Welcome to week 462 of Free Motion Mavericks - our last linking party for 2023. This week, if you don't have anything new to link up, why not link up a favourite post or quilt? It doesn't have to be free motion quilted, just a excuse to join in the fun 🍷🍾🎄🥳
A colourful scrappy mug rug
December's colour for the challenge is rainbow and the letters are S, H, and E.
Do you remember the teal scrappy improv runner that I made for my brother's birthday? Well I had pieced a mug rug with the same fabric but never got it finished....so here it is. To add something special to it, I used some of my Jag's fancy stitches. I added them to my sampler page and quilted up the mug rug with different stitches and variegated thread.
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| Colourful scrappy mug rug |
You can really see the stitches clearly from the back. That was a lot of fun 😊
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| Back of the mug rug - what fun stitches! |
There's not much to say about the construction except that I stitched it and then removed the batting from the edges. That left me with some backing fabric that I then trimmed and sewed down to make the binding.
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| Stitched mug rug |
I had originally decided to cut the binding to one inch, but that was too wide. I ended up cutting it to ¾" and then folding it twice and stitching it down.
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| Batting removed to make the binding |
You can see the different stitches that I used (click the image for a closer view). My binding is really not great but it will stay together!
This is the stitch sampler page that I added to while I played with the stitches. I made several pages like this at one time, but got bored! At least I'm adding to it when I play with stitches....and when I'm really feeling smart, I'll even sample the stitch before I use it 😃. The two complete rows on the left were made before I stitched the binding on my niece's t-shirt quilt last week.
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| Rug mug stitched with fancy machine stitches |
This is the stitch sampler page that I added to while I played with the stitches. I made several pages like this at one time, but got bored! At least I'm adding to it when I play with stitches....and when I'm really feeling smart, I'll even sample the stitch before I use it 😃. The two complete rows on the left were made before I stitched the binding on my niece's t-shirt quilt last week.
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| Stitch samples |
For the holiday season, I bought some Twining's Gingerbread Tea. It's black tea with ginger and cinnamon. I'm not a huge tea drinker, but it's really good with maple syrup! 😋
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| Mug rug, tea and chocolate. Yeah! |
I wrote a post yesterday about the Best of 2023. I took the opportunity to go through the year's projects to see what I accomplished. For the 2023 ABC Table Scraps Challenge, I have one WIP (work in progress - Swirling Leaves 3) and there is a mug rug that was for February but was finished in October and never blogged about. Unfortunately the December mug rug is missing, but I'm not redoing this photo.
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| This year's 2023 ABC Table Scraps Challenge |
What I learned
- Using the fancy stitches wasn't difficult, unless you have to stop and start over. Depending on the stitch used, that can be pretty tricky.
- Trust me when I say that you do not want to have to pick these stitches out!!!!
- I used one of the stitches for the t-shirt quilt. The first corner was difficult because the machine got stuck, but the others went well. I though that it would be the same here, but I didn't realise that working on a much narrower binding wasn't the same. The corners were harder to fold on this smaller quilt and binding.
- I'm happy with my mug rug and I'm sure that my brother will like it. It was a Scrappy, Happy Endeavor
Related links
- A Scrappy Improv Runner Reveal at Free Motion Mavericks, September 28, 2023
- Secret FMQ and T-shirt Quilt Update on Free Motion Mavericks, September 21, 2023
- Best of 2023 Linking Party, December 26, 2023
- T-shirt Quilt Finish on Free Motion Mavericks, December 21, 2023
Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many linking parties. Why not check them out, after you link up below? I'll be linking up to the Joyful Quilter's December 2023 ABC Table Scraps Challenge when it opens, as well as Midweek Makers, Sew & Tell, Put your foot down, Beauties Pageant, TGIFF, Patchwork & Quilts, Finished (or Not) Friday,
Project details
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Colourful scrappy mug rug
Made for the December 2023 ABC Table Scraps Challenge
Size: 7" x 8"
Material: commercial cotton scraps, variegated thread
Technique: improv piecing, quilted using fancy machine stitches
Free Motion Mavericks
Gail reminded us that the 2024 Stay At Home Round Robbin is happening again soon. Here is one of the quilts that she has made during the challenge. Check out her post if you're interested in participating this year!
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| One of Gail's previous SAHRR quilt |
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Thank you Melva for linking up to the party. Here is Melva's mini, Star of Wonder.
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| Melva's mini, Star of Wonder |
It's now your turn!
Cute new mug rug!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Nancy. It was fun playing with those fancy stitches. I hope to do more of that. Take care.
DeleteIt is fun playing with the fancy stitches on your sewing machine! I love the heart one. I've tried stitching down the binding with a fancy stitch, and some definitely work better than others! Your collage of Table Scraps projects is a great idea. Happy New Year, Andree!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Diann. Some fancy stitches are more complex than others and would be incredibly long to use for a binding. Happy 2024!
DeleteColorful, fun, and funky. LOVE your ABC/TSC mug rug, Andree!! Thank you for your participation throughout the year. Will you join us in 2024? I certainly hope SEW!!! :o))
ReplyDeleteHi Joyful, I've already started my green placemat :-) I'll certainly have it finished by the end of the month, with a snowflake on it somewhere! Looking forward to another year of fun.
DeleteAdorable ce tapis de thé ! Bonne idée de faire un sampler des points décoratifs de ta machine, j'ai cette idée en tête depuis un moment, mais comme toi je pense que je vais me lasser assez vite ;D
ReplyDeleteJe te crois quand tu dis que tu ne recommandes pas de découdre ce type de points... :)
Merci Frédérique - c'était presqu'impossible de défaire les points! Le sampler de points se fera chaque fois que j'utiliserai des points décoratifs :-)
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