October mornings call for something warm in a mug — coffee, cider, or cocoa — and a plain tabletop just will not do. These fall mug rugs are mini quilts sized just for a mug and a snack: bigger than a coaster, smaller than a placemat, and the perfect way to use gorgeous autumn fabric in a project you can finish tonight. Make a set of four, tie them with twine, and you have a thoughtful, mail-friendly gift for teachers, neighbors, and hostesses all season long.
What You’ll Make
Four mug rugs, each about 5″ by 7″, with a simple pieced strip top in fall colors, light quilting, and a neat binding. This is a true beginner project: straight seams, small pieces, and no pattern to buy. If you can sew a reasonably straight line, you can make these. Allow about 30–45 minutes per mug rug once your fabric is cut.
Materials
7 of the 8 materials below (88%) are available at Linda’s — links included. The last one is a basic you probably already have at home.
- Confetti Cotton Autumn Fat Quarter Bundle, 12 Pcs. — the pieced tops. Pick four to six fall prints or solids from the bundle for your strips; one bundle makes many sets. Get it at Linda’s.
- 270 Creme Moda Grunge - Fat Quarter — the backing for all four mug rugs, and a calm contrast to the busy fall tops. Get it at Linda’s.
- Hobbs Heirloom Bleached 80/20 Batting Package — one thin layer inside each rug for body and to protect your table from heat and condensation. Scraps from larger quilts work beautifully here too. Get it at Linda’s.
- 1103 Burgundy Aurifil Cotton 50wt Large Spool — a deep fall red that blends across autumn prints for piecing, quilting, and stitching the binding down. Get it at Linda’s.
- Olfa Deluxe 45mm Rotary Cutter — for cutting clean strips and trimming each little sandwich square. Get it at Linda’s.
- Quilting Pins Fine by Clover — to keep the three layers from shifting while you quilt. Get it at Linda’s.
- Riley Blake Designs Quilty Clips — hold the folded binding in place while you stitch, without pin pricks. Get it at Linda’s.
- An iron and ironing surface — for pressing seams and binding. Any home iron you already own works fine; no link needed.
Steps
- Cut your strips. From your autumn fat quarters, cut strips 1 1/2″ to 2 1/2″ wide and about 8″ long. Vary the widths — it looks charming, not messy. You will need five or six strips per mug rug.
- Piece the top. Sew strips together along their long edges with a 1/4″ seam until the pieced panel is at least 5 1/2″ wide and 7 1/2″ long. Press seams to one side as you go. Repeat for each rug.
- Cut backing and batting. For each rug, cut one piece of creme backing and one piece of batting, each about 6″ by 8″ — slightly larger than your finished size, so trimming is easy.
- Layer and pin. Layer backing wrong side up, batting, then the pieced top right side up. Smooth from the center out and pin with the quilting pins.
- Quilt simply. With burgundy thread, stitch straight lines about 1″ apart across the rug, or stitch in the ditch along each strip seam. A few lines are plenty — the layers just need to stay together through washing.
- Trim. Trim each quilted rug to exactly 5″ by 7″ with your rotary cutter, squaring the corners.
- Bind. From a leftover autumn fat quarter, cut 2 1/2″-wide strips and join them into one strip about 30″ long per rug. Sew the binding to the front, mitering the corners as best you can, fold it to the back, hold it with the quilty clips, and stitch it down. Press, set a warm mug on top, and admire your work.
Tips
Chain-piece all four tops at once — sew, press, and trim them assembly-line style and a full gift set comes together fast. Stick to cotton fabrics, batting with a high cotton content, and cotton thread if a rug might ever sit under a very hot mug, and skip any metallic prints for pieces you plan to use daily. Mug rugs are machine washable on gentle; lay flat to dry to keep them crisp. Tuck one rug and a small bag of coffee or cider mix into a card envelope for an easy fall thank-you that mails for little more than a letter.
Where to Get Everything
Seven of the eight materials — the Confetti Cotton Autumn fat quarter bundle, the creme Moda Grunge fat quarter, the Hobbs batting, the Burgundy Aurifil thread, the Olfa rotary cutter, the Clover quilting pins, and the Riley Blake quilty clips — are all at Linda’s, linked above: 88% of the list from one shop. The iron is a home basic most sewers already own; if you need one, they are easy to find at most craft stores, big-box stores, or your local quilt shop. Happy sewing — and happy sipping!
