Mug Rug Swap - my gift

Jennifer in WV sent me a lovely little mug rug for our swap.   I asked for 1930s fabrics, and boy did she deliver!

It makes me smile just to look at the cheerful colors.    This was so much fun to do, and if we have another one, I'll try to sign up.  The swaps usually have an maximum number and once that many people have signed up, that's it.  I was lucky to get into this one, they often close in a matter of a few hours.

FINISHED QUILT: Mug Rug for Rav Swap

I mentioned a while back that I am in a swap for mug rugs - little mini quilts meant to be used as coasters 'with a place for a cookie on the side'.  

My swap partner is katyknitsnyc and she likes 'greens, batiks and grunge'.   Well, I have no grunge, but was able to find batiks in the LQS.  And I stalked her projects a bit (in a non-creeper fashion) and found that she likes pieced animals - at least her last quilt has featured them.

I found inspiration from a puzzle on my 'color by number' app

And so I embarked on a foundation pieced sea turtle.  I was able to find a free 6 inch block on sewhooked and extended it slightly to make a 7.5 x 9 inch block.

Machine quilted, rounded corners required bias binding, which I made continuous fashion (link is in my 'helpful links' page up top).

matches the inspiration pic pretty well!

And the whole thing

Front

Back



About the only thing I'm not happy with is the slight thicker place in the binding on the front.   It would have been less obtrusive and less bulky if it didn't hit right at the seam between the 'deep ocean' and the 'shallower water' colors.   I had to overlap the binding instead of mitering it.   I need to work on that more.    I was fairly pleased with the quilting, which I totally procrastinated on.   I'm a raw novice at machine quilting.   This is the first time I've done anything other than straight lines, stitch in the ditch fashion.  I tried to use a walking foot on it, with gentle waves ala "Walk" by Jacquie Gering.  I checked her book out from the library and it was surprisingly successful!  

I also included a fat quarter of the navy that I used on the back and one of my hand made greeting cards.  

(Note:  My blog is linked to my Ravelry profile, so I held this post until I knew the package was delivered today in order to surprise my giftee.)

Slow Stitching Monday???? - March 19, 2018

Well, it was a Sunday fail this week.  I didn't get linked up to Kathy and there's really not a lot of progress on any front.  

I had one of those weeks.  Flat tire, medical appointments, the big project is a priority at work.  I haven't had much time to craft and when I did have down time, books were more attractive than needlework.  

Better luck in the upcoming week, I hope................

What I did do was work some in the basement over the weekend.  I don't know if other people do this, but I have had a really bad habit in the past of just dropping a project that's partially done into a box or bag and stashing it.   There were times that Walt and I picked up the house in a hurry by just 'containerizing' all clutter and occasionally my needlework got swept up in that as well.   Our basement wasn't hoarder level, but the storage areas got close.  These are two large rooms that are across the entire width of the house and about eight feet deep.   I have a goal of clearing out a box every weekend until it's done.  Then painting those rooms and having a curated, inventoried storage where I can actually FIND the Christmas lights the first weekend in December LOL. 

But anyway.   Lots of random boxes still to go.   When I come across projects, there's a triage.  "Is it done? Do I want to finish it?  Are the materials still in good shape?  Everything there (or replaceable)? Pattern with it or easy to figure out?"

I keep finding 'zombie projects' that I'd completely forgotten about.   Here's one:  nice plush fingertip towel with Aida banding in a Christmas plaid.

See that.  One little tree, maybe 50 stitches, is all that's missing.   The floss was all folded up inside the towel.

Popped it into the hoop and it was done in less than 15 minutes.   It's now in the wash.  With the addition of a nice handmade soap cake, it will make a cute hostess gift for next December.

Most of the zombies won't be quite that easy to conquer.   But conquer them I shall.

FINISHED: Dresden Plate Doll Quilt

Here's another recent finish from the UFO pile.   This started out as a "pattern plus" kit from the local quilt store. I did it scrappy style, using several Aunt Grace and other 30s reproduction fabrics. The outer blue border fabric is vintage.  Started in 1993, left with just the fabric cut and one 'plate' finished.

The Dresden Plates were hand pieced over papers from "Paper Pieces" and the color choices on their pattern informed mine. Plates are hand pieced and hand appliqued and then the rest of the top was machine pieced. The sashing strips are a half inch wide finished.

Pattern is "Miniature Dresden Plate" by Paper Pieces, KY.

Top completed 4/15/2017. Machine quilted on my DSM (Domestic Sewing Machine),  a Singer Featherweight 221. Quilt completed 6/18/2017. Size is 18 x 24 inches (approx).

This will be gifted to Alexis for Christmas this year.