Mug rug maddness continues!

So Erin from Two More Seconds started this fantastic "mug rug maddness" week that I have been enjoying for the past week. I have loved the idea of these cute mini quilts (cross between placemat and coaster) for awhile, I had previously only made 1.
I took Erin's dedication of this week to go mug rug crazy! In a previous post I wrote about making this cutie



Didn't stop there though. This only got my creativeness flowing and thought I would use up the rest of my Sunkissed (Moda line by sweetwater-in case you have been living under a rock and haven't heard of it)

Thought I would try a "wonky" square



Then added just a touch of dimension on the back



Please don't laugh at my quilting, this was also my first attempt at stippling (which quickly turned into swirly circles as this was MUCH more difficult that I thought!)

Then I quilted (stitched the ditch since I knew I could do that) and put a binding on the scrappy mug rug I had sort of started 8 months ago.


Loving it! Motivation s great. Have a few new inspirational ideas from this week and began one tonight.

Will post again soon to show you my fantastic goodies I got in the mail from my giveaway win last week. SOOOO excited about it!

Side note: I think I need a new camera, or at least to stop taking pics it is dark out - they look terrible!

Mug Rug Maddness Week

Erin from over at Two More Seconds started at great little "Mug Rug Maddness" week. She has been hosting tutorials, links, and giveaways since 3/21 and will continue through the week. I feel better knowing that SO many other people love these little mini quilts as much as I do!

I have previously posted about one such mug rug that I made. I have been thinking of making another (for what I am not sure - since it won't be matching and I am generally the only one who drinks coffee at my house I really only need the 1) for awhile now. I have been running ideas through my head and finally thought I would try a ziggy zag little pattern (but I wasn't going to use a pattern - just "figure it out" for myself). Ooops.


Did NOT turn out as it was pictured in my head.
I didn't use the correct dimensions.

So....
I turned it into this:




Which was more of an abstract hint of color sort of piecey thing. Then, I decided that I didn't like it. It was too busy and yet nothing particularly stood out - death by too similar of color values ONCE AGAIN!

I kept this one as is (didn't feel like taking all those stitches out). But thought I would try something a bit different on the back.




This one I like! A bit of color and piecing that stands out from the otherwise plain background. Added the little circle becuase, well, becuase I love circles!!!!

Hope you make yourself a mug rug or two (if not this week then another instead).

- Sew Sane Jane

Oh my goodness, it's mid March!

Time flies when you are busy!! I can't believe that it is mid March already! On one hand I am VERY excited about this- 1 month until .... (yea -a surprise). However, I am also not so excited as I have a birthday quilt about 1/8 of the way quilted that i am supposed to give away in 8 days!

Darn me for thinking I should give quilting a full size quilt on my standard-sized machine. What was I thinking?? Goodness is it ever difficult to shift around - and that does NOT make me motivated! Makes me want a monster LAQ machine for just such occasions. What does everyone else do when they have a larger quilt?




I am not great yet at stippling so I decided to use a walking foot and quilt around each of the "frames" which should result in overlapping rectangles. Again, WHAT WAS I THINKING???

-Sew Sane Jane
(Posted using BlogPress from my iPad)

Works (too many!!) in progress

I mentioned in an ealier post that I was frantically cleaning, organizing, and clearing out of my sewing space in our basement to make room for the contractor + some walls!  In the process of doing so I realized, Holy Crow do I have more of a fabric stash than I realized, more scraps of fabrics than I knew, more WIPs than I accounted for, and less natural organizational skills than I realized! 

 
 

I bought some Fantastic little containers from the local cheapo store.  The one on the Left is perfect for containing smaller WIPs.  (and I think I am going to get lots of these for organizign scraps by color for my bottle rainbow quilt)  The one on the right was significatly larger and perfect for larger WIPs and I thought for fabric stash (turns out I was wrong!!  I need to get the next size bigger for that.

To piece
Ruffle pillow (worked on, but got frustrated and quit again)
T shirt quilt (cannot seem to get myself motivated for this one)
numbers bib (close to fruition - attach velcro to numbers)

Pink Love U panel (a project gone wrong previously!  I hid it from myself for 2 weeks and need to get it back out and fix - got rid of the EVIL clear vinal and now need to sew on curtain hangers)
Bottled Rainbow w/ Rachel from Stitched in Color (waiting on some fabric to finish organize scraps)
green and dot dishmat Check!
faux suede storage cube (cut and ready to assemble)
2 bibs (that are Adorable, but accidentally sewed shut instead of leaving an opening for turning.  I do this far more often than is reasonable!)
chenille bib (attach velcro or button)

2 more wine jackets (cut and ready to assemble)


To quilt
Gemstones (have to get back to this soon!!  her b-day is coming up quick now)
Hunky dory

Requested projects
Abc book (started - 2 actually)
Coaster set Check!
Mom's quilt (I have the pattern and fabric - but haven't done a thing since purchasing)

counts: too many!!!!

Photo-prop bib

So I don't have any little humans running around me house, but I do have lots of friends whose rug-rats entertain us! I am often looking for ideas of cute little gifts to make them (either as shower gifts or even just because gifts).

One of my friends had mentioned how she was going to take monthly pics of her cutie and was trying to figure out how to get age in the pic as a prop (other than a piece of paper with it hand-written)..... INSPIRATION.
A fellow sewing friend said, once with numbers - so I took that idea and decided a bib might work better.






I didn't really want to make like 4+ bibs so.... Removable numbers






Had a bit of leftover green fabric so I also added a strip of it to a cloth diaper and finished with grograin ribbon (that is what the rectangle of green is in the background).



I always like live models better in pics, but i only have doggies and figured that it just wouldn't look as cute around a dogs neck :)


-Sew Sane Jane
(Posted using BlogPress from my iPad)

What I Wore Wed Best/Worst Vote

So, I have been participating in a thing called What I Wore Wednesday for a few weeks.  The idea is to keep me accountable for getting dressed each day (mostly works, although I often forget to take pics on the weekends).  I again made an array of my work outfits for the week.  Trying to take this opportunity to Improve my outfits and have a little style.

Looking for your help!  Please vote and say which outfit you like the best of this week and which is the worst of the week.  

Wednesday: Pinstripe pants - The Limited, eggplant top - Target, Blazer - The Limited
Thursday: Really old pants - Old Navy, brown sweater w/ accents - Ann Taylor Loft
Friday: Black, bootcut pants & Belt - The Limited, purple tank - Meijer, Striped sweater - hand-me-down
Monday: same pants as Thursday i guess, yellow long-sleeve t - Old Navy, white sweater - Bergner's
Tuesday: Black pants - The Limited, Pink blazer - The Gap, white victorian neck top - Ann Taylor Loft
Wednesay: **tried something new!  Pants are from Old Navy (but at least a diff pair), can't see light pink thin sweater  - Banana Republic, eggplant top - Ann Taylor Loft, Scarf - JoAnn Fabrics that I tried to make myself.

Linking up with the Pleated Poppy for her WIWW.  (I borrowed the WIWW from her!)
-Sew Sane Jane