Week 13: Paper Pieced Union Jack Mug Rug

I was able to finish the Lazy Days Skirt in time for me to get back on track with my sewing, but I'm still not caught up with my blogging.  Ah, well.  As these two gentlemen (not) of Verona would say:

Shakespeare in Love from Miramax/Universal

When I started looking around for sewing and quilting patterns to use for this year-long exercise, there were two kinds of projects that I constantly came across but had no interest in trying.  The first was something called a "mug rug," and the second was paper piecing.

Paper piecing, also called foundation piecing, is a quilting technique where you sew your fabric onto a sheet of paper that is printed with a design or picture.  It can be used to create quilt blocks that are very detailed, like many of the ones pinned here, and is a great way to use up fabric scraps.

A mug rug is somewhere in between a coaster and placemat.  They vary in size but basically are large enough to set a mug and some cookies onto.  Mug rugs are also a great way to use up scraps.

I hadn't been interested in working on either paper piecing or mug rugs because, well, to be honest, they didn't look like they'd be of any use to me.  The paper piecing patterns (try saying that 10 times fast!) that I first came across were traditional designs of stars or other geometric shapes that just didn't look like anything that I'd want to spend my time making.  But then I came across this pattern of a Vespa, and I just thought it was so cute!  I wanted to make it and it inspired to look for other cute paper piecing patterns.

As for the mug rug, I thought they were adorable, like the ones pictured here, but I've got a ton of coasters, and have so many placemats that I can't even find a place to store them, so why should I bother making mug rugs?  Then I realized that they are basically mini quilts, and I can try new quilting designs or techniques on them!  And, if I mess up, I'll just be ruining a small piece of fabric instead of an entire  45"x60" lap quilt.

So for this week I'm going to work on both paper piecing and a mug rug.  The UK has been on my mind this week ever since I saw Wills and Kate on the cover of People magazine, so when I saw this pattern of the Union Jack at Whims and Fancies, I just had to make it!
  

The Union Jack Paper Piecing Pattern from Whims and Fancies
Image and design © Soma Acharya

The pattern comes in a 7" and 10" size.  I'll be making the 10" size, as I've got a rather large mug and will need additional space for an even larger appetite for cookies (or "biscuits," if you're reading this from across the pond).  It looks rather easy, but, as this is a new technique to me, I am convinced that I'll mess it up somehow.

I'll be using fabric from the Firecracker collection, which I had previously used with the Simple Circles Table Runner.  At the risk of sounding like a certain '90's song, isn't it ironic that the only red, white, and blue fabric I have on hand is from a Connecting Threads collection that is all about celebrating the independence of Britain's most rebellious group of colonies?  Oh, how cheeky!

I'm quite excited to get started on this project.  Well, tally ho, chaps!