April Showers!

When I started quilting again 6 months ago after my 3 year hiatus I had never heard of mug rugs, but it didn't take long to fall in love with them. I keep the first one I made next to Mr. Juki on my sewing table. I've also done a few mug rug exchanges and made some for gifts. Lots of quilty fun in a little rectangle!

When the April Showers Mug Rug Blog Hop was announced it was a quick "YES Please!!" for me. Then I thought... and thought... and thought some more about what to make. So many ideas - probably too many ideas!

I came across this line of fabric at Connecting Threads a few weeks ago and thought it would be fun to play with.

It was!

Here is the first mug rug I made. After looking through the fabrics I decided I wanted to show off the galoshes and the umbrella girls print. I didn't want to cut them too small so decided on this layout and added the border fabrics. I found a pretty light aqua Sulky rayon thread in my drawer and decided to try for a "driving rain" effect. We had a rain mixed with snow shower the day before here in Minnesota so I added the random lines of snowflakes.

Next I wanted to use the other colorway... I really like how the greens brightened it up! When I quilted it I was thinking of a light spring rain and thought the serpentine stitch would be fitting.

The rest of the collection was dark and stormy! We live on a lake facing west so we see bad weather coming in the form of big dark clouds across the lake and thunder in the distance. Next comes the lightning followed by the cooling rain and, finally, light skies on the horizon.

I sketched out a pattern and paper pieced the background to show the progression of our typical summer storm. I have been wanting to play with applique on my new Juki F600 aka Julia so I found my fusible and fussy cut the umbrella girls. Doesn't Julia have a pretty buttonhole stitch!

I used the umbrella girls print for the backing on all three.

I also took a picture of the pieces before I sewed the second mug rug together in case you'd like to use my simple pattern. It was at night so ignore the blah colors from the flash.

Center Fabric - cut a 3.5" square
Border #1 - cut (2) 1.25" x 3.5" strips and (2) 1.25" x 5" strips
Border #2 - cut (2) 1.25" x 5" strips and (2) 1.25" x 6.5" strips
Side Panel Fabric - cut a 3.5" x 6.5" rectangle

I love to collect coffee mugs and this is my current favorite. Be Happy just says it all!

How about a giveaway? I've got a layer cake of Soaked to send to one lucky reader and I'll also send you some of the fabric I used for binding and backing. Just leave ONE comment telling me your favorite thing about spring or which mug rug is your favorite and I'll use Mr. Random to draw a winner on the last day of the Blog Hop. Giveaway is now CLOSED.

Thanks so much to Madame Samm and Erin for their wonderful efforts putting this fun Hop together! Please take some time to visit these talented quilters who have created mug rugs for your viewing pleasure today.

TUESDAY, APRIL 9th

Gina @ Sew Much and More

Sharon @ Vroomans Quilts

Theresa @ Bumbleberry Stitches

Jennet @ The Feathered Nest Studio

Patti @ A Yankee in Queen Liz's Court

Gene @ Gene Black - Alabama Artist

Susan @ Susan's Scrappy Domain

Bente @ I Like to Quiltblog

Deb @ Quilting & Other Craft Therapy

Megan @ AnnieOak Designs

Christmas Is Coming...

I keep telling myself that the important handmade gifts are done... the rest of my projects are no pressure. Well, that isn't really working because I want them ALL to be done! Before Christmas. My quilting room turns into a guest room on Friday night so I need to not only be done machine sewing but have the room cleaned up too. We are celebrating Christmas on Saturday because my daughter has to work next week.

With that in mind here is my Quilting To-Do list by priority:

1.  Thimbleberries Tree Skirt - I need to finish sewing down the binding, this WILL be ready for my Friday Finish post!

2.  Set of 4 Christmas Stockings - I'm making the first one as a pattern tester, the other 3 will have pieced blocks. Hand sewing the binding down will take the most time. Here are the fabrics I'm using for the tester: Christmas scene fabric for the stocking, red for the cuff and green for the binding. The stockings have flannel batting & muslin lining front & back.

3.  Metallic Florals Table Runner - Still on my design wall. After I get the stockings assembled I'll start sewing the blocks together. Quilting will be quick and then I'll add it to my pile of hand binding!

4.  Santa Wall Hanging - I started the hand quilting last night. For my 1st attempt I think it's pretty good. I loved doing the beard! The straight (mostly) lines, not so much. Since I have 9 Santas to quilt I'm aiming for 2 a day, this took about an hour last night but I know I'll get faster at it. I laid the embellishments on for the photo. Too cute!

5.  Mug Rugs - I finished this cute mug rug for an online swap using a tutorial I found at The Crafty Quilter. If time permits I'll make more.

My Quilting To-Do List is MUCH shorter than my I'd Rather Quilt Than Do THIS! List, but definitely more time-intensive. At least I can look forward to watching some holiday movies and of course football while sewing down binding!

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday@Freshly Pieced and Linky Party Tuesday@Freemotion by the River.  Gotta go... my stockings are calling!

A Learning Quilt

One of my 100 Day Hustle goals is to finish and donate 6 of my UFOs to Project Linus. I really enjoy making quilts for kids so I can work with bright novelty fabrics and it's for a great cause. Double bonus!

This is "Bees & Cats" which stung me a few times yesterday.  Before I get into that, there are some things I really like about this quilt.  I love how the binding makes the turquoise centers pop.  I also like the range of value in this quilt a lot.  Pastels & brights don't always work so well together.

 

I used to be active in a Yahoo quilting group that did "Happy Block" exchanges.  Each month you would send 5 4" squares of your choice to other quilters.  We would keep one, sew borders on the other 4 and return them to each other  It was fun to get little squishies in the mail, figure out how to complement different fabrics and build a collection of eclectic blocks. And, they really are Happy don't you think? 

The downside is that sometimes the blocks are a little difficult to work with due to the fabrics used.  A mix of not pre-washed or washed, some maybe not all cotton, etc.  I fought some of these blocks every step of this quilt - they pressed funny & distorted easily.  Last night I learned that if they press funny they are going to quilt funny too. Usually I'm worrying about tucks on the backing but on this quilt the front was a challenge.  I also learned that if the 1st quilting line has a bad section so will every line that runs the same way.  Next time I will rip out the bad one and start over.  Oh, and start with a full bobbin.  No further explanation needed~!

I did my 1st pieced backing using 4 left over blocks and love it.  I learned how to finish off my binding using this awesome tutorial.  The binding was sewn to the back of the quilt, folded over and machine stitched from the front which is also new to me.  I'm really happy with how the front turned out and will get better at making the back line more consistent.  I stayed up late to wash it because I was letting those funny blocks get to me (silly I know!) and was glad to see it crinkled up nicely all over.

This really was a learning quilt.  Do I love it?  Not really.  But, will a child love this quilt?  Yes!

I also had to join in the mug rug craze... here is my shabby chic version sporting my favorite coffee mug.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday@Freshly Pieced.