Mug Rugs

Sitting here today with my coffee and lamenting over the state we live in now. I bought a new flavor of coffee creamer, Vanilla Nut Rum, and yes, it is absolutely as great as it sounds. But trying to break into the sealed foil under the top, proved to be quite the challenge. It got me remembering the days prior to that goof ball,  who tried to poison us all with something in Tylenol caplets. Remember that? If I am thinking correctly that was the beginning of the end of our innocence and many of our abilities to open bottles of anything. Today you have to arm yourself with knives, scissors and hands of steel (not buns) just to get things open, so you "can" use them. Does this seem really crazy to anyone but me. What the heck has happened to our society??

Ok, I will get off my soap box now. I wish this Vanilla Nut Rum had a little of the "real" rum in it, that might make me a little more mellow this morning!  :-)

What this post was all about before my crazy foil incident, was this new rage called mug rugs. These little treasures are so much fun to make. It opens your mind to new designs, and let you finish them quickly. Even the busiest of people can manage to finish up a 6" x 10" quilt in a sitting.

This has to be one of my favorite dollar store finds. The sentiment on the cup "OHHHH" so explains my situation this time of my life. It's a sad thing, but it happens to most of us! :-)

If you have younger children or grandchildren, don't leave them out. You can find the cutest little cups, even sippy cups and make them special "Milk Mats". What a great way to share some special time with a loved one.

And last but not least, Santa will be riding thru next week, and we all leave milk and cookies out for him don't we?????  Well, have a special little mat for him this season too...

                                                                      MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I love striped bindings, but I am seeing a trend here. Guess I need to go out and do some fabric shopping!
:-)

Mug Rugs

I have to share with you the wonderful mug rug I received in the mail from Betty. She was my partner in Aunt Polly's Porch mug rug swap. Can you believe what a wonderful package she sent to me? The adorable mug rug, and great stainless steel mug, hot chocolate, and candy! Only to top it off with ribbon and ric-rac thread and buttons. Whew, I am so lucky. Betty comes from quite a line of talent too. Her husband does wonderful cartoon drawings, one of which she put on the back of the recipe's we swapped, and her daughter in law is quite the accomplished scrapbooker and paper artist. I am lucky to have one of her cards too. If you want to see some inspiration that is over the moon great, check out her blog at http://madebynicole.blogspot.com/. Betty shared a delicious sounding recipe for Shortbread cookies. I will be giving them a try very soon. As for you Betty, words can't thank you enough. Your the best.

I have to confess, in my rush to thank Betty, I told her how delighted I was with the little watering can on the mug rug?????  The next day while enjoying my coffee on my new "rug" it dawned on me. Watering can???? It's a coffee cup. So I had to write an apology letter. I have to wonder some times about myself. Is it my rush to thank someone, my old mind going, or just that I'm a big ole goober! Whatever the case, Betty I love my rug. Thank you so much, for being so forgiving! And I am delighted to have a new Internet friend from this swap.

                                      I can now share the little package that I sent to Betty.

In keeping with the theme of things, you can see that I put a cute little Elephant on her mug rug!    LOL!!!  Geesh, I hope that my mind doesn't get any worse with my age!  :-)

Christmas Blog Hop

The weather outside is frightful, but holiday blog hopping is delightful! And timely too. It's just weeks away now, and time to really put ourselves in high gear and get those projects finished up. I have no doubt that as I look thru all the wonderful blogs, that I will find more inspiration than time will allow. But there is always next year, right?

I would like to share my most recent finish. It's from 'Tis the Season Quilts and other Comforts by Jeanne Large and Shelley Wicks. Click on the title for a link to Amazon. :-)  I first saw this beauty on our quilt shop bus tour in September. Having collected nickel squares for years, I was thrilled to find a way to use them. The blocks in the pattern were slightly larger, but a square is a square and it all worked out great. I love fusible applique and the buttons on for the holly berries just add that magic touch. There is plenty of time yet, to whip up one for yourself!

I love this book so much that I decided that I needed to make a Christmas quilt for my bed this year too. "To All a Good Night," and I am hoping that it will be finished so I have visions of sugar plums dancing thru my head under my new quilt!  We will see, I am slaving away finishing up my gifts right now too!

I am sure you have all seen the "Mug Rugs" that are wildly popular in our bloggy world. I just finished a swap at Aunt Pitty Pats and am looking forward to getting my package in the mail. This little guy is "Not" the one I sent along to my partner. Until I hear that she received things safe and sound, it will remain a secret! :-)  :-)  But I did make up this one for a class sample and will be teaching a class Dec 12th at Wooden Spools Quilt Shop if you live in the Denver area. It's sure to be tons of fun and just in time to finish up those last minute gifts! If you haven't made one of these, you have no idea how much fun your are missing. The magic little 6"x10" size makes it fast and easy. Gotta love those kind of projects. Whatever your project is, be sure to post it. I am sitting right here waiting to see what you have been up to! A big thanks to you - SewCal Gal for hosting a great Christmas Quilt Show!