small square of Scandi Plane Baltic and Pinetre Fog for the backing from Pat Bravo’s Heartland fabric line for Art Gallery Fabrics. The owl featured on the left was actually an orphan block from one of the trials I did while thinking through the design concept. He was just too adorable to toss. I figure he’ll make the perfect resting spot for a nice hot cup of coffee or sweet treat J

I was hoping to get some free motion quilting (FMQ) practice in on this little guy, but I felt straight line quilting was just too perfect for this mug rug. So, that won out…again! I did mix it up by using Aurifil Natural White #2021 in 50 wt, where 40 wt is usually my go to.

I then added some additional detail with a few lines of big stitch hand quilting using Aurifil 12 wt in the colour Lemon #2115. What is it about hand stitching that just seems to add that perfect touch?!

For the binding, I chose Droppar Burst, which I not only thought paired nicely and finished it all off in a complimentary and non-competing way, but I also had enough leftover from my Winter Star quilt. Bonus! It’s amazing how the binding really does add that finishing touch to a quilted project! It just pulls it all together.

Now all there is left to do is wrap her up, write up a note and wait patiently until February to finally gift her…the one downside to getting things done early!!

This also marks my first finish for Q1 of the 2017 Finish-A-Long. It’s a small finish, but a finish is a finish and I’m quite happy to be crossing it off my list!!

Happy quilting!

xo

Shannon

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