Hookin' a Rug

For a long time I've wanted to crochet a rag rug from fabric strips. It was just an idea in the back of my head, until I read  this tutorial by Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts. It was easy to make and I love how colorful and random it is and how 'homespun' it looks.

I've never used yarn this bulky or a hook this big (size P), so I found it really hard to get my crochet groove on, but I'll get better and quicker with practice. Of course I want to make more!

And man, oh man, does this use up the scraps! All my scrap 'strings' are history, and I had to cut lots more from my stash. This rug is a perfect way to make some of those fabrics you don't like anymore go away--you know, the ones you regret buying, but you paid good money for them, darn it. Yeah, those fabrics. Let's not speak of them, shall we? Let's just cut them up into strips for pretty rugs and pretend that's what we meant to do with them all along ;)

 There are lots of flowers in there, some fish, some Christmas trees, some Spider-Man (don't ask)...

"You made this for me, right?"

During photos, it quickly became the place to be.

It measures 22"x 29", and now lives by the side of the bed. Feels so nice under foot.

Have a good weekend!

Linked up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.

Ode to Joy Quilt

When I saw this little cross wall quilt , I wanted to make one, too. It's made with lovely Liberty of London fabrics--so many pretty, delicate florals. But the cost of Liberty fabrics means they, sadly, aren't a part of my stash. *sigh* But that's okay, I have plenty of pretties in my scrap baskets. I used a variety of colors and prints in bright, saturated jewel tones.

The colors just glow in the morning light.

These little blocks are really fun and quick to make. You can find directions for this slice-and-insert technique--and examples from simple to complex--in "Quilting Modern"  (one of my favorite quilting books) by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pederson , but this basic block is simple to figure out by looking at it. Just make sure your background square is ~1/2" larger than you want your final block to be, so you have a little leeway when squaring up your block. I squared my blocks to 5". I definitely see more of these cross blocks in my future :) Likely with colored solids or subtle prints for the background, like this one.

I prefer a wider binding (this one is 1/2" wide), but I didn't want to cover up any more of the outer edge crosses than I had to, so I added a narrow white border. The backing/binding is a Robert Kaufman print called "The Enchanted Desert" that looks like painted tiles. I bought a boatload of it some years ago at a big discount, and I'm so glad I did; I've used it in many projects.

I quilted it with wavy intersecting lines, to soften all the straight lines and angles of the crosses. This is the first quilt I've machine quilted...and I have mixed feelings about that. I love how it turned out! It looks good, the machine quilting went smoothly, it was SO much faster, and my wrist has been hurting lately from quilting and sewing (and gardening, etc.). But it feels stiffer, it doesn't have that wonderful drape and softness from being handled so much during hand-quilting, or that tactile look you can only get from hand stitches. Washing it would make it softer, and it's a wall quilt, so the hand (how fabric feels) doesn't matter as much...but still, I miss the hand-quilted look and texture, and the time spent with it draped over my lap. So, I'm torn.

This little quilt is one of my favorites. It measures 30"x 43", and will hang in the bedroom over the bed. The crosses remind me of colorful birds in flight. What beautiful things to wake up to!