Category Archives: 30 minute Quilting

Tutorial Tuesday: Machine Embroidered & Quilted Mug Rug

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

MugRugTutorial

I am having a blast with my new embroidery/sewing machine!  It’s been sitting in its box since I received it because I didn’t have room to set it up until I moved to my quilt studio.  For my first project, I made an embroidered and quilted mug rug…then thought of all sorts of people I wanted to make one for.  I might even make them for imaginary people, it’s that much fun!

Ahem.  On with the show….errr, tutorial!

Supplies

  • Fabric for embroidery
  • Stabilizer for embroidery
  • Scrap fabric for borders, backing & binding
  • Batting

Tutorial

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Cut the fabric and stabilizer for the embroidery about 2″ wider than your embroidery hoop.

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Insert your fabric and stabilizer into your embroidery hoop, pulling the fabric so that it does not have any puckers or wrinkles on it.  Secure it in the hoop and tighten the hoop so the fabric does not move around.

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Set your hoop up in your embroidery machine and choose an embroidery pattern.  Then, let the embroidery machine do all the embroidery work for you!

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Once your embroidery machine is finished, remove your fabric and stabilizer from the hoop and press flat.

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Square up your embroidery and trim the excess fabric away.

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Using fabric scraps, cut the left and right borders to your embroidery to whatever size you’d like to make your mug rug (adding in your seam allowances).

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Sew the left and right borders to your embroidered center.

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Press your left and right borders toward the scrap fabric.

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Repeat the same process with the top and bottom borders.

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Press and lightly starch the finished mug rug top.

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Create your quilt sandwich with your embroidered top, batting and backing.

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Securely pin your quilt sandwich.

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Machine quilt your mug rug in whatever pattern you prefer.

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Trim your mug rug so that the top, batting and backing are all the same size.

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Prepare your binding and bind your mug rug.

MugRugTutorial

Congratulations!  Now you have a lovely mug rug to use or gift to someone!

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A Little Quilt Therapy’ll Do Ya

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

My kids are on spring break.  While this is a time for many students and families to run off a play for a week, my kids get to stay home and enjoy some down-time interspersed with doctor’s appointments.  It’s the only time we can fit them into their busy schedules unless we want to pull them out of school – and none of them want to be pulled out of school!

Spring break for this mom means no time to quilt.  I want to spend time with my kids.  It’s supposed to rain (GAH!  the mud!) most of the week so they’ll be stuck inside, when they’re not at their doctor’s appointments.

I decided I would carve out 30 minutes each day to sew.  Sunday evening was my first night of this spring break experiment.

I am making a 10″ block (finished size) lap quilt.  Super simple. I already had the fabric (from AbbiMays.com, of course) and the squares cut out so I sat down at my sewing machine and put together nine squares.  Just nine.  This little bit of piecing constitutes one-fourth of my quilt top (sans the borders).

test

How fun!  If I use those 30 minutes a day wisely, I can complete the quilt top on day five by adding the first border and adding the second border on day six.

HalleQUILTlujah!