My very first mug rug!

Wow, it's been a month since I posted anything over here. Things have been a bit hectic — starting a new job weeks before Christmas leaves little time for blogging. I haven't checked my Google Reader in a couple of weeks, but I wanted to pop in and share a mug rug I made last month.

What's a mug rug? It's "an oversized coaster for your mug or glass or cup and has room for a cookie on the side!" according to the moderators of the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap on Flickr.

OK, well it's not my mug rug. It's a gift for the lovely Julie of Sew Jewely (formerly Jewel's Arm Candy). Julie and I "met" when participating in the JaybirdQuilts/ORB Hexagon Quilt-Along. We both used Glam Garden by Josephine Kimberling. (On a side note, I think it's kind of awesome how two quilts in the same quilt-along and using the same fabric line can turn out so different. Here's my hexagon quilt, and here's Julie's.)

Julie's mug rug measures about 5¾"x8½".

Julie had a giveaway back in October to celebrate her 100th post. I entered, and even though I didn't win, Julie sent me some fat quarters of Innocent Crush, just 'cause she's awesome like that. Since we bonded over mutual love of the Glam Garden line, I decided to use my last bits of Glam Garden to make this little mug rug as a thank-you to Julie.

For the back and binding, I used this coordinating Mingle dot that was included in the pre-cut bundles (a jelly roll strip for the binding and a layer cake piece for the back).

Anyone wondering how I pieced this baby? I did it entirely by hand, using the English paper piecing method. I was inspired by Malka Dubrawsky's Modern Baby Quilt, which is featured in her new book, Fresh Quilting. Though I own the book, I decided to assemble this tiny homage my own way.

I made this mock-up using Adobe inDesign and printed it on card stock. Then all I had to do was cut out the shapes, baste my fabric around them and stitch them together. I put the petals together into hexagons, pieced the hexagons into rows and then pieced the rows together. I hope that made sense to all. If not, I'm glad to post a tutorial. Just let me know in the comments!

I have about 10 days to finish up gifts before I head to my parents' house for Christmas, so I don't expect to have any updates on the blog until 2011. I'll keep updating Flickr in the mean time. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Solstice, what have you. See you in the new year!

hexagon progress!

A lot of people have been taking the "process pledge" and writing more about their process in creating a quilt. So I thought I'd take this opportunity to fill you guys in on my process.

I quilt in a corner of my living room, and I don't have space for a design wall. I also don't have any quilt design software (I don't think they make it for Macs). So I either sketch or use Adobe InDesign to lay out designs. Here's an example of an Adobe layout I made for the ORB Hexagon Quilt-Along:

I took individual photos of each of my hexagons, did a little photoshop magic, then arranged them in an InDesign document. Once I had everything arranged, I got it all put together:



I know it seems like a lot of work, but it would have taken most of my living room floor to lay it out, and then I would have been stepping on everything whenever I wanted to move something. It's just so much easier for me to drag the pictures around on my screen.

In other hexagon news, I was bored the other day after work, and I made myself a little bookmark:



What's your latest impulse project?

I'm a winner — and some hexes!

(more on that later!)

You know how when people win things they always say "I've never won anything before!" I always think that has got to be a load of ... well you know what. I mean how likely is it that someone has never won anything before? If you really think about it, I'm sure there's something you've won.

The point of that mini-rant is that I'm not going to say that today. I am only going to say I've won my first fabric giveaway! Many thanks to Claire of Claire's Chaotic Corner for the Make Life layer cake headed my way! I absolutely love the Sweetwater collections because they usually include a word print in a couple colorways. I'm an aspiring copy editor, and I work at a newspaper.. words are kinda my thing :)

Are you doing the Hexagon Quilt Along with Julie and the Old Red Barn Co.? I know Candi at Raccoon Creek Quilts is quilting along. I got an equilateral triangle ruler from JoAnn's (50% off! Gotta love those coupons) and got to sewing and cutting. I'm using Glam Garden by Josephine Kimberling for Robert Kaufman. I got all caught up yesterday, check it out:

we can just pretend that picture is in focus :)

Oh and I almost forgot — it's Tuesday! Hop on over to Jaybird Quilts for Julie's list of giveaways, and while you're over there, enter Julie's own giveaway, sponsored by the fabulous Fat Quarter Shop!