Design Wall Monday 1-28-13

I finished this mug rug last week and love it - have it on my desk at work. I have 1 more mug rug to finish with embroidery embellishments. Haven't started anything new. The mood to sew hasn't really been there so I'm not pushing it. I know when the mood strikes I'll be all over it like white on rice ...

Take a few moments to check at Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times!

Design Wall Monday 1-21-13

Mug Rugs! I love making these little guys. They're super fast, and it's a great opportunity to explore new techniques and stitches without having to make a huge time commitment, and it's a great way to use up fabric scraps. And they keep me busy and out of trouble.

So, I have 4 mug rugs going right now. One is crayon dyed piece - it should be obvious to tell from the photo which one it is - I will be embellishing it a lot with stitching, both by machine and hand, to make the houses and the overall design show up better. The mushroom mug rug is similar to one I saw on Pinterest. The bird/birdhouse is a single McKenna Ryan block I made, just because. And the turquoise/black mug rug with the silver cardinals - well, I was just playing around with that one.

I use these mug rugs at home and at work and really enjoy them.

Take a few photos to visit Patchwork Times today for Design Wall Monday.

Design Wall Monday 1-14-13

Am finally back at it after taking a sewing break over the holidays so I could spend most of my time with my family.

Please visit Patchwork Times today for Design Wall Monday. Even though I haven't been posting the last few Mondays, I have looked at all the lovely and inspiring photos of pieces other quilters are working on.

I actually have several things to report. The Block of the Month quilt is finished. I did not quilt it but instead had it machine quilted by Lilly Lucier in Vanceboro, NC.

This piece is called a "little canvas" that will be a donation to the local arts council. For a fundraiser they ask area artists to submit something, anything, on an 8x10 canvas. In March they hold a banquet that costs $35/person to attend. Each attendee will receive a "little canvas". This is mine. It was definitely inspired by the fabrics!

This is the almost finished grab bag challenge piece. Last March the ArtRageous Quilters group, of which I'm a member, issued a grab bag challenge. Each participant put things in a big zip lock baggy. The bags were handed out to other members. We don't know whose bag we received. We have to make a quilted piece around 20" square or so, and have to use 65% of the materials in the bag. The quilted piece we make will be given back to the person who assembled the grab bag. I have to tell you I was not especially happy with the baggy I received because it was mostly upholstery fabrics. They were very difficult to work with because they frayed so badly. Also included in the baggy were some funky yarns and some metallic threads. And to top it off, the color scheme is not my favorite - it was mostly browns and rusts. After listening to me whine about the baggy I received for several months, my friend Lori reminded me that it was, after all, A Challenge! So I worked up a design and here it is. What's left to do is use the metallic threads to accentuate the pupils and add some beads. It's not named yet - am still thinking about that.

I should finish up both challenge pieces this week and start something new for next week's Design Wall Monday.

Happy New Year to all.