Before Christmas I ran across an awesome tutorial to make a snowman mug rug,
but the finished product ended up as a 9" square which was a little larger than I wanted.
The snowman mug rug shown above finishes out at 5 1/2" x 7 1/2".
Here is what I did to alter the pattern.
- 1 - ivory fabric cut 4 1/2" x 4 1/2"
- 4 - red dot fabric cut 2" x 2" for corners
- 2 - red dot fabric cut 2" x 5" for the sides of the block
- 2 - red dot fabric cut 1" x 9" for the top and bottom of the block
- 1 - backing fabric cut 7 1/2" x 9"
I followed the basic sewing instructions from the original tutorial,
but when I got to step 8 this is what I did.
After the carrot nose is applied using an iron-on bonding adhesive,
I laid a strip of tear away embroidery stabilizer beneath my block before I began
to stitch the nose in place.
I basically just laid the stabilizer on the back of the block,
then flipped the block
over to begin outlining the nose.
The embroidery stabilizer has just enough body to
stabilize the fabric as the carrot is attached.
I used a simple zig-zag stitch set to a very narrow width
for my outline.
The stabilizer instructions indicated that it can be "torn away" from the fabric,
but I opted to cut it away with a sharp scissors.
If you decide to cut the stabilizer away at this point,
pay careful attention that you do not cut into the snowman
or it will make him very sad and possibly nose-less!
The snowman face is machine quilted using a simple meandering stitch.
The rest of the mug rug was straight-line quilted
using the markings on a walking foot as a stitching guideline.
A few more hours of work and I'll have this stack of snowmen
completed and ready to store away for next Christmas:)
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May you always Sew in Peace!
