After a 6-month break from sewing swaps, I signed up for another one. This is the 6th round of the Starbucks mug rug swap (I participated in the first two) and it was exciting to join in again. I made this sewing machine mug rug over the three-day weekend and loved how quickly it came together. Being able to take a piece all the way from start to finish in a single long weekend is a really nice thing to be able to do in this phase of my life.
I found the paper piecing pattern here but the unaltered pattern gives you a 16″ block. I reduced significantly when printing the pieces, and then lopped a bit more off the top and bottom to give me a finished result of ~10.5″ wide and ~9″ tall.
I have to admit that I didn’t get creative — at all — with the back, but sometimes that’s how it goes. The white triangle is the label. I just hadn’t written on it yet when I took these photos.
Every single fabric came from my stash, which was great! It felt very satisfying to be able to make something so pretty without having to buy any new fabric, and many of the pieces were so tiny that I was able to use small scraps that would have otherwise gone in the trash. The dark blue background and the teal border are both leftovers from the quilt I’m currently working on but have yet to write about. There are also scraps in there from my Instagram tote swap item, star bright quilt, rising balloons quilt, modern flag quilt, and even my out to sea quilt from nearly two years ago.
I’ll be shipping this off to its new home in early February.
Whenever I finish a project, Jose always admires it and then sadly says “are you sending that one away to someone too?” I love making things to give away, and giving them away does give me an excuse to make more. But despite having been sewing for nearly 5 years, there is a sad lack of quilts in my own house.
So I’ve been thinking about my sewing goals for 2016 a lot lately, and I’ve decided to turn my focus inward for a while. I want to make some great things that can stay in my own household. Because of that, this will probably be the last swap I participate in for a while. And once I finish the baby quilt I’m currently working on as a gift, I’ll be tackling some items for myself and my own girls.
I love this one!
My husband says the same thing about making something and giving it away. Although, now that I am accumulating items in return, he’s wondering if I really need to participate in any more swaps and accumulate more mini quilts, LOL. Working from scraps and stash is a really satisfying feeling, and the colors all work together so well here. I hope your swap partner really loves it.
That’s true, I am definitely getting things in return from the swaps! But you can only do so much with a mini quilt, and when I make a big one, they’re always for someone else. Time to make a few bigger ones for us!