PhxMQG Mug Rug Swap

Saturday was the Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild’s February meeting, and we held a little mug rug swap. I love doing these little swaps, because I use it as an opportunity to learn and stretch my creativity and skill.
Of course, creativity didn’t strike until about 8pm the night before…and my idea was a little crazy and time consuming…
You that lovely lone starburst block that is so popular right now? I had the bright idea to scale it down to mug rug size! (I have a few in progress photos on instagram, but I have no idea how to get them to my blog. Help?!?)
Here’s my result:

I love it sooo much!!! The inner white pieces finish at a mere 1/8” wide!!! The whole thing is 6 1/2” square

Here’s a shot with a nickel for an idea of scale. Seriously tiny piecing going on. Now the problem is I will never be able to throw away even the tiniest scrap of fabric, because what if I NEED it some day??

I backed it in this fun colorful Kumari Garden print. And I got to use one of my brand new tags!!! I found the awesomest Etsy shop ever. Cassie at GutenTags is seriously awesome, and I will definitely be back for more from her.

And the back side of my new tags :)

Ok, here’s where my story gets silly. We did a random swap for the guild mug rug swap, and I was the last to get one. And guess which mug rug was last to be distributed….Mine!! To save confusion, and because I really do love it, I kept my own mug rug…I felt so dumb taking my own back….but then again, I am really excited that it gets to live with me after the hours of teeny tiny piecing I put into it :)

And here are some shots of all the lovely mug rug that got swapped on Saturday:

(Mom’s is that cute itty bitty dresden plate next to mine :) ) We have some awesome talent in our guild!

PS- QUILT CON IS THIS WEEK!!! Getting super excited! If it is quiet around here, it is because I am frantically trying to get my house in order and ready for me to be gone for a few days! And packing...

Yellow and Gray Quilt FINISH!!

So, I started this quilt MONTHS ago, before we moved. In fact, I took my first few blocks with me to the Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild meeting back in June!

I started working on blocks again last month (from my square in square block tutorial, though I want to revamp that now…), got on a kick, and pushed through to get them all done. In fact, I took plenty of photos on my phone, but I didn’t even take the time to get any with the real camera while I had all those beautiful blocks up on my *new* design wall!

Photography frustrates me. If I take the pictures in full sunlight, I get weird ugly glares, and it’s too bright. If I take them in the shade, they turn out dull, like these. Any suggestions from those of you that are better at this than me?? The colors are so much more vibrant in person!!

I combined two of my favorite free motion patterns, and quilted loopys and flowers, per my mom’s suggestion. It turned out so cute and I love it! And I love this block with the big chevrons. It is left over from the backing of another finished quilt that I just got photos of, and will share soon.

This picture does not even do the backing justice. It looks AMAZING in person. It is a Joel Dewberry print from Aviary 2 (L O V E!!), and the border is a BasicGrey grunge yellow. It is AWESOME.

I bound the quilt in Kona Charcoal. I love the way it frames the blocks. It was definitely the way to finish it!

Each block finishes at 10”, and the quilt is 50” x 60” finished size.

I seriously wanted to keep this and change my entire bedroom to match it, but my husband wasn’t too keen on the idea :( Too bad, it would have been fabulous!

Since I didn’t get to use it for my bedroom, I have listed this quilt in my shop here:)

Mug Rugs

I finally got to attend my first Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild meeting on Saturday, and I had so much fun! How awesome is it to be surrounded by people who not only understand your quilty obsession, but share it? Fantastic!

Anyways, we had a mug rug swap while there, and here is my contribution

Front:

Back:

I had some questions as to how I pieced my front, and I had to admit, I didn’t really know! I set out my scraps sort of how I wanted them to go together and started sewing bits together! It was fun, though I did end up with one Y seam; poor planning! The solid is Kona Coal, and the rest of the fabrics were all scraps, hurray!

And here is the amazing mug rug that I received!

It is already pinned to my wall above my machine :) But ew bad lighting in my room, sorry!

Here’s all of the lovely mug rugs hanging out together.

Fronts:

Backs:

By the way, the cute one with the little 1” squares on the front was the one my mom made :)

I can’t wait until the next meeting, so fun!