A Mug Mat for My DIY Guy

After I made myself a mug rug, I decided to surprise my DIY Guy with one. “Mug Rug” didn’t sound quite manly enough, so his is a Mug Mat.

His favorite “OU Sooners” coffee mug is crimson, so shades of red, black, and gray will compliment it!

This time I did regular straight-line quilting instead of quilt-as-you-go. After taking my usual long time choosing fabric, I finished it all up in less than an hour – almost instant gratification!

The back is solid red. Although it appears blue in the photo, the binding is a Kona gray.

I’m linking to Cynthia’s Oh Scrap!

Jingle Bell Rock Quilt – Completed!

One year after starting this Jingle Bell Rock quilt, it is finally completed. I thought I was going to finish it for Christmas 2014, but I ended up putting it in the closet for Christmas 2015. I’m only a few days late!

As I posted about it here and here, I just had to make this pattern because of the name. Jingle Bell Rock is the song my husband and I roller-skated to (yes really!) on our first date on December 17, 1962, and it has become our Christmas song. This quilt is in honor of that long-ago night.

The back is an adaptation of Crazy Mom Quilts Mini Trees Quilt with simple strips of color representing a Christmas tree. I drew the design on graph paper, did the math, and somehow got it right – it was fun! Dimensions ended up at 57″ x 68″.

I completed sandwiching the layers in December last year and started the quilting, but I put it away because I knew I couldn’t finish it in time for Christmas. When I got it out recently to finish quilting it, it was a case of “what was I thinking?” I had started diagonal quilting on each block, and now that seems like way too much diagonal. I wish I had quilted each block in opposite diagonals instead, to add more interest.

But I’m pleased with the way the quilting looks on the back, and overall I like the result. This is first Christmas quilt I’ve made and kept and is the start of a collection I hope to add to every year!

Because of the riot of colors in this pattern, I was able to pull from a variety of stash and scraps and not limited to Christmas fabrics. Binding is from Sweetwater’s Elementary collection, blue and white striped inside border is from Nancy Halvorsen’s Curiosities, and outside green border with birdies is from Ann Kelle’s Jingle collection.

I have a weakness for Christmas fabrics, and I might have asked Santa to bring yardage from Riley Blake’s Postcards for Santa collection (love it!) and a few dark green Christmas fabrics.

Linking this week to Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Little Joys Quilt Completed

I started this little Christmas quilt as a quilt-along back in July. Yes, life and distractions ensued, but better late than never!

I finished quilting last night, sewed the binding on this morning, and immediately boxed it up and mailed it to my sister-in-law, before I could fall in love with it and keep it like I did this one that was intended for her!

Each of the three designs – Christmas tree, wreath, and gift – was pieced from scraps. I enjoyed quilting a different design on each block. For piecing and quilting, I used Superior Threads So Fine 50 weight Genoa Gray (my favorite thread for everything), and for quilting the sashing I used metallic 40 weight in Raspberry.

The back was pieced with fabric from Basic Grey’s Blitzen collection and an pretty white solid.

I had sewn a pieced binding early on, but last night I decided to use a fun print from Riley Blake’s Postcards for Santa collection instead. I love the dots!

I’m linking this to Crazy Woman Quilts Finish It Up Friday and on Sunday to Quilting is More Fun Than Housework’s Oh Scrap!

Oh Scrap! – Offset Scrappy Log Cabin Blocks

I have an affinity for rainbow quilts, and when I saw a tutorial for a scrappy offset log cabin block on Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework done in rainbow colors, I loved it. I made one block, was hooked, then added three more the following week. Today I added four more colors to the mix.

I haven’t yet decided on my design or whether to add another color, but I would like to end up with a nice-sized lap quilt. Cynthia made 36 blocks in 9 colors and added 6 blocks of background colors for a 54″ by 63″ quilt, shown here. She is a very prolific quilter, and she keeps me inspired!

I am linking to Cynthia’s Oh Scrap! linky party

Distractions

Lately I find myself distracted from other ongoing projects, and the culprit is inspiration from other blogs! On Stitch Mischief I found this scrappy variation of Camille Roskelley’s Norway pattern and immediately downloaded the pattern to try my own scrappy block. I love everything about Jade’s design and will probably shamelessly copy it, but I also want to make the pattern version of it.

Another distraction is buying forbidden fabrics! I did very well the first part of this year with my moratorium on purchasing fabrics, but I have slipped back into fabric addiction. I justified my purchases though. I needed this Hello Bear fat eighth collection to make a quilt for this little guy – my great-great nephew (yes, great-great!).

Love the quirky characters of Hello Bear – it will be perfect for a two-year old boy. I found it at one of my favorite Etsy shops.

I will need more Moda Marbles to make a quilt for my granddaughter, patterned after the pillow I made for her birthday. I had to search a bit to find the quantity I wanted and found it at this online shop.

This fabric, Wishes by Sweetwater, was on sale, and I need more low volume prints, so into the cart it went!

And this print I simply fell in love with – Flight Patterns by Tamara Kate.

I did catch up yesterday on my Farm Girl Vintage blocks, and today I hope to finish up the Little Joys quilt. I hope all of you are having a happy, undistracted week!

I am linking to Cynthia Brunz’s Oh Scrap!

Oh Scrap! Scrappy Little Joys Quilt blocks

Trim the Tree blocks complete

Oh Scrap! is a linky party hosted by Cynthia Brunz, who blogs at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework. The last time I joined in was when I made these offset rainbow blocks, and more of those fun blocks are next on my list.

Welcome Home blocks started

Today I’m working on the Little Joys Quilt-Along blocks. Although the project finished last week, I am still catching up on my quilt-alongs. And since I made this project scrappy by not buying the kit, it qualifies for Oh Scrap!

The blocks are Trim the Tree (Christmas tree), Welcome Home (wreath), and Season of Giving (present). Since the pattern was written for three blocks of each design and using the same fabrics, my only difficulty has been making sure I adjust the quantities of fabrics needed for each block – and I have messed up a few times. Oh well, that just makes more scraps for my jar.

Linking with Oh Scrap!