Purple Mug Rugs

Last week while the wind was blowing like crazy, my dear, sweet husband bought me another piece of foam insulation board to make into a second design wall. He was also bringing it home in an open pickup truck! It was a miracle that it got here fairly intact. One corner got bent back rather badly, but since I was trimming it, it really didn't matter.

While I was covering the board with flannel, Laura was "helping" me. I usually keep some pins stuck in the very top edge of my design wall, so I guess she thought I liked having pins stuck in it. I don't know if you can really see them, but she emptied a whole pincushion full of pins into the board! Fortunately, she was just as cheerful removing them as she had been at adding them!

I decided it was time I used some of my purple scraps (for Scrap Happy Saturday) and I also thought I should try making some mug rugs--especially since I'll be participating in the "April Showers" Mug Rug Hop. I really didn't want to spend a lot of time on this project, since I SHOULD be working on Mom's Egg Money quilt. So I just did a strippy quilt-as-you-go and this is what I ended up with. I thought it was pretty, but kind of blah. What it needed was...

A flower! Daffodils are one of my favorite flowers and they've been known to bloom as early as January around here. In fact, they're probably starting to bloom now.

Then I thought I really ought to make another mug rug, since Laura and I usually eat together and it was only right that we should each have one. I made hers using lighter, more fun purples. But again, kind of blah.

So for hers, the natural choice was to add hearts, especially since Laura is all about love and hugs. And now we both have cute little purple mug rugs!

I've been doing lots of hand sewing (embroidery, applique) lately and noticing me, Laura decided she wanted to "sew" too. I hoop up muslin scraps with a bit of batting and she sews away. She spent all day with me in the quilt studio, patiently stitching.

She doesn't follow any pattern (we've tried, doesn't work), she just "sews. Which goes to show that the pleasure is often in the process, not necessarily in the finished project!

And now it's time to go make breakfast and then back to sewing so I can Get More Done...Today!