DCMQG Mug Rug Swap

In October, the DCMQG held a fall mug rug swap. I requested a larger mug rug with no white or red and good for everyday use (no seasonal or holiday theme). I'm super excited with what I received! The mug has become one of my favorites and is in regular rotation on weekends and days I work from home.

And I took the rug in to work to decorate my desk and serve as a good storage spot for my personal items (mainly food and beverages, plus bamboo!).

 

My assigned partner was Heather, former guild Treasurer.  Heather asked for a smaller mug rug and provided a Pinterest board with color and theme ideas. Working off of that, this is what I created:

Her inspiration board had a lot of blues, greens, and purples, as well as some photos of fall foliage. The background is Essex yarn dyed linen. This was also the perfect sized project to practice my FMQ (finished it was about 6x8 inches). It was quite frustrating at first - I was getting eyelashes on the back no matter what I did -  and I took out countless stitches before I was finally satisfied with the appearance of the stitches. 

For the back I used this cute ladybug print leftover from Rayna's quilt. And for the binding I tried the zig zag stitch method for the first time. I wasn't sure at first, but I kind of like how it creates a double frame on the front.

We weren't technically supposed to include extras, but I threw in some tea and hot chocolate I had at home, as well as some rugelach Mom made. They're one of my absolute favorite treats!