Mug Rug Swap

Lately I've been participating in various swaps on Swap-bot. My latest swap was for a mug rug - a coaster large enough to include your cup of tea and a small pastry. I had a few other friends joining the swap and I thought it would be a fun opportunity to get back into doing a little quilting - quite literally.

Yesterday I delivered my rug mug as my partner in the swap was someone I knew - Heidi from Haute Goat Cashmere. Because I knew her, I had a little fun with it.

First, the reject. I live this one well enough. I used one of the charm squares that I got in a previous charm square swap, paired it with one of my own scraps... and then decided to make the focus on the quilting. I love the back side. I even did real binding. But alas, it was too small for a mug rug at about 4 x 6.

So the morning that I was going to see Heidi, I tried again. This time I decided to make it a little fun and whimsical. I've been working on my daughter's Alice in Wonderland party and decided to use the same inspiration for the mug rug. I appliqued a clock on it and embroidered an appropriate quote :) I wanted it to be loose and a little crazy, although I think it may have gone too far as I feel like it looks a little beginner-ish. But whatever. It is only my second rug.

I also included a little pocket on the back in case she's traveling with it as she has to take her own tea. She does a lot of waiting around for her daughter so I thought there might be a chance that it would get some use away from home.

Had I had time (the deadline was today I believe) - I might have tried another one. But with all that I have going on right now, I had to be happy with this one... and I think I am. I hope she enjoys it too.