I've been crafting in my mind...envisioning what I need to do to make an awesome mug rug (8 of 50) for my swap partner. After reviewing her answers to my questions (more than twice, I might add), here's what I came up with. Gnome...check. Colour match to kitchen decor (since she indicated that mug rug will actually serve as a coffee press rug)...check. Requested size of not to exceed 7" square...check.
Embroidery WIP
Embroidered gnome
As I was embroidering the gnome, this was the story in the back of my mind...
Larry is your average variety garden gnome. It has been rumored that he is a charity shop rescue, but he insists that he hails from Target (or was it Wal-Mart?). He is not happy with life in the chilly northwest. “Ah the cold weather is making me miserable,” he moaned. “There are icicles in my beard and my nose is redder than Rudolph’s!” The harsh winter conditions have taken a toll on his usually sunny disposition. Larry has decided that it is time to make a few changes in his life. He will be a garden gnome…no more! His plan is to spend the rest of his life, snuggled under the warmth of a coffee press (or teapot if it comes to that). He does not mind being squished…not if it means moving down south for good!
Front view
Close-up
Back view
The sewing bit for the mug rug was a breeze (what can I say...I love to sew!) but the embroidery bit was less fun. I kept things simple...but sometimes, simple is good. I hope my partner likes it!
Here are a couple of practice mug rugs (7 of 50) that I made recently. The mug rug with the pink binding is a scrappy selvedge piece (I've been wanting to work with selvedges for the longest time!) and the other mug rug is a collection of some of my favourite fabrics in green hues.
I like to think of them as mini quilts...because let's face it, I'm probably never gonna complete a full-size quilt in this lifetime. Here's the equation I'm talkin' about:
Large project + Short attention span = Dusty abandoned WIP
But I digress. What exactly are mug rugs? Essentially, they're glorified coasters, and size-wise, they're bigger than conventional coasters (big enough to serve as a mini placemat for a cuppa tea and a biscuit). The approximate measurements for my mug rugs are 6" by 8". So how well do these work? It looks just about right for a normal size mug, but I might have to make larger ones for monster mugs (i.e. my favourite mug, aka the soup mug)! 
I have one more to crank out for a mug rug swap. And these two mug rugs are leaving my craftroom soon. One will find a warm and cosy abode down south, and the other will be headed north (hopefully warmed by toasty mugs of tea).
It has been twelve days since I've done anything with the quilt squares. This is not good! Feeling more than a little guilty, I played with both sets of squares last night and finally came up with ways to arrange the squares. Check it out! 
Earlier on during the week, I toyed around with a bunch of quilt block combinations on paper because I wanted to see what I could come up with. This weekend, I cut out all the fabric pieces and stitched them up. Voila! Here are six of my favourites patterns: 
I was having a particularly bad day (work and life in general) and found a mysterious box on my front porch that same evening. Turns out, my friend, CD decided to send me an unfinished queen size quilt that belonged to her mother-in-law, Ada (R.I.P.). It's beautiful, and I'm touched. All the piecing was completed by hand, and there are couple of blocks (actually, one kiss and half a hug...) which have been hand quilted. The stitches are perfect and even, and I can only hope that my stitchwork will be half as good. Thanks to Google, I was able to find out that the pattern for the quilt (Kisses & Hugs) was published by Quiltmaker in the Nov/Dec '99 issue (No. 70). The pattern may be viewed here.
The whole quilt...
Close-up of tiny stitches...
It's official. I have run out of excuses for not making a quilt. These pretties were bought pre-cut and ready to be worked on! I'll probably start with the 1930s reproduction squares, and when I'm feeling more confident, I'll work on the second set of squares *sigh* All I gotta do is figure out how to piece everything together! I wonder how long it'll take me to do that?!?
