Bonus, not Waste

While making blocks for my Merrily Christmas quilt, I ended up with a lot of extra HSTs (half square triangles). These are literal waste because of the way the block is put together. Well, I can't let that fabric go to waste. (It doesn't help that they're small and look so cute! I'm a sucker.)

The pieces all comfortably cut down to 2.5" square so that's what I did. Some people find this tedious and not worth the effort but I enjoy it.

HSTs are nice because you can arrange them in so many ways. I decided on zig zags, doing one across and one up and down. I sewed 12 HSTs together and had a good start for two mug rugs.

I layered in some leftover batting, also "waste" cut off of another project. With a small project like this, I don't bother sew the pieces together; I just lay them side by side and pin the layers. I used white fabric for the backing because I wanted it simple, wanted to save time, and the white fabric was out and convenient.

I quilted both pieces following the zig zag lines.

I had wide enough strips left over of the grey that I did a machine sewn binding. I made a great discovery that made my corners so much better.

I usually pin the binding clockwise, the same direction I sew. But when I pinned it counterclockwise and tucked the first side under the second (right side under the left side in the picture above), the miter lined up so that nothing shifted as you sewed it. When I did it the other way, the right side was on top and the zipper foot just pushed it out of position as the needle got close.

I'm still not super neat with my machine sewn binding, but this technique will help a lot!

I didn't have very wide scraps of the red, so I hand sewed it.

2 inch binding on the red, folded in half, machine sewn on the front, folded to the back and hand sewn. 2.75" binding on the grey, folded in half, machine sewn on the back, folded to the front and machine stitched.

I was inspired to make these mug rugs because I have two gift bags to fill that will go to a boys club for them to give to their mothers. I thought a cute mug with the mug rug, a treat and a coffee store gift card would make a nice package.