Do I Hear.....

...$50?    *lol*

 

Thanks for your support yesterday... it meant a lot!

My First BOM

Yup, I went and did it… signed up for a 12-month BOM.  Yup, I am a crazy woman… just shoot me now!  

Seriously, my SIL will be heading off to minister school at Duke University this coming school year and I felt “called” to make Jan Patek’s Bible quilt for him.... even though he may be through with minister school by the time I finish this...

 Photo from Jan Patek's blog

Block #1 arrived in yesterday’s mail.  

 Photo from Jan Patek's blog

Let me just say that I’ve never met a pattern that I didn’t want to change in some way… and I will be changing this one as well.   Nothing that serious but I’m NOT doing needle-turn appliqué!  Not that I can’t, it’s just that 1) I’m a little ADHD,  and 2) I’m not willing to spend that amount of time with something that will give rise to latent perfectionism, semi-tamed after many, many years’ effort.

I foresee a lot of fun with fusible stuff and underlining… wish me luck!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yes, yes, I know I didn't post a mug rug yesterday when you all are waiting with baited-breath for me to do so...  *lol*

Here's your mug rug fix for the day...

Houston...We Have Flowers!

The math worked out over the weekend, it was time to try making a flower to see if my calculations worked... and they did!  I cut out all the segments and made eight flowers... 

They look a bit large to me so I will spread out the quilt top on the floor with the flowers around it before I make any more.

Yes, it's another mug rug...

Yesterday, a new blog friend asked how many mug rugs I had...  and I said that I had a couple.   I've mailed out eight as gifts and four have gone to a coworker as a house warming present.  Twelve will go out today in the school system's courier mail to other coworkers. 

This time of the school year is our "busy season"...  add to that the stress from the current State budget crisis and the underlying worry about whether or not we'll have jobs come fall. 

I thought my coworkers could use a little something to help brighten their day.

Progress in Pink

Between necessary weekend chores, I was able to sew on both the pink and white inner borders.  Took a pass on fiddling with the flowers for the next border because I can do small tasks like that after work during the week. 

Funny how adding two small borders makes the quilt top look so much larger.

To unwind, I made a mug rug... I know you are SO surprised!

 

All in all....  I'm moving along...

Wordless Wednesday

Letting Go

A coworker and her hubby of less than a year recently purchased their first home.  Being young and hip is very much reflected in their décor and I do like it.  

I thought I’d make them several mug rugs as a house warming gift… and have been trying to expand my “little old lady” style to a more hip and happenin’ mode.  It hasn’t been easy.   

First, I tried to loosen up with wild prints with strong colors but had a hard time with the design and quilting part… still kinda “old fogey-ish”…  so tonight… I quilted without painter’s tape or following seams and not much planning… it was weird to let go but it turned out pretty good, I thought.

Then I tried another… but, when sewing together scraps to make a back for the mug rug, I liked the back better than the front.  So I let go and went with the flow… even used lime green thread to do the quilting.

Not sure if Renee will like the mug rugs…   it was certainly interesting trying not to be so structured and organized!

~~~~~

PS – Ian has been serving in Afghanistan since last October and will be home to Renee and his new, never-seen-in-real-life home this weekend.

And the winner is...

This is my first time using Random.org's Sequence Generator and I'm happy to tell you that it works just fine.  Don’t know how to copy/paste it to my blog but I imagine I’ll figure it out someday.

  

With no further ado, the winner of the Heart and Flowers mug rug is Pokey!

Pokey said...

     It is a pretty mug rug, and would be well loved at my house, more likely in my classroom!
     So nice to meet you, and read about your adventures in quilting through the internet. Isn't it great? I've grown so much myself, and look forward to learning along with you, Pokey

I have emailed Pokey to share the good news!  Thanks to all who participated…

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In other news, I did go to my LQS’s Super Bowl Sunday SALE and picked up a few things, including Insul-Brite because I want to try making some pot-holders using fabric scraps in my bins.  I might just do a tutorial on it if the pot-holders turn out decently.  

After yesterday’s flurry of activity, I’ve been on a much slower pace today…  auditioning pinks to decide on which to use for the first border on the pink double 4-patch quilt top.  Decisions, decisions, decisions…

Did take a little time to make another mug rug…

This one’s for my DS, who probably wouldn’t care much for the pretty, flowery fabrics I’ve been using!  It's kinda masculine looking, don't you think?

A Challenge

Still practicing on my mitered corners and machine quilting and it’s coming along well.  Made three mug rugs yesterday afternoon and evening… and while I was satisfied with them, I knew I wasn’t stretching myself.  I’ve been reading on blogs about choosing fabrics outside one’s comfort zone and remembered that I had gotten some really WILD and LOUD prints in a scrap bag from my LQS…  nice fabrics, just ones I’d never buy on my own.

Let me tell you that making that fourth mug rug was a struggle…  I wasn’t sure about the fabric scraps I chose to go together or the arrangement.  I almost needed sunglasses to work with the fabrics.  Once done, although I’d never have thought I would like the results… I did.

What do you think?  This mug rug would certainly wake me up in the morning!

Here are the other “more traditional” mug rugs I made. 

You’d think I’d have a huge stack by now but I don’t… five have gone out as birthday gifts and some of these will be Valentine’s gifts… and they didn’t really cost me anything except a little time in the evenings… and my mitered corners are looking pretty good!

Quick Birthday Gift

My niece, who works for Urban Promise in Wilmington DE and was the recipient of my first quilt, has a birthday coming up this week.  In addition to a bit of loose pocket change as a donation to the ministry, I’m sending her a mug rug of her very own!   I know y’all are SO surprised!   *wink*

I’m telling you… these mug rugs are addictive!    I may need an intervention here...

A quick and easy project using all those scraps of fabric I’ve been saving for who knows what… well… now I know for WHAT I was saving them!

Mug Rugs (part 2)

This past weekend while browsing quilt blogs, I ran across a post by Ryan Walsh of I’m Just A Guy Who Quilts about how to make a mug rug.  Since I had been trying to figure out exactly what's the best size to make mug rugs… I finally found an answer!  

So, instead of doing stuff that needs to get done… I made another mug rug, this time appx 7”x10” using stuff in my scrap bins.

I machine stitched down the binding b/c I’m either too lazy to hand stitch something that will be used and tossed in the wash frequently, OR… I would feel guilty hand sewing a quick project when I have so much else that needed doing… including a friend coming over for lunch!  I called it “practicing stitching in the ditch!”

House Dragon shared that she uses a decorate stitch on her machine to sew down the binding...  and a light bulb went on!  So I had to try that too...

Speaking of LUNCH… I made the Chicken & Wild Rice Soup recipe from Crazy Vegas Mom’s blog. 

True comfort food and especially nice on a chilly winter’s day... and great to take to work for lunch during the week!   

A Scrappy Kinda Day

After sewing together the previously cut jelly roll strips together and slicing-and-dicing them into sections for a pieced inner border for the FNSI blocks, I was in a scrappy mood and decided that I needed to make a mug rug.  

Dug into my scrap bins and ended up with five… count ‘em… FIVE mug rugs.   I wasn’t sure what size to make them so I tried several to see how they turned out.  I figure… like WHO cares what size you make ‘em.  Started out with 4”x6” and ended up with 5”x7”… should work don’t you think?

I wish I did better top stitching… nothing like a photo to point out skill deficits.  But again… it’s gonna be used and tossed in the wash so I’m not going to worry about it!