Mug Rug Placemats

Use any of our satin stitch

edged mug rugs or minute

mats to easily make a full

size placemat. Our easy

quilting method and no

binding finishing method

mean you’ll be sitting down

to eat in no time!

Supplies:

• Minute Mats, Seasonal Minute Mats, List Series, or Pet Mug Rug designs; or any rectangular

design with a satin stitched edging

• Background fabric, 14” x 20”

• Batting, 14” x 20”

• Novelty print for backing—14” x 20; we used a fall colored plaid

1. Embroidery

Hoop your 14” x 20” background fabric with two layers of heavy stabilizer and embroider any of our mug

rug designs listed above. Mark the center of the background fabric and stitch your design roughly in the

middle of it; we will be trimming later, so it need not be perfect. Do not add batting or backing; just stitch

your entire design, through quilting and edging, right through to the end. You piece will look as in Photos

A and B on the front and back.

2. Trim and Sew

A standard placemat size is 12” x 18;” center and trim your embroidery design in a 13” x 19” area to allow

for ½” seams all around. (Photo C.) Now place your 14” x 20” backing fabric FACE DOWN on the

embroidered piece as shown in Photo D. making sure it is completely covered. Then place your 14” x 20”

batting over that as shown in Photo E. Without shifting any of the layers, pin all three layers together well

out of the ½” seam line. (Photo E.) Flip your piece over (Photo F) and trim all layers even with the front as

shown in Photo G. All three layers are now precisely aligned and pinned together. On the batting side,

mark your ½” seam line with a washout marker—note that at the bottom, about 4” is left open for turning.

At the openings, stitch an “L” going right off the bottom of the placemat as shown by the blue lines as you

start and end this seam; it is also recommended to backstitch 3 or 4 stitches at each corner for strength.

Photo I shows the three layers stitched together on the blue lines; now trim the corners for turning.

3. Turn and Quilt

Before turning, trim back the batting to the stitched line, as shown in Photo J, to reduce bulk. Then turn

your piece right side out through the stitched opening. Press, with the seam line on the very edge of your

piece as much as possible. (Photo K.) Pay particular attention to the part of the seam that is left open.

(Photo L.) The little L shapes that you stitched should help give you a perfect line across the bottom. Use

a fabric glue stick or pin the opening neatly closed to hold it while you topstitch around the edges. (Photo

M.) We topstitched 1/8” away from the edges all around the sides. Then topstitch around the inset

embroidery design as well, right on the edge of the satin stitched line. Topstitching is shown in yellow in

Photo N.

There is no need for further quilting at this point—you piece will look great! If you’d like to do more, try

our gridded quilting idea. First, draw a line in a washable marker (we have become fans of the air erasable

purple markers for this type of work as they are easy to see and force you to work quickly!) across your

piece, through the corners of the embroidery. This line is shown in green on Photo N; the green circles

mark the corners of the embroidery. Your line will probably not go perfectly through the outside corners

of you mat and that is fine—using the embroidery as a guide is a better way to get the grid symmetrical.

After you have the green line drawn, add more quilting lines spaced 1” away and parallel to the green—

these lines are shown in blue. Note that none of the lines will be quilted through the embroidery, only on

the border.

Now stitch the lines using matching quilting thread in both the top and bobbin of your machine. We used

a red variegated quilting thread to add yet more fall color to our piece! Zigzag back and forth across the

lines, stopping and retracing along the yellow lines to get to the next zigzag. Don’t be afraid to put the

pedal to the metal! Sewing quickly not only gives you faster results, but we noticed our lines were

straighter as well.

Take your piece out of the sewing machine and now mark your quilting lines going the opposite way as

shown in Photo O. Stitch them to complete quilting. Voila! You have a perfect placemat with no binding

required!

We hope you enjoyed making this easy placemat and we hope you’ll be encouraged to make

more and add a touch of love to your kitchen table. Please visit the website for more fall minute

mat ideas and to get started on a nice set of four!

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All designs are copyright 2015 San Francisco Stitch Co. Designs may not be altered, resold, or transferred to third parties.

Selling stitched items in limited quantities is permitted.