Dec
15
13
Why does life predictably get so busy from mid-November to January 1st? It really doesn’t seem to matter how much you’ve prepared ahead of time, or even if you’ve deliberately lessened your schedule…this is simply a very frenetic time of year! I am still rushing to finish making a number of mug rugs to give away as gifts. I’ve been making a few different types. First up are some mug rugs that feature simple geometric shapes with free motion embroidery to finish the edges:
I had a few that I was fusing all at once, and when I laid them all out next to one another, it really told me I needed to make a quilt using some of the same design ideas:
I used the EKG edge finishing design to finish all the raw edges. For the most part, I pretty much matched the thread color with the background color on these. I don’t usually do that, but the design was so simple that I thought contrasting threads would distract from the beauty of their simplicity:

Next up, I made some mug rug tops embroidered on my embroidery machine. Here are a few that are from similar designs (there’s a slight variation if you look closely):
I also made a couple that were “customized” to feature a given person’s “favorite things.” Below is one I made today for my niece’s little boy who is 3 years old. He is obsessed with batman right now:
(I still need to sew down that binding.) For that one, I did use some contrasting threads for the EKG stitching along the edge of the wings. I felt like it would heighten the threatening nature of the wings and I think it worked:
Normally, I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity like this to add a trapunto layer behind the wings, but I didn’t want to risk making this an unsteady mug rug. After all, he’s only 3 years old and learning hand/eye coordination. You can see that because I stitched outside the wings with invisible thread, it kind of has a faux-trapunto look to the wing area:
Some of the mug rugs that I embroidered are a little longish, but that works ok if you’re sharing a cuppa with a friend:
(I can’t help but point out those beautiful quilt-themed mugs…do the block designs look familiar? These are available here in our online store!). That mug rug they’re sitting on is my favorite one so far. I just had to have a cup of cocoa using it today before I sent it off to a friend:
Here’s hoping you’re getting all your gift-sewing completed!
Very good product and the price is right.
Buy cialis? Through years of experience we know which medications work well and what price it the best for you.
Filed under Machine Embroidered Applique.
What a cute bat mat motif! And I love your mugs and mug rugs too. They’d certainly make for a wonderful gift, as well as how perfect for any quilter to enjoy at work or at home.
SewCalGal
http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
I’m so glad that other people also feel they just can’t get everything done they want to between November and January 1. I keep telling myself, “Next year, it’ll be different.” It never is, though.
How is it that you can make simple looking fabrics look so fantastic? You are amazing!!
Smiles,
Kelly