{Christmas Crafting} Mug Rugs & Silverware Sacks

Last night I just knocked 15, yes you heard that right, FIFTEEN items off of my Christmas Present Bucket List. 

Thank God, too. I was getting really worried that I'd never get started.  

First up was getting all of my coworker presents out of the way. I don't usually make Christmas gifts for everyone there, but I was feeling generous this year!! Also, I wanted to test out my new Silverware Sack pattern and I played around with a few different topstitching and enclosure methods. 

Then, for the coworkers that don't travel much, I am gifting mug rugs to all. 

And then ... they were added to the Christmas Present Pile. Hahah. We really need to wrap these babies.




How are you guys doing with your Christmas Crafting???? I am doing much better than I thought I'd be doing. Honestly, I am just proud that I actually made us Christmas Stockings, FINALLY.

HOLLER!

Giveaway Winner!

And the winner is . . . Carlos P! who said "This is my favorite post because there is a giveaway".

Actually, Carlos just so happens to be the Best Man from our wedding and he will be staying with us next weekend. I'll let him pick one out then!!


Thanks for all of you who entered, I appreciate it! Stay tuned for many more giveaways.

xoxoxox

AMH Mug Rugs finished & Giveawayyyyy!!

I have finally finished those mugs rugs that I actually started making about a month ago. Woops.

Binding pinning/misery:

 (First step in machine stitching binding)

 (Pin much?)

(Close up)

Stack of finished mug rugs!:

Each rug, front and back:

 

 

(My absolute favorite from the group!)

Project Stats:

• 12 mug rugs just finished
• Used all scraps from previous projects using Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks projects
• With the exception of the Pea Green solid used for 4 or 5 mug rugs
• Each measure either 8x8 (for the double hourglass blocks) or 8x9 (rectangular blocks)
• I am banking most of these mug rugs for future sales. Maybe when I get my Etsy site running or sell at a craft fair. We shall see what happens in 2011.

Project Likes:

• Using up scraps. I feel especially bad because I am a terrible fabric cutter and always mess up and waste fabric, so I like using them up.
• Double hourglass pattern. I really like it a lot. 
• Finishing 1 is super gratifying

Project Dislikes:

• Using scraps. If you look at most of the mug rugs, there are lots of colors that don't necessarily match but coordinate instead. A lot of the triangles were scrapped from my last project, so it was a struggle lining up seams and getting things to work out. 
• Scrappy binding. I don't like that at all. It stunk. It made part of the binding way bulkier. Also, if you look at some of the backs, I couldn't get thread that matched up well with all binding fabrics.
• All that pinning!! I feel like doing 1 big quilt has got to be easier than 12 mug rugs.

  

Now let's get to that giveaway! I want to thank all my readers for listening and commenting. Stay tuned to see what I come up with for 2011!

What: I am giving away your choice of one of the mug rugs pictured in this post (or I can randomly select one for you) to one lucky reader! 
Who: To enter, you must leave a comment on this post. In your comment, tell me what your favorite blog post of mine is. One comment per entrant please. Also, be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.
Bonus: If you mention my giveaway on your blog, you are allowed to make 1 additional comment, giving you a total of 2 entries to win. In your second comment, just add a link to the blog post where you mention my giveaway.
When: Ability to comment ends on Friday, January 21st @ 5:00 PM. 
Winner: I will use some type of random number generator to select the winner. 


YAY! This is my first giveaway and I hope you enjoy.

xoxoxo

AMH + Double Hourglass =

More Mug Rugs!!!

I can't stop making them. I really need to stop, but they are so much fun and pretty easy to make.

These were not nearly as planned as the mug rugs I made here. I made them SOLELY from scraps! With the exception of the pea green fabric I snagged from Joann's last minute. I am really a terrible fabric cutter. I have a lot of scraps. It was exciting to make some scrappy things, so take a look:

 (Organizing some scraps)

 (More scraps)

 (Matching some mug rugs up)

 (Getting batting and backing paired up)

 (Lots of straight-line quilting)

 (Getting binding strips all cut and paired up)

 (Pinning!)

 (All pinned up and now its time for binding....)

I have to finish up binding most of these babies. Not exactly sure of their purpose yet; I may be storing them away for starting my shop or craft fair. 

xoxo

Good Folks Mug Rugs Finale!

I finally finished these mug rugs! I know it took a while,but I will discuss the challenges I came across at the end. For now, pictures:

(binding pinned and ready to go!)

Here are the finished mug rugs:

 

(This is the first one I completed, which means that it the first time I did machine binding. Needless to say, I will be keeping this one due to the many errors)

 (I love the straight-line quilting of this one)

 (This is one of the blocks that I pieced incorrectly. Woops. But I love the end result and am considering doing an entire quilt like this!)

 (This stippling job isn't SO bad.... Except for where I crossed my path)

 (I am pretty happy with this stipple job too!)

 (Another woopsie piecing job. I REALLY like this one too. I will definitely be making more!)

 (This was the MAJOR FAIL of a thread tension situation. I actually really like the way the bad tension looks, but I still should have paid attention when I started)

 (This mug rug was quilting using random straight-line quilting. I don't love it, but my neighbor does, so she will likely be getting this as a Christmas present!)

 (MY FAVORITE! I Will definitely be keeping this one for myself because I do love love love it. I love the diagonal quilting and if I had to pick a favorite color, it would be teal)

 (I also love the backing fabric. I love the entire Good Folks collection, but this may be my favorite)

 (more stippling)

Here are some of the sewing I think came out the best. I am very excited because I am a new quilting, so I am patting myself on my back a little bit here:

(Good machine binding from the front)

 (Good machine quilting from the front)

 (A corner I am VERY proud of from the front)

 (That same corner from the back)

 (Machine binding from the front that you can BARELY see)

 (Machine quilting from the back, too bad I forgot to change my bobbin thread)

 (Another good corner from the front)

 (Machine binding from the front)

(Another good corner)

Enough tooting my own horn, here are the FAILS:

 (FAIL. Keep in mind that this was my first block practicing the machine binding, it turns out that it was pretty tough!)

 (A bad corner. Actually, a majority of them were bad. I definitely need to pin my corners FLATTER and then my walking foot goes over them without moving.)

 (Not so good corner from the back)

 (Didn't change the bobbin thread, woops)

Overall, I really loved making these mug rugs. Actually, I brought them into work and one of my coworkers suggested using one as a mousepad and guess what? It worked perfectly!  

Things I would do again:

1) Machine bind!! I loved it. I won't think that I will ever hand bind. Sorry. Don't judge.

2) Double hourglass blocks. I love them too. I definitely learned that my cutting needs to be more accurate so the blocks line up better.

3) Straight-line quilting. I love the look. The feel is completely different from stippling. Straight-line quilting makes a much sturdier and less flexible feeling product. I like it a lot for the mug rug or mousepad application. I used my 1/4 foot and spaced the lines 1/4 apart. I would NEVER do that for an entire quilt. It would be miserable to do and I also think that it would result in a stiff and no comfy quilt. 

4) Stipple/Meander: It was stressful at first, but I did improve. I wouldn't do this for an entire quilt either though. I think that it sort of morphs the piecing done. On of my coworkers mentioned that it make the block look confusing, and I sort of agree. However, my stippling was on a large scale, so it produced a very soft and flexible product which is desirable in a quilt. We will see. 

Things I won't do again / work on:

1) I definitely need to plan the project better. Improv just takes WAY too long. I would really like to do all my cutting at once and not have to think about it later. 

2) I think I iron too much. I haven't seen that as a negative yet, other than things taking longer than I anticipate them taking.

3) I need to learn how to maintain a constant speed with stippling and my results will be much better. I hear that comes with time though.

4) Match up my thread better with the fabrics. I don't have a huge thread collection and had I been working on a quilt, I probably would have bought thread to match. However, I was a little unhappy with the thread match-up with some of the blocks. I guess that's an excuse to buy thread? Yup.

5) OH. I definitely need to get better at taking pictures. Maybe a new camera is in my future, who knows.

I think that may be it! This sums up the "Sew Mug Rugs" item on my bucket list. I do plan on making a bunch more, especially so I can hand some out to my coworkers.

If you have any questions/comments feel free to post or email me!

xoxo