Scrappy Mug Rug Swap

Don't forget about my Apron Giveaway!

I have decided that I really love Flickr swaps.  They're a great opportunity to meet other sewers and quilters from around the world, and who doesn't love coming home from work to find a package full of goodies!?

The Fall/Halloween round was my first round with the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap.  I was a little worried because I don't have much experience making mug rugs.  My partner wanted a Halloween themed mug rug. I had a bit of a hard time coming up with a design because I'm not really big into Halloween, and I didn't have ANY Halloween fabrics.  My partner specified a few fabrics that she liked (of course none of which I had...) and also mentioned she liked purple and green together.

I started with the Bare Trees background, which was similar to one of her favorite fabrics.  I then decided to try my hand at appliqué and added a little scared pumpkin.  I got the idea for the button spiders from some picture I saw once on Flickr (I can't remember where, sorry!).  

Then for the back I did some wonky piecing in purple and green.  

To the mug rug I added a few extra goodies:  a stuffed jack-o-lantern, some googly eyed spider stickers, Lindor chocolate pumpkins, some Basic Grey buttons, and a brown and orange vintage pillowcase.

When my partner (who happened to also live in Calgary) received my package, she seemed pleased with everything which really made my day.

A week after sending my package my husband emailed me a picture at work of an envelope with a customs sticker saying "Mini Quilt".  I couldn't wait to get home to see which mug rug I had received!  I loved looking through the group photo stream and dreaming about which of the mug rugs was going to be mine.  There was on in particular I had my eye on, and right from the initial sneak peak I had secretly hoped it would be the one that showed up on my doorstep.  Imagine my delight when I opened the envelope and there it was!!

I love everything about it, and it's clear to see that so much effort was put into it.  Stephanie from Spontaneous Threads was worried that it wasn't quite what I was hoping for, so she made me a second one as well!!

I love them both - I think they're fantastic!  I think both of these beauties will go on my wall in my sewing room.  They're truly pieces of art!!  Check out her blog post about them here.