Spool Love Mug Rug

Come see me over on So Sew Easy this morning for a fun tutorial with a little paper-piecing! This cute little sewing-themed project is the perfect size to try out this technique, or it can be super quick if you have some experience.

EDIT April 2026 - Since the pattern is no longer available at the So Sew Easy website, I'm hosting the whole tutorial and pattern here!

I'm back with a tutorial to make this cute little Spool Love mug rug!  It's something a little different you might not have tried before – paper piecing.  This technique is used to piece odd shapes together with precision.

You can also use the paper-piecing pattern and tutorial to make multiple spools in a mini wall quilt or a table runner too! I'd love to see whatever you come up with.  Have your own sewing blog?  Please link back if you adapt it to create your own project.

Spool Love Mug Rug 

Download the paper-piecing spool pattern at this link.  (Be sure to print the pdf with no scaling)

Materials: You will need some scraps, as follows:

- background (gray), 1 about 4″ x 5″, 2 about 3″ x 1.5″, 4 about 1″ x 1.5″
- spool “thread” (pink or color of your choice), 2 about 3″ x 2″, 2 about 1″ x 3.5″
- spool top and base (faux bois), 2 about 3.5″ x 2″
- binding, about 25″ x 2.25″ wide
- batting (scrap about 6″ x 8″)
- backing (about 6″ x 8″)

You can roughly cut your scraps to the right sizes, or just hold them up on the back of the paper to make sure they will cover the area. So, starting with the spool centre piece, cut out the paper pattern piece (doesn't have to be exact). Hold your spool centre scrap up behind the paper to make sure it will cover the centre, labeled #1. It should be with the wrong side toward the paper back. Then take your next scrap, a background piece, and lay it right side facing the centre piece. You want to make sure it covers space #2 when it is stitched and folded out toward the side.

This next photo here shows pieces #1 and #2, right sides together, with the edges about 1/4″ over the line, ready for stitching. Now take the paper pattern piece with the two fabric scraps in position and, using a short stitch length, stitch down the line from the right side of the paper. Start a few stitches back from the end of the line, as you will need seam allowance at the top and bottom to stitch this unit to the next ones. Once stitched, press the background piece #2 away from the centre, and then repeat layering piece #3 on the other side of the centre.

Your middle unit is finished. Move on to either the top or bottom section. Take a scrap of whatever you're using for the spool ends (I used faux bois fabric for fun!) and make sure it will cover area #1. Take a scrap of the backing fabric and line it up to cover space #2 and #3, the corners. (Be sure it will cover the space once it's folded back – triangles can be tricky!) Stitch the two angled lines from the printed side, then trim the seam allowance to 1/4″ and press each corner open. With a scrap of your spool end fabric, piece section #4, trim the seam allowance, and press open. Repeat for the second spool end.

Now that all three units are pieced and pressed, trim each of them down to the dotted lines around the pattern piece. Then match the spool ends to the middle section. For precision, poke a pin through the spot where seams match. Stitch carefully along the line to join both spool sections to the middle. Then peel the paper off each section carefully. A shorter stitch length makes for more perforations, so it should be pretty easy to remove the paper. If needed, use tweezers to pull out any stubborn corner bits.

Press the whole spool block – your paper-piecing is done! Trim the unit to 3″x4″. Next, cut two strips of the backing fabric 1″x3″ and stitch to the top and bottom of the spool block. Press the strips away from the block. Cut one piece of the background fabric to 4″x5″ and stitch to the side of the completed spool unit. Press seam. Your mug rug top is finished! Trim to 5″x6.5″. Layer the mug rug top, scrap of batting, and the backing fabric and baste.

Now you get to have fun quilting your little mug rug! I chose to stitch in the ditch around the spool ends and then free motion some “thread” around the spool, leading into a word.

TIP – use an erasable marker to draw out your word or design so you can follow the writing as you sew and then erase it afterward.

The last step is to trim the excess batting and backing and bind the mug rug. If you're looking for a good tutorial on binding, the last part of my Wonky Stars Mug Rug tutorial has one.

Your sweet mug rug is finished and ready to keep your sewing table clean and your mug happy!

The Haven Acres Mini Collection is here!

Welcome to Day 3 of the blog tour for the Haven Acres Mini Collection! Jennifer from Jennuine Designs created this beautiful equestrian-inspired collection, consisting of a pretty blouse, well-fitting leggings, and a totally adorable cap.

Jennifer's design is unique, but I'm even more impressed with her pattern! It looks so professional - from the beautiful watercolour cover to the thorough and easy to understand directions and perfect pattern pieces! One of my favourite things about Jennifer's pdf patterns is that she uses layers for the different sizes, so you can just turn off the sizes you don't need and print just one size, or two if you need to grade between sizes!

Sweet Pea Cap

It's been a long haul, testing this collection over the last couple of months but Jennifer stuck to it and has this beautiful pattern collection to show for it.

The Dressage Leggings pattern has options for basic leggings or the equestrian-style paneled version, and each of those versions also has a regular rise or a high rise for the smaller sizes, to accommodate cloth diapers. The leggings fit great and the paneled pattern pieces are perfectly drafted to make them easy to put together, including an option for flat-felled seams for comfort. This first pair I made out of a tan ponte di roma - since then a few tweaks have been made to the pattern to perfect the fit.

The little red plaid blouse is the pre-test version of the Haven Acres Blouse - since then the length of sleeves and bodice have changed a bit and the front keyhole is a slightly different shape. I used a pretty soft cotton lawn plaid for a more country feel riding blouse, and she adores it. The blouse has the prettiest little peplum flounce with elastic casing at the waist, softly puffed sleeves in two lengths, and a bias-bound neckline with an elastic loop/button closure under a ribbon, or the option to add ties over the keyhole.

Here's the back of the Dressage Leggings for a better view of the riding-inspired panels:

And the last piece in the collection is the Sweet Pea Cap, the most adorable little riding-style cap because PONY EARS! (or so I am told by little miss.)

One of the testers also came up with a sweet design for kitten ears, which Jennifer kindly added to the pattern for even more options.  The cap is a super simple sew with several sizes based on head measurements (thankfully! My girlie has a huge head for a 3 year-old).

I did another pair of the Dressage Leggings and a blouse, all in colours to mix & match. For the leggings I used stretch denim with a red ponte di roma for the inner panels, and went up one size to account for the denim not being as stretchy. They fit like a dream on my skinny, no-butt girl!

Love the red topstitching. I had to use a regular needle in two passes instead of a twin needle because of the denim, and just regular thread to topstitch.

This version of the Haven Acres Blouse I used a soft jersey knit instead of a woven, just to try it out. I love the result!

Details of this blouse: I used her regular size, the size 3, just with a little added length to account for her long back. Instead of using binding at the neck, I drew a facing pattern based on the necklines combined with the keyhole facing.

I cut out the facing pieces from the same fabric and stitched them together at the shoulders. The I finished the outer edge with the serger (alternatively, this could be left raw, as jersey wouldn't fray).

Once I had sewn the shoulder seams of the blouse together as per the pattern, I pinned and sewed the neckline facing in place, and then stitched the keyhole opening as the pattern describes. From there it was simple to turn the facing inside and tack it down just at the shoulder seam. Alternatively it could be topstitched down all the way around, either very close to the neckline or close to the outer edge of the facing.

Thanks for the opportunity to test such a unique collection, Jennifer! I know there are more pairs of Dressage Leggings for sure and also another Haven Acres Blouse on the horizon for Abigail!

Check out the rest of the tour for more amazing versions of this collection!

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