Mug Rug!

I have seen Mug Rugs on various quilting blogs and thought they were rather cute. Then my friend, Frances, started making some. She has been having a great time and they really are cute!

This morning, I decided in the midst of things I need to do like finish paying bills... reconcile the bank statement... all those kind of things... I wanted to do something just for fun... so I decided to make a mug rug!  I found some leftover block pieces from a quilt I made a number of years ago for my brother and his wife.  I grabbed a few of those and some black scraps and leftover batting and off I went.

It was a quick and easy project... this first  mug rug is super basic!  Provided me with a bit of instant gratification. LOL!

I think it turned out pretty nice:

There are issues with the binding.. but then I always have issues with binding!  I am thinking mug rugs will provide some much needed practice.

Off to do things I need to do now. But no doubt there will be more mug rugs in my future.

"Belle"

Finishing things up....

Two projects were finished this weekend... one just in time!

First - a baby quilt for a shower this afternoon!  The nursery for this baby boy has a jungle theme. I had no jungle fabric here so I found a charm pack on eBay and ordered them... then found some fabric at Hancock's and bought it. Didn't know which I would use.... and then ended up using both!  I think it turned out very cute.

Here is a close up of the quilting. Hubby did that part and chose a bright blue thread. (He also did the binding.  Such a treasure!)

That blue looks so good on the back. This photo really doesn't show it well as the back is a dark milky chocolate brown.

I am sure the Mommy and Daddy to be will like it. I so love making baby quilts!

I have to add that today at church I went to love on one of the sweet babies we have had born recently and their wadded up in his carrier was the quilt we made for him. I have seen it with him many times this winter and just love it!  Not because I think it is a marvelous quilt or because I want folks to see it, but because it is being used!  That, for me, is the best way to say Thanks!  Use the quilt!

The other completed project was a UFO. I found a cute BOM in 2005.. YEP 2005.. early in my quilting days. It was redwork and I just fell in love with it.  I immediately had an idea of how I wanted to do it. Each month I would use a specific themed fabric to coordinate with the pattern.  I would pick a color from the fabric to use for the embroidery.  I jumped in like gangbusters for 6 or so months and then it happened... Quilter's ADD... I got caught up in other projects. I would work a bit on the blocks every now and then. I made it through November and then set it aside... for several years!  So in January, I pulled it out and finished up the December embroidery and then set out to create a quilt. I love how it turned out.

This is one I did start to finish on my own.  (If you could see the binding up close you would know that hubby did not do it!  He is much better than I am at that.)

Here are some close ups of the blocks:

The pattern is from Bobby Socks Quilt Company  and is called Child's Play. There are some super cute whimsical patterns there, as well as a free BOM available.

Off to a baby shower... then home to work on the GFG some more.

"Belle"

Stringing you along....

I have a quilty friend who just does not like string quilts.  I am always a bit surprised by that because she loves loves loves scrappy quilts.. the scrappier the better.. and to me a string quilt is one of the scrappiest!  Oh well... my mom always says "If we all liked the same thing it would be a dull world."

I, unlike my friend, love string quilts.  I think a lot of it is the resourcefulness behind them. The frugality in using up scraps. Granted, many today are made with fabric purchased specifically for that project, but the original intent was a frugal one. I also like the simplicity of making a string quilt. It is pretty difficult to mess one up!

There is a quilting group in a town an hour south of us who have a show each March called Pieces and Strings. Many of the quilts there.. most in fact.. will  be string quilts.  This was the first quilt show I ever attended and I look forward to it each year.  I was inspired several years ago to make a string quilt.. I got the top made (I used the String X pattern found at Quiltville ).  And then the top sat in a closet with all the other UFOs that have been popping up here lately.  Hubby decided to quilt it this year.... no there isn't a picture yet. It would be UFO#7 for him (yesterday's Sailing Quilt is #8). It is quilted.. just needs to be bound and I will get it done.. soon.. in fact, real soon. We are going to enter it in the show!  I don't expect a prize.. don't even care about that. But I love the idea of it hanging in a show and the fact that I pieced the top and hubby quilted it is wonderful... a collaboration of this quilting couple.

Here it is folded on a chair waiting patiently for me...

Hubby, tired of quilting and UFOs, decided to play with some strings himself.  He is making up scrappy blocks from various size strings we have saved from other projects.  Here are some of his blocks...

Here is his stack of strings.. notice that they are rather neat and tidy....

I have been playing with ideas for a quilt for a friend's daughter who graduates high school this year. After seeing hubbies string blocks and seeing all the strings we had, I decided to make her a string quilt.  It is scrappy, but I am controlling the colors a bit. I'm using pinks, greens, purples and teals (or blue-green or whatever you call that!) and some white thrown in.  I love how the blocks are looking....

Had to show my workspace... I am not quite as tidy as hubby! (see my GFG sneaking in the photo?)

String quilts are a bit mindless.. and right now that is great for me!  Sometimes I just need to create and not have to really think about it a lot. Know what I mean?

Off to do some stringing.... "Belle"

Sailing Away....

Hubby surprised me with a completed UFO for Valentine's Day. This is a top he made a few years ago. He knows I love blue and white together. I love how they play off each other.. the richness of the blue making the crispness of the white pop.  My friends would look at this quilt and say it doesn't look like me. I am a pink girl.. especially pink and green or pink and purple or all 3 together... and I love bright colors and scrappy quilts. That is why I snitched a UFO he finished earlier that has lots of bright colors including a wonderful bright blue border.

But there is hidden meaning behinds elements of this quilt.. things that might not click with others, but do with hubby and I.

I grew up on water... the Muddy Mississippi is one of the most amazing things to see ... it is home for me. I can watch it flow and ripple all day along. And oh a sunset from the bluffs of my hometown, Natchez, MS is amazing. No way can you doubt God when you see it! I spent a huge portion of my growing up years on various lakes.. fishing with my dad (or attempting to get a tan while he fished)... skiing with buddies...swimming.. boating.. and sailing!  Ahhh sailing... how I miss it!  My best friend's dad and grandpa were into sailing and we would crew for them. Tiny boats.. Flying Scotsman.  There were races each month on the lake. It was so fun!  If you look closely you will see that one of the main fabrics used in this quilt is of plans for building sailboats. Thus the reference to one of my loves from days gone by.. sailing.  And as for the plans.. the blueprint look to the fabric.. well my sweetie is an architect, so that ties 2 of my loves together!

And if you wonder what I gave him... well, we were not supposed to swap gifts (Hubby never minds me in that! LOL!)  so he had nothing to open that night BUT I am safe... I gave birth to our first child and only daughter 23 years ago on Valentine's Day... that pretty well takes care of all Valentine's Day gifts for me forever! LOL!

"Belle"

2 more bite the dust......

Hubby, a.k.a. the Mad Quilter, grabbed 2 more tops that have been lying around for a while ... we sandwiched them up.. and off he went.  They are now both quilted and bound and ready for someone to use to keep warm and cozy. 

As I have mentioned here before, Hubby is an architect (the best in my opinion), so linear design is something he does very well... and it is showing up in his quilting lately. He had fun creating designs when quilting these 2.

Here are some pix:


UFO #5

UFO #6:

There are 3 more UFOs ready to be bound here. Another top pieced and quilted by Hubby... one pieced by me and quilted by him... and one pieced and quilted by me. So there will be more pix coming soon!

I guess 2011 is the year of UFOs here.

"Belle"

It's a Girl!

A young couple at our church are expecting a wee one soon... and It's a Girl!  I love making baby quilts and especially ones for Baby Girls. I just love the colors used.  This girlie has a pink and green nursery (I LOVE PINK AND GREEN!).  Before I knew the nursery colors, I found this cute purple with pink flowers fabric in the sale bin at Hobby Lobby and snatched it up. I knew it would make its way into this quilt. So I added a bit more pink and green and purple.. and a touch of white.. and here you have it!

I found this cute green polka dot after finding the purple fabric and knew it would perfect for the backing... love how the thread color (Petal Pink Essential Cotton from Connecting Threads) looks on the back.

Hubby wanted to have a part in the gift also, so he did his quilting magic.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, he is having fun experimenting with various straight line design ideas.

I have another baby quilt to start soon.. this one for a little fella on the way. Bright colors and a jungle theme.. should be fun!

"Belle"

In my mail....

I love receiving packages in the mail.  They almost always have something I want or need in them. Lately the only packages arriving here have contained books for college classes... the college student in resident doesn't really want them and neither do I! LOL!  But yesterday a better kind of package came... one from Connecting Threads!

I love Connecting Threads.  I especially love their Essential Cotton Threads. Last weekend hubby asked if I would order some more of a color we had tried out.. Dark Honey. He loves it!  So I popped some in the shopping cart and I tossed in some Natural (we always keep that one hand) and then we just played a bit... ordering several other colors including some on clearance.  I think our array is lovely...

Then I decided to look through their clearance fabric.  I have bought a good bit of fabric from Connecting Threads and been very pleased with it.  Found a really pretty green... it is a bit brighter in real life, almost a light lime.

These swirls were so cool had to have some of each color offered.... the orange is a bit more of a yellow-orange in real life.

Then I found 2 fat eighth samplers. The first is from their fabric line called "Cheap Talk".... 16 F8ths

And then 24 from their "Sip of Summer" line... I LOVE these and they go so great with the swirlie fabrics above. I even have a quilt idea for them already.

Last but not least are 2 blocks I made for a swap. This is the Prairie Flower block from Quilters Cache.  I love pink and green, so I loved these!

Mr. Mac wanted to go outside and romp in the sunshine terrorizing birdies, but I was taking photos.  I had to snap a shot of him waiting patiently.  Such a good quiltie boy!

"Belle"