Mug Rugs and HST

I do not usually work multiple projects at once, but that seems to be the norm nowadays.  Lack of supplies or lack of concentration or maybe because none of these projects are going to anyone in particular - so I'm all over the place.

The woven mug rug is seriously Frankensteined.  This was made from quarter-inch strips I had cut off blocks for a braided quilt I'm working on.  The batting is nothing but strips, too (not even zig-zagged together).  The idea was to quilt the heck out of it, and therefore it will all stay together.  I'll be interested how it survives a trip or two through the washing machine.

I quilted it with the leftover gold rayon from my sister's quilt.  Thought a little bit of shine couldn't hurt.  I had been admiring some matchstick quilting but didn't want to do just straight lines.  So I did a tight wave with my walking foot.  I really like how it looks!  The back shows the quilting better than the front.  There's so much going on.  This should hopefully keep the top intact as well as the nine strips of batting I layered in between.

I liked the fringe.  It wasn't practical to keep it, but it was sad to cut it off.  The original piece was about 9½" square, but the edges unraveled a bit with handling.  Bits of batting showed through.  The final piece is 9" square - I kept most of it.

This turned out to be a lot of fun for a project that was truly just an idea to save several inches of fabric.  I love the result.  It gave me a chance to play with really no consequences.  And for goodness sake - perfect corners on the binding.  I can't seem to do that for love nor money on a "real" quilt, but I did it on both of these mug rugs.

I finally put on borders, found backing and batting and quilted my little HST mug rug.  Talk about scrappy - I even pieced the backing because I didn't have an 8-inch square of the blue left.  But it's for me, so that's fine.  I stitched in the ditch, but now that it's bound, I may add something in that white border.  Is it against the rules to quilt after binding?

The 512-piece HST mini quilt is pieced.  It is so bulky!  There was no hope getting all the points to match but it's not bad, all things considered.  Not sure how I'll quilt it - something simple.  I haven't decided if I'll keep it.  I may offer it to family/friends and bind it as a hanging or pillow as they wish.  Any takers?

I had to wait for a warmer day to lay out the braided quilt in the sun room.  It clearly needs more cream/gold pieces.  I think I've cut enough now, although I need to re-randomize the cream fabric.  I've been waiting for a warmer or sunnier day (working on a 60F stone floor is cold!) to fix the layout.  Maybe today?  After that, I can start sewing it together.

Sharing with:
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