Squirrely Mug Rug

Here's my finished project: the ultimate squirrel mug rug!  I think it turned out so fabulously, I'll have to make another (or 2).  I didn't get to personally swap it at the DMQG meeting, but I'm excited to hear about the fall themed mug rug swap and receive my partner's mug rug for me.  

Fall Mug Rug - Getting Squirrely

After some thought, I broke down and bought some orange fabric for my fall/autumn themed mug rug swap.  I think it looks much better and also more modern.  This is going to take awhile since I have to do it by hand, but it'll be worth it!

I'm also working on a pillow with the leftover bits of honey bun from my Triple Irish Chain quilt.  I'm going to give this to my grandma along with the quilt for Christmas.  

Ugh...

Remember when I said I had to finish my Bliss quilt before I could work on anything else?  Francine, my persnickety Bernina, decided to foil my plans!  I was happily free motion quilting along and it was past my bedtime, so I put things away and turned off the machine.  The next morning, I go back to work, and it starts skipping 5 or 6 stitches in a row!  I hadn't fiddled with anything!  So I tried everything I could think of to make her work again with absolutely no luck.  So Francine is at the Bernina store 4. hours. away!!  I've been without her for over a week now :(  I really wish sewing machine repair shops were like car dealerships - when you take yours in for work they give you a loaner.  

I've cut a few projects out and now I'm trying to work on a fall/autumn themed mug rug for a swap with my new Modern Quilt Guild.  I love squirrels and wanted to applique one holding an acorn onto my mug rug.  My problem is, I'm not sure it's as adorable as I was hoping, nor do I think it looks very modern.  This is my current layout.  Would anyone in a modern quilt guild want this in a swap?  What suggestions do you have to make this better?  To me, fall/autumn reminds me of traditional harvest images, etc and I have a hard time incorporating modern elements.  Oh, and yes, it looks like I'm hand sewing this puppy.


Thanks for any suggestions!

I'm such a copy cat!

You may have already realized this.  I really can't take credit for a lot of my better projects because I find inspiration on my endless hours of web surfing and copy great stuff.  I usually modify things a bit to be more suitable for my sewing skill level slash laziness :D 


I came across this great mug rug at Froth and Bubble the other day when signing up for a billion Sew Mama Sew giveaways and immediately thought of my BFF from OD school.  She's from South Dakota, and apparently they don't have cardinals (yes, the birds).  She would get so excited anytime she saw one in Chicago or when she came to visit my house in central Illinois.  So I changed the titmice to cardinals and I can't wait to send her this mug rug!  Best part?  I only used scraps!  I'm planning on making one for myself too.  Oh and my grandma - she loves cardinals as well.  Does this look slightly Christmas-y to anyone else?  Oh well - Christmas in July is coming up!