[completed] elephant mug rug

completed elephant mug rug!

Recently, I participated in a "Secret Pal" swap. My giftee likes sewing, elephants, and the color red. I decided to combine her interests into a little mug rug! I made up the measurements, and whipped up this little cutie! I put it in a gift bag along with some hot cocoa. Perfect for fall.

front

 I found an elephant shape that I liked through a google search, and used Steam-a-Seam to fuse the appliques onto the background fabric. Then I simply stitched around the shapes!

back

closeup of the stitching

 I used a small zig-zag to stitch around the shapes, and used red thread. I've since found different settings for the zig-zag that produce nicer, tighter lines, but you live and learn, right?

closeup of the finished mug rug!

I finished the mug rug by free-motion quilting squiggles and loops in the background, and then bound it in homemade matching binding.

Pretty cute, right? And super easy!

[completed] rainbow hexagon coaster

sassy being a goofball

So I have been crafting lately - I just haven't been documenting the things I made! Here's a mini-post with one of my recent finishes!

hexagon coaster!

I recently made a rainbow hexagon coaster, following this tutorial. It was surprisingly easy and fast to finish. I love it! I am super proud of a my rainbow hexagon coaster, especially because it was made entirely out of scraps!

closeup

coaster in action

It's almost - almost - too pretty to use.

tile coasters

new coasters!

As you might remember from previous posts, I really like making coasters. I'm very against making cookies for Christmas again, so I've been trying out various coasters to find a cookie replacement. Yesterday/today, I made scrapbook paper covered tile coasters. I used a cool clock paper that I found at Jo-Ann, because Adam likes clocks. I also used a random paint swatch for one lonely coaster.

The coasters were super easy to make with not many supplies required. I followed this (very simple) tutorial. The only difficulty in making these coasters is waiting the 15 minutes between each coat of Mod Podge! I got a few air bubbles in my coasters, but they had disappeared by the time I went to spray them with the finish today.
Overall, a quick satisfying project with infinite possibilities!

completed: painted coasters

two-dollar paint pens

Today, while shopping at Wal-Mart, I found paint pens in the clearance section. I had seen painted coasters around on the Internet, so I picked up one of each of the three available colors with that project in mind. Just now I pulled my stash of cork board (available at Lowe's) out of my craft storage box, and got to drawing with paint. It was fun!
I have plans to make all sorts of painted coasters now! I just need better colors of paint...

painted coasters

tree coasters version two

Adam and I like these red and green versions better. The printed fabric pops, and doesn't show through the dark colored fabric. I've been stitching around the design once after the whole coaster is assembled, but Adam suggested that I just leave it. I was following the tutorial, but I agree, the coaster is small enough that it doesn't require the security of the extra stitching, and the back looks better without it.

tree coasters

which do you like better?

This morning I woke up super early, as is apparently my habit now, and decided to make some tree cutout coasters. I had cut out a little stylized tree template out of leftover cardstock last night, and had cut out all the fabric pieces, so I was ready to go!
I don't love either of these, though. The one on the left is too strong looking, and the stripes on the one on the right show through the white fabric.
Back to the drawing board!

more coasters

 

I made a set of eight coasters! They sew up pretty quickly. The only thing I'm not loving about them is that the polka-dot fabric seems to be puffing up a bit. Any ideas why? I tried pinning in various ways to keep the fabric flat, but nothing seemed to work. This set is for me and Adam, so it doesn't much matter, but I'd like to avoid this issue in the future!

15-minute coaster

So after the great cookie baking endeavor of 2011, I've been thinking about (easier) mass Christmas presents for next year. I know, I'm thinking about it already. The cookies were tasty but exhausting, and I really want to do something more crafty for next year, and something that I can do in advance.
Christmas ornaments are always an option, but Adam hates the feeling of felt, so that might be a problem. Coasters, however, are awesome, useful, and he could help me with them.
I've found about a billion great tutorials, but started out with
this tutorial by The Sometimes Crafter - it was simple and quick. Perfect!
So, I present my very first coaster ever. What do you think? I found the black fabric and the batting as a remnants at good ole Wal-Mart (and I got huge amounts of both because Wal-Mart believes that anything under 2 yards is a remnant), and found the polka-dot fabric as a $0.97 fat quarter. So this coaster cost... like... zero cents, basically.

check out my sweet new black table

check out my sweet stemless wine glass