Just in time...

"Not my normal color palate" turned into this:

 and I am in love!!!  I could not be more thrilled with this quilt!  It measures 70"x80", larger than I had originally decided on, but I had to go big- I love big quilts!~  So a BIG lap quilt it is :)  This quilt, if you remember, was made for my dear friend who just began a three year chemo regimen.  So for on the days she may need an extra hug, here is a HUG for her!!  It is not my normal color choices, but it is oh so her!!  I am giddy with how much it looks like her!  And I absolutely loved watching the colors come together!  It was a work of love- a fast one too- my fabrics did not all arrive until four days ago, and with the holidays and all the obligations I had this week, I was up til the wee hours every night getting this done.  It has to be done by today to go in the "Hug" boxes her family is giving her for Christmas.  She will open a box each month- such a wonderful idea!  It is in the wash at the moment so it can get all lovely and crinkly in the dryer, and then it will be delivered to the boxer-uppers!  I can hardly wait!  What a fantastic surprise!

 For quilting, I chose my all time favorite, teeny tiny loops!  It just makes me smile, and it's an added bonus that it makes it crinkle up extra good in the dryer! ;)

I chose prints and solids for the front- and love how they play together!  It was my first time mixing in quite a few solids and I will definitely be doing this again!  A good thing!  The backing had to be a super soft vintage sheet.  I had found this butterfly one a while back and was so happy that it had not been listed (and cut into) yet!  The colors are perfect, and I love that it's a butterfly!  It reminds me of hope!  So it fit this quilt to a tee!  

Off it goes for a special Christmas box of HUGS!!!

My most favorite mug and a shnazzy mug rug!

Ok, the phenomemom of mug rugs is sort of making me giggle! ;) Isn't a mug rug just a fancy word for "coaster"? That's what I thought a first. Then I stumbled upon the subtle difference. Hmmm.... well, I guess technically it is different, because not only is there room for a MUG, there is also room for a TREAT or cookie, and chocolate is ALWAYS a good thing at my house :)!! I can never pass up a scrumptious cup of Hot Chocolate!!

So being that I have the most wonderful mug that I could ever want-- I got this beauty at Joanns- it HAD to have a "rug". I had seen it for $15 and drooled over it, but was in no way, shape, or form going to ever fork out $15 for a MUG! Then, several months later, I was parusing Joanns and, out of the corner of my eye, saw my lovely mug- on the Clearance table!! It had actually been a pin cushion on a lid, but the lid was all broken. However, the lid was not connected to the mug, just sitting on top, smashed. The tag read $1.50. For REAL??!! I didn't even want it as a pin cushion, goodness, you couldn't have put more than 10 pins on the tiny thing anyway ;). I checked to make sure it said "dishwasher safe" and off I went, thrilled at my find! I love it for the print, the colors, and a quirky little thing- the thumb notch in the handle. The notch is my favorite part- no slipping and oh, so comfy.

My mug started feeling left out, as I have been seeing all these purtty mug rugs popping up all over Cyberspace. I had also been eyeing the gorgeous Value Quilts I have seen too. So I decided to try the technique on, what other than, a mug rug! I got to work cutting teeny squares, drawing diagonal lines, sewing, ironing, snipping, etc.

Then the fun part, laying out the design! I would love an entire quilt like this, but I would definitely have to go bigger squares- millions of these would make me go nuts ;). I went for an off-center look and love it! I know my lines are not matched up perfectly- still working on that, and when I have bigger pieces, it doesn't seem to be an issue- must have just been the teeniness that got to me -HA!

I quilted it in loops. I wanted to try something new, but I love loops, so I knew I would be sad to look at it and not see loops. So loops it was! I will try another pattern next time. Then I got the binding cut, sewn together, ironed in folds, and got busy binding. My mug was still waiting patiently for me :).

Voila! Fini! Isn't it just darling, and room to spare for the treat, cookie, whatever our hungry tummy desires :) Such fun. Now I can see why these are all over! They are quick, fun, and ca-ute! Maybe I need a family of mug rugs- teehee! Better get busy...