Thursday, November 17, 2011

My First Mug Rug!

Quilting is not my forté, so I did some random squiggly thing on my machine. Anyone who might pity my lack of skill is very welcome in my home to give on-the-spot lessons. I'll provide lodging and meals. By the way, I avoid binding if I can help it.

Last spring, I discovered this link party, and I've wanted to make a mug rug ever since.
Sadly, my quilting skills are severely deficient.
For that reason, and because of another recent major relocation and a long sewing to-do list,
I've put it off until today.

There are oodles of mug rugs online, including a flickr group and various others.
For those who don't know what I mean by "mug rug", it's been described as being smaller than a placemat and larger than a coaster, with the purpose of making a cup of coffee or tea more at-home.

I've seen a few amazing designs that I'd love to try, like this, this, this, these, and this.
I may or may not eventually get around to making one of them, but today I was suddenly inspired to make not just any mug rug, but a 
Steelers
mug rug.

The Steelers idea has been in my head for some time, and a while back I saw a beautiful Cathedral Window quilt that was simply breathtaking. 
The design is perfect for making the Steelers insignia, but I couldn't recall where I had seen the quilt. A search of a few blogs led me to this variation of the Cathedral Window block, complete with a tutorial.
My handy embroidery machine was helpful, too.

Here's a back view of the finished product:

I've been so inspired lately by other bloggers to use up some of my scraps. This could become an addiction, although I ran from anything akin to quilting several years ago.

It seems almost unfair that I have this. I'm not exactly a faithful Steelers fan; but my husband and children are.
I'm sure there's someone far more deserving of this mug rug. I just felt the need to make it.
Besides, I couldn't bring myself to risk getting coffee stains on it.
It was a blast to make, though!

This was finished just in time for Amy's Sew & Tell tomorrow:





4 comments:

  1. It looks very nice and FMQ is something you can learn.
    If I can do it, so can you!
    The back is as nice as the front.

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  2. I love it! Beautiful work! And, hey, having Steelers fans in the house qualifies you as a fan, and I'm sure your family loves that Mom has created a sports-fan item! My son thinks I should make a make a Panthers one now ...

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  3. Despite that I am a true KC CHIEFS fan (sad, I know!) I love your mug rug! What a fun way to show team pride! Smiles~Beth

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  4. It looks great! I'd never know it was your first attempt. I've been thinking about mug rugs for Christmas gifts this year (never made one myself, either!) and now you've added more fuel to the fire. :o) Thanks!

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