Are you ready for St. Patrick's Day?

What could be more fun that transforming St. Patrick's Day gnome blocks into mug rugs? They're fun, fast and easy to sew! The Luck o' the Irish Mug Rug Starter Kit includes the block panel (with 15 blocks) and 4 green prints for piecing. The kit also comes with instructions to make the four mug rug variations shown below. Make one, make four, make 15! But keep reading for details on the folded end binding technique recommended for these mug rugs.

Sometimes a binding strip is just a tiny bit too short. Sometimes the quilted piece is small, and it's hard to sew the diagonal seam on the binding strip. Sometimes you just feel like joining binding strips the easy way. Try this method:

Trim the strip ends so there is about 2" of overlap.

Fold the raw edges of one end in about 1/2" and press. Refold and press on the lengthwise fold.

Tuck the raw end inside the folded end. The folded strips should envelop the raw edge end.

Pin the overlapped strips in place to secure.

Continue stitching the binding in place, securing the overlapped ends. Finish the binding using your preferred method to secure the binding around the quilt edge. (I prefer to stitch the binding onto the back side of the quilt first, and then wrap the binding around to the front side and topstitch to secure.)