Mug Rugs: To Practice Binding

I decided in May that I wanted to make a mug rug to go along with some tea and jam I had gotten my son's friend for her birthday. He saw her earlier than I expected so I wasn't able to do the mug rug until he was with her actually.

I auditioned some too cute to cut up apple fabric but then I decided to make my own top using fabric that would go with a mug his friend had made recently:

(After doing this I did a side trip to explore how to work with curved seams.)

Click the photos to see the larger views....







Then I used a different striped material to make the binding.  After I had it put together I realized that I needed to sew the initial seam so it wasn't as close to the edge. Or if I'm going to sew make the binding be so narrow on the top I need to start with narrower strip of fabric (I used 2 inch strip).  The free motion quilting that I did made puffs appear toward the center, so I hope the mug will not topple over!

I waited a few days then decided to test the Missouri Star way of making HST, and I made another mug rug.  This time I just did stitch in the ditch quilting and using 2 inch fabric I sewed the first seam 1/4 inch in so the back was the same size.  I need help with learning what to do with the corners though - I had to reinforce with extra stitching on two of the corners.  This mug rug will go to a friend who has a home office.....