WTC Quiltstitched with care since 2001

Free pattern: mug rug from scraps

A mug rug is a small quilted mat, bigger than a coaster, with room for a cup and a cookie. This one is 6 by 10 inches: a 6-inch square for the mug and four 1-inch strips beside it. It uses scraps, finishes in an evening, and it's the most forgiving way to practice binding a corner before you bind a whole quilt.

A small quilted mug rug with a red square and strips of green, gold, navy and cream, holding a white mug of coffee and two cookies on a wooden table
Mug rug: a red 6-inch square beside four narrow strips in gold, navy, cream and green
The mug rug: 6 × 10 inches finished. The square holds the mug; the strips hold a snack.

What you need for one

PieceCut
Mug square (a favorite print)One 6½-in square
Strips (four scraps)Four 1½ × 6½-in strips
BackingOne 14 × 10-in piece
Cotton battingOne 14 × 10-in piece
Binding2½-in strips totaling 42 in: two strips across the width of the fabric, or three cut from a fat quarter

The backing and batting are cut 2 inches bigger than the top on every side. On a bed quilt you'd allow 4, but a piece this small doesn't shift much while you quilt it. Use cotton batting: a hot mug sits on it, and cotton doesn't melt the way polyester can. (For pans straight off the stove, make a pot holder with insulated batting instead.)

Sew the top

  1. Lay the four strips next to each other and pick an order. Alternate light and dark so each strip stands out.
  2. Sew the strips together along their long edges with a ¼-inch seam. Press the seams in one direction.
  3. Sew the strip unit to one side of the 6½-inch square. Press the seam toward the square.
  4. The top measures 10½ × 6½ inches. The check: 6½ + four × 1½ = 12½ inches of fabric, less four seams at ½ inch, is 10½.

Narrow strips go wavy if you pull them. Let the feed dogs do the work, and press with an up-and-down motion instead of sliding the iron.

Quilt it

  1. Lay the backing right side down, then the batting, then the top right side up, centered. A few pins or a light mist of basting spray holds three layers this size.
  2. Stitch in the ditch along every seam. Then add straight lines on the square: a grid 1 inch apart, or diagonal lines corner to corner. Lines inside the strips aren't needed; they're only 1 inch wide.
  3. Trim the batting and backing even with the top, using a ruler to keep the corners square. The quilted piece should measure 10½ × 6½ inches.

Dense quilting on the mug square makes it firmer and flatter, so the cup won't tip. This is a good place to try a decorative stitch from your machine or a bit of free-motion quilting without risking a big project.

Bind it

  1. Join the binding strips with a diagonal seam, trim the seam to ¼ inch and press it open. Fold the strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press.
  2. Starting in the middle of a long side, sew the binding to the front with a ¼-inch seam, leaving a 6-inch tail.
  3. Stop ¼ inch before each corner, fold the binding up at a 45-degree angle and back down, and keep sewing. Four corners in 32 inches of edge is good practice.
  4. Join the ends, then fold the binding to the back and stitch it down by hand or by machine.

Our binding guide has photos of each step, including the join. If the binding feels too bulky on such a small piece, cut it 2¼ inches wide instead; you'll still need 42 inches.

Three sizes

SizeSquareStripsTopBacking and battingBinding
Small, 5 × 8 in5½ inThree, 1½ × 5½ in8½ × 5½ in12 × 9 in36 in (one strip)
Standard, 6 × 10 in6½ inFour, 1½ × 6½ in10½ × 6½ in14 × 10 in42 in (two strips)
Large, 8 × 12 in8½ inFour, 1½ × 8½ in12½ × 8½ in16 × 12 in50 in (two strips)

Binding lengths are the perimeter plus 10 inches for the corners and the join. The large size fits a mug and a small plate, which makes it a decent lap tray mat for a reader in an armchair.

Quilt-as-you-go version

Skip the separate quilting step by sewing the pieces straight onto the batting and backing. Layer the backing and batting, lay the square right side up near one end, then place the first strip right side down along its edge and sew through all the layers. Flip the strip open, press, and add the next one the same way. Each seam quilts as you sew it. Trim to 10½ × 6½ inches and bind. Our quilt-as-you-go guide uses the same method for full-size quilts.

Making a batch

Mug rugs make good small gifts for teachers, coworkers or a craft-sale table, and they use up the strips left over from bigger projects. For four standard mug rugs you need four 6½-inch squares, sixteen strips, two fat quarters of backing (each fits two 14 × 10-inch pieces) and five binding strips joined into one long piece. Four strips aren't quite enough for four mug rugs once you allow for the joins.

If you have orphan blocks from another project, a single 6-inch block can replace the plain square. A 6-inch churn dash or shoofly (6½ inches before it's sewn in) drops straight into the pattern. For a matching set, see the quilted placemats.

More free patterns: see them all. This pattern is free for personal and charity use; please don't sell the pattern itself.

You might also like