Applique practice

I picked up a cute mug rug kit at the local quilt shop in November. I got it to make as a birthday gift, but ended up not having time to make it, so yesterday I made it for myself.

 It was quick and fun, once I figured out the applique order and chose an applique method. (Thank you Google and MIL!) The extent of the instructions for this kit were: "Your background fabric has been quilted... Sewwww all you need to do is add the applique, french knot for the bird's eye and place a button on the wing. Bind your mug rug and you're done!" The kit came with  ribbon and a piece of rickrack as well. Not sure what those were for. I took a photo of the sample at the suggestion of the shop clerk and those items were not on it. So I guess I got a bonus! :)

*Note for kit/pattern makers. It is my opinion that instructions should assume you know little to nothing about what you are doing. In fact, I think beginners pick up kits like these more often than experienced sewers. So even brief step by step instructions or tips would have been very much appreciated.  I summed up my process in 10 steps when I was done on the pattern sheet. Not too tough and now I know what to do next time.

 My applique is improving. I had some trouble with my Wonder Under. It did not want to stay on the fabric. I had to do the branch 2 times because when I peeled the backing paper off, the Wonder Under peeled off with it and also shredded the edges of the piece.

After listening to a recent podcast on mini quilts, I used MamaCJT's tips on using single fold binding to bind the quilt.

  I am not sure how big mug rugs run, but this seems a tad large for that category. It is closer to place mat size. It is now hanging on my wall with clips recommended by another podcaster (or 2) .

 

A couple of projects

My son came home after school on Monday with the request that we get his teacher a birthday gift. Her birthday was that day so he was feeling urgency to get it done.

He wanted initially to go purchase something and I didn't really feel like wandering around the store looking for an appropriate gift. So since I knew she liked tea, (as in really really likes tea and makes it during class all the time) I thought I could whip together a mug rug and send that. I let my son pick out some charms to use. Then he left for scouts and I sewed it up. I didn't bind it, just quilted one side to the batting, sewed the 2 sides right sides together and turned them right side out. I quilted the other side in a couple of places to secure it. It is a little cockeyed because while I sewed the seams straight, I had cut the fabric crooked. :) Oh well.

 We ended up at the store anyway, to supplement the mug rug with some tea and a stirring spoon and my son bought her a chocolate bar with his allowance.
He picked a card from my stash and wrote her a note and I packaged it up in a cello bag with a topper that matched the card.
He was very pleased with it, although he nearly left without it the next morning, which would have been slightly annoying after the rush rush rush to get it done.
And she seemed to like it.


I have also been itching to get a case made for my tablet. It is hard to find cases for the Nexus 7, which is what I have. I perused tutorials for a few days and decided to just create my own using bits and parts of other people's tutes. It fit the tablet perfectly, just needs a couple of tweaks to make it just right. is I meant to make a long strap to close it that wold also hold it open and upright. But I totally forgot and just attached Velcro to the overlap. There is not enough Velcro and the overlap needs to be about an  inch bigger so it won't pop up. Also, there's pocket where I inserted cardboard to make it stiff for standing up and also for holding it like a book. Well that pocket is just about 1/8 inch too big and too close to the other pocket. It gets folded up when it is closed. You can kind of see where it gets pinched in the photo. Also, 2 of the elastics need to be a smidge shorter. They cover the power button and if it is turned the other way, it covers part of the screen that I need to be able to touch.

That said, for a project with no real pattern, the fact that I got that close to what I intended amazes me. I'm not so hot with math. :)

My first Mug Rug!

Lee at Freshly Pieced posted a really cute mug rug tutorial (HERE) the other day and I just had to try it.
It turned out great! It took me about 3 hours from start to finish.

It did not stay a mug rug though because I could not bear to put anything on it. So I asked my 2 year old if she wanted it. She did and put it right to work keeping her Abby Cadabby and Elmo dolls warm. :)





I did a fully machine stitched, scrappy binding with a zigzag stitch to finish it. By pure coincidence I quilted it exactly the same way Lee did hers, 1/4 away from the seams.
Fabrics are Sugar and Spice by the Quilted Fish, for Riley Blake, a red gingham that I bought on our trip to San Diego, a red dot from I don't know where, and an aqua background fabric.