Arrowhead Mug Rugs

I had a couple of extra squares from Antia's Arrowhead that didn't go with the rest of the set.  I put them aside and decided to make mug rugs with them.

The squares were perfect to practice freemotion quilting.  I tried new patterns and focused on filling in specific areas of the block.  I have a terrible time quilting up next to borders.  I picked a leafy design for the purple one.  It's not terribly even, but it wasn't too difficult to do.

I chose the dizzy daisy for the blue one.  I have a thing for spirals.  I practiced filling in along borders for this one, too, working one quarter of the block at a time.  I probably shouldn't have done that with this pattern, and just meandered across the whole square.  I think it needed more space to do it justice.  I will definitely try dizzy daisy again on a larger piece and remind myself to spread out. 

I enjoy making mug rugs, but when I finished my first one last year, I wondered how useful it really was.  The coasters I have worked fine.  Then I threw it on the corner of my desk.  It is constantly occupied by my tea mug, often with a snack or cereal bowl keeping it company.  I'm glad to have new mug rugs so I can rotate.