Tutorial: Valentine's Mug Rug (Go! Ahead and Show a Little Love blog hop)

Let me start by saying that I love "Flo", my Accuquilt GO! Before I had my Go! I had never ventured much past squares and rectangles in my quilts.. but now I've progressed to curves (LOVE my Drunkard's Path die!), tumbler blocks and even little Sunbonnet Sue!

For my Go! Ahead and Show a Little Love blog hop project I decided to use dies that I'd consider basic essentials - the Value die (which comes with the Go! - and is available for separate purchase with the Go! Baby) and the 2.5" strip die.

If you don't have an Accuquilt cutter, you can still make this project using your acrylic rulers & rotary cutter. :)

You will need:

Main Fabric 

Background Fabric

Border Fabric

Backing Fabric

Binding Fabric (this can be the same as the Main Fabric)

Batting

(Fabric estimates will depend on how many mug rugs you are planning to make... a fat quarter of each fabric should be enough to make 3-4 mug rugs.)

Step 1: Using the Value die cut-

• 8x 2.5" HSTs (Half Square Triangles) of the Main fabric
• 8x 2.5" HSTs of the Background fabric
• 2x 2.5" Squares of the Main fabric
• 2x 2.5" Squares of the Background fabric

Lay out your pieces, making sure directional prints are going the right way!

 Step 2: Pair the HSTs so that you have one Main Fabric and one Background Fabric per pair. Open out and press seams according to personal preference.

 Step 3: Join "square" blocks as shown below. You should end up with 6x rectangular blocks. Press seams.

 Step 4: Sew rectangle blocks together to form two columns, pressing seams as you go (quick, we need to mend that broken heart!)

Step 5: Join the two halves of your heart together!

 Step 6: Using the 2.5" Strip Die cut a WOF (Width of Fabric) strip of your Border Fabric. I have marked my die so that I can then place my 2.5" strip down the centre of my die and turn it into a 1.25" strip, but you can also do this using your WOF acrylic ruler and rotary cutter. Sew a strip to each end of the heart panel (approx 6.5" long, but I prefer to cut a little longer and then trim back). Press and then sew a strip to the top and the bottom of the heart panel (approx 10"). Press.

 Step 7: Cut your Backing Fabric and Batting slightly larger than your mug rug flimsy. Baste, and then quilt as desired. I decided to ditch stitch around the heart shape and then have a stab at some FMQ using SewCalGal's January FMQ Challenge design.

My attempt at FMQ!

 Step 8: Using the 2.5" Strip Die cut a WOF strip of your Binding Fabric. If you are using fat quarters you will need 2-3 strips. Join your strips using a 45 degree angle and press the seams open to reduce bulk. Press in half lengthwise, wrong sides together.

The bulk of the seam is spread between the two points.

 Step 9: Sew binding to the back of your mug rug using 1/4" seam. (There are lots of great binding tutorials floating around, Luv in the Mommy Hood has done a "round up" of a few different types)

Step 10: Press the binding forward, fold over to the front and pin so that the edge of the binding just covers the stitch line. I forget which blog I originally saw it on, but someone suggested using a decorative stitch to secure the binding to the front - it's fairly forgiving when compared to ditch stitching, and adds an extra level of interest to your design. I used a feather stitch as my machine is rather limited in it's stitch choices, but I liked the effect it gave.

And there you have it!

Your completed mug rug, ready to give to your sweetheart!

Mug rugs for the whole family!

Seriously though, I took one of these to school when I picked the kids up on Valentine's Day and when Blossom came out of her Kindy class I held it up and said "This is how much I love you!". She squealed with delight and asked if it was for her (which it wasn't, really.. I'd just gifted it to her Daddy!) so I said she could have one of my other ones.. She promptly showed it to anyone and everyone who would look.. the other Mums, her teachers, classmates, even the crossing guard! I did the same thing a few minutes later when I picked up Bean to a very similar response (less with the squealing and showing everyone, more with the heart clutching delight) - so I had to run home and finish off the binding on the other two mug rugs so they could have their own! They even slept with them.

I also made a matching table runner! I can post a tutorial for that if anyone's interested.

So what about this giveaway, you ask? Well.. for being so patient and bearing with me during my tutorial I am giving one lucky reader the chance to win a mug rug kit of your own! I will include pre-cut pieces to make the top including borders and the binding, all you will need is your batting and backing. Wait.. what good is one mug rug on Valentine's Day? Better make it enough for two <3

How do you win? Here's are ways you can win (you need to be a follower):

1. Tell me how you spent Valentine's Day. If you don't celebrate Valentine's Day, that's ok - tell me what you did instead! Or just leave a comment.

2. Follow me (and/or tweet about the giveaway) on Twitter.

3. Follow me on Pinterest.
4. Share this post on Facebook and/or blog it.

The winner will be selected using a Random Number Generator on Tuesday 21 February (10:00am Australian Western Standard Time) with the winner notified by email (and on this blog). Please make sure you're able to be contacted by providing an email address or making sure you're not a no-reply blogger :) International entries accepted.

Quilty love...

Clearly today is a day of discovery for me! Aside from finding my Disappearing 9 Patch table runner on FaveQuilts.com (I must confess I knew they wanted to feature one of my tutorials, I just didn't know which one, or when), it was apparently also featured back in November on The Curious Quilter's "A Generous Helping of Quilty Holiday Gift Tutorials" blog post! How lovely is that?

And speaking of featured tutorials, Ebony from Love Bug Studios asked me if she could feature my Split Drunkard's Path Star block tutorial in her online magazine Blocks to Die For, which is all about ways to use your fabric die cutters (Accuquilt etc)

I was featured on FaveQuilts.com!

My Disappearing 9-patch Table Runner (that I made for the Craizee Corner's "Bonnie & Camille Week" last year) has been featured on FaveQuilts.com! How exciting is that??

Catching up..

Goodness me! I've just realised that it's been a month since I last posted about something crafty on here! It's not for lack of crafting, let me tell you! Infact, it's probably exactly why I haven't managed to post.. aside from the fact that it's "that time of year" and things have been super busy with end of year concerts and parties as well as half a dozen birthdays, I've been spending quite a bit of time focussing on the actual crafting which has left significantly less time for the blogging. I've been lagging behind badly on my blog reading, too - falling asleep on the sofa has become my new normal.

So here's some of the stuff that I've been doing this last month...

Crochet "wine glass cover" #3 - about 3 rows to go.

My first completed "Split Drunkard's Path Star" (will blog tutorial)

2 stars plus the tumbler medallion.. Harry Potter Quilt still in progress

Quilt for Blossom's Kindy teacher, who is retiring.
Each child in the class decorated a square, and I put it all together.

Back of the teacher quilt.

Christmas table runner, complete!

I just love the backing fabric.. might even pretend it's reversible ;)

I also broke my fabric ban.. it all started so innocently.. with a voucher for $40 off at Spotlight when you spent $100... and I needed more fabric/batting for the quilt for Blossom's teacher, so it totally didn't count towards the fabric ban.. and my husband decided that I should make some "Minecraft Creepers" for Bean & Blossom (like these) so I had to buy fabric for those (because I seriously need ANOTHER project that has to be finished in time for Christmas!) and my SIL decided that she wanted a jungle themed quilt for her nursery instead of Peter Rabbit, and I found a gorgeously perfect panel..

And most people would leave it there. But not me... once the flood gates were open, it was on. It didn't help that there were a whole pile of Black Friday sales being tweeted left, right and centre... The first thing I indulged in was a 21 FQ set of Riley Blake's Delighted from The Intrepid Thread, which reminded me how much I love fabric designed by The Quilted Fish so I went hunting for some more Sweet Divinity to go with the fabric that I bought a couple of months ago (which will be turned into a quilt and accessories for Blossom's new room when we finally move)... and I found what I was looking for at two separate etsy stores.. A total of 10 yards, made up of 10x Sweet Divinity fabrics, 9x Sugar & Spice fabrics and the "Quite Contrary" Green Stripe by My Mind's Eye. Yes, way more fabric than I will need to make Blossom a quilt, given that I already have 5 yards of Sweet Divinity (5x fabrics).

My Christmas present to myself

And then I went back to Spotlight and bought myself a walking foot, some coordinating fabric for my SIL's baby quilt, some more fabric for the teacher quilt (because my backing fabric was an inch short and I decided just to buy another piece than mess around) and then decided that I was all binged out.

Tutorial: Easy Disappearing 9 Patch Table Runner

So it's Bonnie & Camille week over at Sharon's Craizee Corners, and today is the day that I'm guest posting! Yay!






I made a super easy table runner using Bonnie & Camille's Ruby. It's a birthday present for a girlfriend's 30th on Sunday - She's going to love it, right? I hope so!

Incase you have someone that you'd like to make a table runner for, or if you want one of your very own, this is how I did it....

Step 1: Lay out 9x charm squares. Note: Keep in mind that the outer corners are the ones that "stay whole" and the middle square is the one that ends up the smallest.

 Step 2: Sew into 3 strips of 3 squares (below). Press seams.

  Step 3: Pin 2 strips together, matching the seams. I pinned the other strip at the same time so that I could feed them through consecutively. Press again. Repeat steps 1-3 twice, so that you end up with 3x 9 patch blocks.

Step 4: Take your 3x 9 patches and slice them down the middle horizontally & vertically using your rotary cutter & your ruler. This will give you 4 blocks per 9 patch, totalling 12 blocks.

Step 5. Play around with your blocks until you are happy with your layout. As I decided to make mine look like 3x bordered 4 patch blocks I assembled my blocks into the 3 squares first and then joined those together. To do this, start by joining 2 blocks making sure to match the seams. Repeat until you have 6x rectangle blocks. Press.

 Step 6. Pin 2 of your rectangles together, making sure to match your seams. Sew and press. Repeat until you have 3x square blocks.

 Step 7. Pin the square blocks together, sew and press. You now have the top of your table runner completed.

 Step 8. Lay out your wadding, your backing fabric "right side up", and your table runner flimsy "right side together" against the backing fabric. Pin at regular intervals. Sew 1/4" seam around the edges, leaving an opening approx 4" long.

 Step 9: Using your quilting ruler trim the edges of the wadding and/or backing fabric. Gently turn the table runner in the right way. I used a knitting needle to gently push the corners out as far as I could. Press.

  Step 10: Topstitch around the edge of the whole table runner, approx 1/8" from the edge. Decide on a quilting design... I would desperately have loved to be able to FMQ my table runner, but having never tried FMQ I wasn't prepared to take the chance at ruining a gift! Instead I went for plain diagonal lines that I eye-balled instead of marking. It's lucky that it didn't end up wonkier! Weave in any loose threads, press and.... you're done!

The matching spotty backing fabric (from my stash) 

And there you have it.. a super easy 9 patch table runner. With the leftover charm squares you could whip up some matching mug rugs! A second charm pack would give you enough to make some gorgeous 9 patch placemats, too. (I'll be posting some pictures of some disappearing 9 patch placemats my girlfriend Phillipa made at our Tuesday Stitch 'n' Bitch on our Needles in the Haystack blog)

Poppies, parcels and progress..

It's been a pretty crazy week, but honestly I won't bore you with the details! Instead I'll share with you some photos that I took of flowers in my mother-in-law's garden, my order that arrived from Quiltjane, and some of the progress that I made on my Harry Potter quilt and my Christmas table runner..

 My mother-in-law used to have a garden filled with these beautiful pink mop-head poppies. When my husband and I were first dating I used to love going to their house when the poppies were out because they were just gorgeous and divine and beautiful. When we moved up into the hills 4 years ago my MIL gave me some of her poppy seedlings to plant in my garden. Every single one was plain red single layer poppies. Infact, every single poppy either of us has grown in the last 4 years has been red. We figured that the poppies must have reverted or something because my MIL had never had red poppies. And I was sad because I thought I'd never again see those beautiful pink mop-head poppies... and then on Wednesday, what did I see???? There was one little pink poppy amongst the red! Oh happy day!

 That doesn't mean that I don't like the red ones though, don't get me wrong.. there's just something kinda special about those pink ones, you know?

 And Cosmos.. I love cosmos. A couple of years ago I had them flowering profusely in my garden in shades of pink.. light, dark, in between! This year my winter grasses have taken over my garden and I've given up hope of anything being visible in there. But one, single plant has also come up in my MIL's garden.. doesn't it just look cheerful? I know I have some seeds saved somewhere.. when we move in I might scatter some more seeds and see what happens!

 My package from Quiltjane's Want it, Need it, Quilt! store came yesterday! Woohoo! Look at all that fabricy goodness. I must say that I was surprised by how much MORE I loved Kate Spain's Good Fortune in real life than I did online! I think I'll be buying more of that once I lift my fabric buying moratorium. I also can't wait to play with my Grace layer cake.... I think I have the perfect pattern picked out.

And isn't Jane a sweetie? She sent me a teeny tiny 2.5" square baby charm pack of Antique Fair. I love it!

 When I finally got around to doing some "real work" I cut some tumbler blocks out of my black backing fabric and then cut them in half so I can put them at either end of my tumbler rows. This way they will square up nicely and it will be easier to do the horizontal sashing. Unfortunately my MIL broke her ironing board(!!!) so I can't press my seams until Monday (Well, I suppose that's not strictly true, but it's a good excuse to move onto another part of my project!).

All my rows chained together (when I added the 1/2 tumblers to each end)

 And while I was chain piecing, I finished stage 1 of the Christmas table runner piecing..

I was clearing out the kids drawers the other day, putting aside all the clothes they've outgrown to keep or send to Good Sammy's (thrift shop).. but at the last minute I pulled out all the flannelette pyjamas. I think I might upcycle them into a snuggle rug. Maybe even try out a rag quilt. If I unpick all the seams I can then send them through my Accuquilt GO! and turn them into squares and half square triangles. I just loved my babies toddling around in their flannel pjs, and if I turn them into a quilt they can be used for sleepovers etc and I can enjoy them all over again. Is that a crazy idea?