It's beginning to feel a lot like . . .

time to work on some holiday sewing!

I made this mug rug for the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap on Flickr. This group is entirely to blame for my mug rug addiction!

My mug rug was inspired by this awesome pincushion, and I used this free template for the design with Heat-n-Bond Lite. It was easier than I expected!

And here's a little sneak peek of a project I'm working on for someone on my Christmas list -

Fabric: Pure by Sweetwater
Block tutorial: found here in the Moda Bake Shop

How's your holiday sewing going? I'm way behind, as usual, because I'm a procrastinator! I like to think that I work better under pressure :-)

Happy sewing!
Mary

Plan B

If at first you don't succeed . . .

make coasters!!!

These little blocks were originally going to be part of my DQS9 quilt, but once I made them I just wasn't in love with the quilt idea. I tossed them aside and made this quilt instead.

But after making my last set of coasters, I got the idea to make these into coasters too. They finished at about 5" square, which is a really nice size. I was so pleased to find a new (and better!) use for these tiny blocks! I gave the coasters to my parents when they came for a recent visit.

And speaking of my parents . . . happy *early* birthday Mom!

Happy sewing,
Mary

Buzz buzz buzz . . . it's Bee time!

So I joined a fabulous online quilting bee a couple months ago - Bee Splendid!

We're only on the second month of our bee and it's my turn already.  I really agonized over what block I wanted everyone to make.  There are really too many options!  But I wanted something that wouldn't require me to buy too much fabric - trust me, I have a stash that needs to be USED already!  I also wanted to pick something that would allow each member of my bee to use her creativity and show her personality in each block.

About a month ago I ordered this Kona Cotton Starter Pack from Pink Chalk Fabrics and it got my creative wheels turning . . .

I used each solid as an inspiration piece to pull different bits of coordinating fabric from my stash. It was a really great exercise for me, as some of the solids are colors out of my normal "comfort zone" and I had to make them work with what I already had.

I'm asking the ladies in my bee to use these stacks to make scrappy "Drunk Love" inspired blocks like the ones pictured below.

I whipped up a couple blocks last night.  These are SO much fun to make!  I love that you don't have to worry about precision or matching points.  You can just be creative and come up with something fun as you go along.

This next one is my favorite -

I really can't wait to see what everyone makes with the fabric I'm sending - and maybe they'll add a little from their own stashes too!  Fun stuff!

Happy Sewing!
Mary