Patriotic US Flag Mini Quilt

Can you believe that summer is just around the corner? I’m so excited to have guest Amy Chappell of Ameroonie Designs to share a cute patriotic flag mini quilt project with plenty of time to make it before summer holiday  and 4th of July celebrations start!

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Hi friends! I’m Amy Chappell, designer at Ameroonie Designs. A mug rug (or mini quilt) is such a fun quick project. With a few scraps and a bit of time you come away with a finished product and a sense of satisfaction. 

I have been making up bunches of them lately, like this Sunshine and Rainbows Mug Rug (pattern available here) and I just can’t seem to stop!

Today I am going to show you how to make up these patriotic mug rugs with stripes and stars using a quilt as you go method. So grab your red, white and blue scraps and lets get sewing!

Patriotic US Flag Mini Quilt Tutorial

Flag Mini Quilt Supplies: 

• 6 ½” X 9 ½” piece of fabric for the backing of your mug rug.

• 2 ½” X 33” strip of fabric for binding.

• 6 ½” X 9 ½” piece of natural fiber batting (cotton or wool so you don’t melt the batting as you do the quilt as you go method)

• Scraps of red, white and blue fabric, including at least one piece of white/white and red fabric that is 6 ½” X 5” for the background of the applique stars. (I am using fabric from the Fireworks and Freedom line by Riley Blake Designs.)

• Fusible adhesive, such as Heat n Bond Lite to back your stars. Make sure the adhesive can be sewn.

• Star pattern (downloadable PDF).

Create Quilt- As-You-Go background: 

Begin by placing your 6 ½” X 9 ½” backing fabric wrong side up on your work surface. Place your batting directly over the backing fabric. You may want to baste these together. Mark a line on the batting 4 ¼” from the left side to mark where the stripes begin.

Select a strip of fabric for your first stripe. I chose to begin and end with red. The strips can vary in widths, I used strips between 1 and 1 ½” wide.

Line up the short end of the strip with the marked line and the bottom edge of the batting.

Take a second strip of fabric in contrasting fabric (white in this case).

Line up the strip with the marked line and the top edge of the first strip. These two strips should be right sides together.

Sew across the top of the two strips using a ¼” seam allowance.

Press the white strip up and away from the red strip.

Add quilting to both strips. I like to vary the quilting with each strip, but you don’t have to.

Take a third strip of fabric (again alternating the color) and line it up, right side down, on the second strip.

Sew down using a ¼” seam allowance.

Press the third strip away from the quilted strips and then add quilting.

Repeat the steps, adding strips until the right side of the batting is covered in stripes.

Take your large white scrap (at least 6 ½” X 5”) and place it right side down on top of the stripes.

Line up the edge with the marked line and sew down using a ¼” seam allowance.

Press the white piece away from the quilted stripes and add quilting.

Add Applique Stars to Mug Rug: 

Print off your star pattern. Trace the desired number and size of stars onto the paper side of your fusible adhesive. Cut out the stars leaving a slight margin around each one.

Follow the manufacturers instructions to fuse the stars onto the wrong side of your blue scraps.

Cut out the stars along the traced lines. Remove the paper backing from the stars.

Position the stars as desired on the white fabric on the left side of the mug rug. Fuse the stars into place, again following the manufacturers instructions.

Sew around the stars using a narrow zig zag or a straight stitch.

Trim the Stripes and Stars mug rug to 6” X 9”.

Add binding. (You can find instructions how to bind/finish a quilt here.)

For the third patriotic mug rug, I marked 2 ½” in on each side and then used a scrappy quilt as you go method to create the center panel. Next, I added strips of red and blue to the sides. You can find the tutorial for the scrappy quilt as you go method here. 

If you’re not quite ready to make flags yet, pin this picture so you can easily find it again later.

More Patriotic US Flag-inspired sewing projects:

If you would like some more inspiration for patriotic projects, you find my Patriotic wool applique hoop tutorial here

and my Patriotic Porch Pillows tutorial (using the same Fireworks and Freedom fabric) on my blog.

I also just released my brand new Patriotic Mini Bunting pattern this week! This is a fun make combining cotton prints and wool felt.

You can find the Patriotic Mini bunting pattern available in my Etsy shop.

Happy sewing my friends! xoxo, Amy

Thanks Amy Chappell!

If you’re looking for more Patriotic Sewing and Quilting projects, check out this list of 17 of my favorite flag-inspired projects for the 4th of July here.