Mug Rug Bug and My "Monthlies"

I certainly have caught the mug rug bug!! I love making these sweet "little quilts". Since Nov 23rd I have made another nine! I've varied them, including some patchwork and interesting Christmas prints. Also, for the first time I have tried some of the fancy stitches available on my Viking. About time, having had the machine for six years!! They are all approximately 6" x 9". So now I have thirteen, enough to send to my mom. I hope she and the staff at her residence like them.

I have just started doing maching applique so maybe I will add a few stars or something to the plainer mug rugs.

I have been quilting for about six years and love trying new techniques and projects.. Yesterday I started making a series of wall hangings (one for each month of the year) using Nancy Halvorsen's designs in Count On It. Machine applique is a new technique for me. I must admit I tried it, without success a couple years ago, but that was without any instruction.

So far I have made two of the hangings, with some slight changes. Again these are to send to my Mom to brighten her room. I'll send these off with her Christmas package. The remaining ten "monthlies" have quite magically mushroomed into twenty-two!! My partner loves them so much she wants us to have a set too. They are lovely designs with only a few quite large pieces and thus provide a great way to begin applique. Nancy's instructions are great, too. After my earlier efforts, I found this easy to do and I am pleased with the results.

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Celebrate Colour

My mother is definitely an autumn person. She was born in late October, looks good in autumn colours because of her red hair and loves this season the best, too. So I was not surprised when she said she would like me to make her a quilt with maple leaves in it. Oh, did I mention that we are Canadian too? She was expecting the quilt to be predominantly autumn leaf fabric and was surprised and impressed with my maple leaf blocks.

I didn't really have a pattern for this quilt, but adapted a block I had seen on line. I like this leaf much better than the traditional maple leaf block. Also the fabric was a collection of autumn coloured batiks I had collected from various sources during the year. Every leaf is unique and is shaded from dark to light. I refer to this quilt as Mom's "nap quilt" as it is long enough to cover her when napping (70 inches) but narrow enough to keep the weight down. (She is an 85-yr-old senior.) The flying geese, appropriate for the season, made the quilt just long enough. Mom loves it and it just covers the top of her bed in her assisted living residence. I also made the pillowcase from coordinating fabric to match.

I am entering this quilt in the Celebrate Color contest offered by Stitched in Color. As usual I am just under the wire, and I see that there are lots of great entries there already!!

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has had a great thanksgiving. Of course, in Canada, where Thanksgiving began, it was celebrated over a month ago. As a snowbird I enjoy both special days. This year we had to postpone our get together with friends, who unfortunately are sick. We'll feast on Saturday instead.

Not much sewing done today, though I did try to get some of my fabric organized. Also completed three more mug rugs which I'll share with you another day.

I had been contemplating heading out to Jo-Ann's at 6 am tomorrow for a couple Black Friday specials; however, I've decided to do the same as last year and send in an on-line order just after midnight. Free shipping for orders over $35 and I get to sleep in! Gotta love the web!!

A First Time for Everything!

Forty-seven years ago, just before I entered university, a family friend gave me a huge hard covered "journal" to record the great things that would be happening to me.  Well ... great things have happened but I never did record any of them.  I still have the book without a word written because I could not decide what to write first!!

So here I am finally recording ...

I have always loved mathematics and creating with colour - so, of course, It was very easy for me to become quite addicted with quilting.  My first quilts were made only six years ago.  I was so impressed with them, as were my family and friends!  However, we were all quite naive regarding quilting and they were really not that great.  However, it was the beginning.  I quilt because I love it!

Lately I have been just having fun making small Christmas items.  Here are a few of them:

These little mug rugs are so much fun to make! I am making about a dozen different ones to send to my mom to give to the staff in her assisted living residence.

I used some leftover half-squares from flying geese to make this candle mat (or coaster). I love using up scraps and leftovers - getting something for nothing.

This Holiday Hexagon was inspired by Beth at Love Laugh Quilt She has a great tutorial there for making this. I still have to sandwich, quilt and bind it. But here I am blogging instead!