I'm happy to be participating in yet another fun blog hop, this time hosted by Carla of Creatin in the Sticks.
Here's the list of today's participants:
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The theme of this hop is Mug Rugs; small quilted or sewn mats to put under your cup of coffee, tea, or whatever.
I will show you what I've created for this hop, after taking a trip down memory lane.
I have made, many, many, mug rugs in the course of doing blog hops. They're fun, quick, and easy to stich up. Here are some of the mug rugs I've designed, along with links to their posts (and free patterns in some cases). You can find still more in my list of Free Patterns on the left side of this blog.
I also just created a mug rug for the Ghastly Ghouls Blog Hop, and you can see that project and post here.
I got a question during the Ghastly Ghouls Blog Hop about cleaning wool felt mug rugs. They cannot be laundered like cotton ones. They will shrink in warm/hot water, and can't handle a lot of agitation in a machine. They can be hand washed in cold water, or spot cleaned. Most of my designs could also be made as raw-edge applique in cotton. Just quilt and bind them after doing the applique like you would any cotton mug rug.
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And now, the project I did specifically for this hop!
As you can see from the above projects, I usually work in wool applique. But I also enjoy hand-piecing and English Paper Piecing upon occasion. For my mug rug, I did EPP with apple core shapes measuring 1.5" wide and 2" tall. They were definitely more challenging to sew together than hexagons, (my usual go-to for EPP), but I enjoyed the exercise! After I had sewn a bunch together (using scrap fabric), I decided to applique them to a wool felt backing, and then added another backing piece behind that. The applique, and stitching around the outside of the mug rug, are done with embroidery floss and a blanket stitch. The final apple core mug rug measures 10" square.
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I enjoy reading your comments, and will respond via email unless you are a No Reply Blogger.
Finally, be sure to visit everyone participating in this great hop!
Monday, November 15th
Tuesday, November 16th
Wednesday, November 17th
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs (you are here)
Thursday, November 18th
