Sharon H. is in charge of the new Mug Rug Swap. She sent you these instructions through email. Here they are for you again. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact her.
Mug Rug Swap
Standard Guidelines:
1) You may choose to participate in any month you find the time to make a mug rug, or not participate in any month at all
2) In any month you bring a mug rug you will take home a mug rug made by someone else
3) Every month you will given a “theme” for the next month’s exchange.
4) Your mug rug should measure approximately 8x12 inches (this is an approximate size—aim for 8x12; your size may change slightly based on squaring it up, or adding the binding, etc, but aim for 8x12)
5) Please use quilt-shop quality fabrics. Aim to give as good as you will get.
6) The mug rug must be quilted in some way. You can use cross-hatching, random meandering, stitch-in-the-ditch, etc. Any method of quilting you choose is okay but the layers need to be quilted together in some fashion.
7) Each mug rug should have a layer of Insul-bright (that’s the brand name—it’s needled insulated lining) inside two layers of batting. So your mug rug would be layered in the following manner: top, batting, Insul-bright, batting, backing. This product is made for pot holders, table pads, oven mitts, ironing board covers, sleeping bags, etc. It is used for keeping things both hot and cold. It is sold at Hancock’s for about $6/yard. And of course, a yard will go pretty far when you’re only using 8x12 pieces at a time. You can also get it online for as little as $4.25 but then you’d have to pay shipping.
8) You may bind the mug rug by hand or machine, whichever works for you. Considering that these items will be used and thrown in the washing machine and dryer they might wear better if they were machine bound, but it’s your design so bind it whichever way works for you. (Hint: it does not have to be the standard double-fold binding—you might choose to bind it in whatever manner goes with your design, but the edges must not be raw.)
Theme for December:
Make any design you choose using Christmas fabrics.
You can make a crazy-quilt design with Christmas fabrics, or a Christmas star, or a Santa, or a log cabin, etc. Whatever works for you creatively.
You might want to stretch yourself to try a technique you have not tried before, like paper piecing or crazy quilting or log cabin. It’s a small item so if you don’t like the technique you only have to make it 8x12 and never do it again!
Theme for January
If you would like to get a head-start on the exchange for January it will be houses.
You can make one house, two houses or more. You can add a tree or flowers or just the house. You can make a crooked roof, with a chimney or without a chimney, with windows or without windows. You can make the sky blue or purple, or no noticeable sky at all. It can be a wacky house or a square house with strip piecing. Any house of your choosing.
Theme for February
If you would like to get a head-start on the exchange for February it will be red. Any pattern of your choice but the overall appearance of the mug rug should be red. And remember the saying that two reds might not look good together, but 100 reds look great!
Theme for March
March will be 4-letter words. These are good words, such as luck, love, fate, café, vote, hugs, cake, soar, kiss, home, grow, etc. You can use fabric with words printed already, write your own words on cloth, appliqué words, piece words, etc. Any color or fabric but the mug rug must contain at least one “good” 4-letter word.
I have a few more ideas for future months and will come up with some new, novel ideas that will stretch our creativity, but if you have ideas for themes for future months, please feel free to share them.
Here are some links to some sites where people are currently doing some online swaps, to give you some ideas:
I’m looking forward to making (and getting) some great mug rugs! If you have any questions, please “REPLY ALL” so that the whole groups hears the question and the answer.
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