Monday, September 20, 2010

When life gives you Hunky Dory scraps....

make a mug rug!

Allium mug rug by Poppyprint
"Allium" mug rug by Poppyprint

After cutting all of the strips of my Hunky Dory jellyroll for the Fat Quarterly Quilt-a-long, I had about an inch and a half of each strip left over. While piecing my blocks all day on Saturday at retreat, I feel deeply in love with this fabric line! I could not bear to part with those precious scraps (this is a fairly new phenomenon for me...saving small scraps, that is).

Allium detail3 by Poppyprint

I laid out all the scraps on a piece of Steam-a-Seam Lite, put my teflon pressing sheet over top and hit it with a hot iron for a few seconds just to stick the fabric to the SASL. Then I free cut the petal shapes with my rotary cutter, peeled off the backing paper and arranged the scraps on that gorgeous piece of Essex linen/cotton blend (lime). I didn't design anything in advance, this was completely a by-the-seat-of-my-comfortable-track-pants production.

Allium detail2 by Poppyprint

After sandwiching with a bamboo/cotton blend batting scrap and quilting cotton on the back, I free motion quilted on each petal, then around each petal with a variegated green thread. I just have to say that I am SO HAPPY with the FM-quilting results! I had been having such difficulty with it on my 'new' Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0, but now that I'm using Inspiron needles it seems like the universe has aligned and I can quilt without breaking thread every 10 stitches. And the tension on the top and back are perfect!!! yippee!

And just 'cos I like to, I added some seed stitches in a variegated green pearl cotton #8 and backstitch and french knots in the flower centres with 3 strands of DMC embroidery floss. This little quilt measures 7" x 10" and may never see the bottom of a mug...but it was so fun to make.

Just in case you are wondering, the Essex linen/cotton blend is available in several colours from Jackie here...and at a very reasonable price, I might add!

23 comments:

Mary said...

Super cute! You're full of great ideas! :-)

P.S. - I really love Hunky Dorey too!

Amy Friend said...

Gosh, I just keep looking at this. I do believe that this is my favorite mug rug yet. I love all the details. Fabulous job!

paulette said...

OMGosh this is SEW cute!! LOVE it! And wouldn't it make a lovely gift...hmmmmm can you hear my wheels spinning...?
This fabric is gorgeous!! Got to keep my eye open for this line!!
Thanks for sharing!!
Paulette

pinksuedeshoe said...

Um, I love this. Love. Love. Love.

Unknown said...

such a cool mug rug, krista!

Tracey Jacobsen said...

you're like a super star lady! woo hoo!

Katie said...

What a mug rug! I love Hunky Dory too.

Vivian said...

LOVE IT!!!! How fabulous is that rug!

Катаринка said...

Очень красиво !!!!!!
Катя из Сибири

felicity said...

Dude. Love this.

carol said...

A bit big for a mug rug, but a perfect size for a cute little wall hanging which is EXACTLY where it would go if it were mine. I adore it, Krista! It is marvelous! (Like you don't know that already with about 1,000,000 comments from all your Flickr friends.) Congrats too on making the Explore front page! That's another feather in your hat, girl! Well deserved for sure!!! Now, what's next?

Quilthaze said...

That is so gorgeous - I love that shade of green with the petal fabric. I agree it should be a wall
hanging!

Edith Bieri-Hanselmann said...

I love the mug rug sooooooooooo much! The colors are great!
Greetings from Switzerland
Edith

Unknown said...

Oh I love this - I'm into utilising scraps and odd FQ's at the moment for projects and this just gives me a super idea for my next personal FQ challenge piece - thank you

flisa said...

Beautiful! Love it!

Wendy said...

This is truly inspired! I can't believe you made it up as you went along! That's a true artist.

Pam said...

Very cute!! And I must say as I sit here with my cup of coffee on a pad of note paper from Harrison Hot Springs - I can see the need for mug rugs!! LOL

Anonymous said...

I'M IN LOVE. Oh why, oh why can I not create with fabric? I know I might one day but I see your creations and I want my very own. It is sooo pretty and a fantastic use of scraps xxx

Dianne said...

LOVELY! You just become more and more creative Krista, who wouldn't love this mugrug. Your FMQ in straight lines is impressive and the seed stitch is the perfect touch. So glad your machine is your friend again!

Nina Lise@Mrs Moen said...

That is so cute!
Mug rugs, doll quilts, minis; whatever you call them - they are quite addictive aren't they.-)

Kristen said...

Very pretty! The random hand quilting is a great filler between the beautiful flowers.

I enjoyed looking at all the ones in the flickr group too!

Mette said...

I love it, Krista. What a great idea.

Dianne said...

So...yet ANOTHER one of your creations chosen to grace the front page of Flickr eh? Congrats friend!!