Mug Rugs for Swap

Here are the 2 mug rugs that I made to swap with my partner in Washington State.  This swap was sponsored by Quilting Gallery and Mishka's Playground.  You might have noticed the great quilty looking backgrounds at the Olympics last month.  I only watched the indoor skating events and the blue patchwork around the rink looked so good to me.  Can fabric be far behind?  I have already seen photos of a pattern for a batik quilt inspired by the Russian Folkart theme of the Olympics.

They are actually nice and flat and straight, not at all how they look in these photos.  They will be in the mail tomorrow.

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March 2nd, stash report

Yesterday, I attended a Tea and Downton Abbey Trunk Show put on by Andover Fabrics and one of the LQSs in Phoenix.  It was awesome.  I am a fan of the show on PBS but not really of the fabric line (so far).

The presentation was so interesting.  Dennis told us about the history of his company and a thumbnail sketch of how the fabric is made.  Andover oversees every step of the production and purchases their cotton in the US.  Unfortunately, the rest of the process is completed out of this country.  He told us how the company obtained the license to produce the fabric for Downton Abbey and the future of the collection.

Dennis showed lots of clips from the show as well as photos he had taken when he visited the set.  He said the program is set to film for several more years and the fabric line and patterns will be expanded each year.  He said that NBC actually owns the rights to the show and they are being very hands-on about the fabric line and patterns.

Dennis told us to watch for quilts in the show next year made from their fabric.

Anyway, it was an informative and fun afternoon.  We each received 2 FQ's of Downtown fabric and a spool of Sulky thread and a small seam ripper in our goody bag along with a 25% off coupon for the Downton fabric purchased that day.  I also won a charm pack of the fabric (37) pieces.  I gave the charm pack to my friend and I don't know why I didn't give her the FQ's as well.

This was the 50th show Dennis had done and his last for this year.  If you are interested, you might ask your LQS to look into hosting a trunk show for the new additions next year (starting in January along with the new episodes).

I also purchased a 1/2 yard of faux leather to use in making purse.  I think I will use a 3 yard pack with zippers that I purchased at the Houston show several years ago as accents.

I finished my mug rugs and they will be in the mail tomorrow to my swap partner.  I used about 1/2 yard in the process.

Fabric added this week       1 yard

Fabric used this week          1/2 yard

Fabric added this year      2 1/2 yards

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