taking charge of 2016

HAPP NEW YEAR 2016, everyone! Did you have a good holiday? We did! : ) The month of December flew right by. The kids had three weeks off from school and my husband a bit more due to a job change. Needless to say, I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but that is going to change starting today. : ) I refuse to look back and recap 2015 in terms of sewing, because I just want to keep going forward. If I missed something from last year, then it will be made up sometime in the future. : )

First up, you can find my blog posts now listed on the quilterblogs.com. Thank you so much for listing me, Aleah. I hope to bring some enthusiasm and good sewing practices to the quilting community.

You can find some really great deals and coupons on their site, too. And they have a really awesome search engine to find the fabric you are looking for quicker and easier. I don't know how many times I wished I had known this sooner!? And you?

If you are reading this post from the quitlerblogs, thank you AND welcome. May I introduce myself...my name is Karen Ackva. I am an American living my dreams in Germany with my bi-national family. I love to design and make patchwork (as it is called here in Germany.) You can find plenty of free patterns and tutorials on my site as well as on Craftsy. I have designed blocks for the Quiltermaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 11 & 12 and a quilt coming out in Spring 2016. I have also designed a few quilts for the Moda Bake Shop using their pre-cut layer cakes, charm packs and jelly rolls. I am commited to bringing out well written patterns at a reasonable price. So, check all of them out. : ) When I am not designing, I like to organize and participate in patchwork swaps on Flickr (Pillow Swap Four Seasons) and various swaps on Instagram.

I don't want to overload you with all of the goodness I have to offer you on my first post, so I will pace myself with my other tidbits and future makes for 2016! Stay tuned! : ) Thanks for dropping by! Have a great year!

swappin' mug rugs

Recently, I developed an interest in creating mug rugs. This is a smaller version of a miniature quilt or doll quilt. I made a lot of miniature quilts over the last two years and was in a doll quilt swap. I decided to op out, because because of my own commitment to our Pillow Swap Four Seasons. But I still have a need to "create with a theme." I love to be challenged and think!! When I discovered a mug rug swap that was upcoming and not already full, I jumped all over it! It is now full but check it out for an array of beautiful mug rug inspiration at Forth Worth Fabric Studio.

For me it is still unclear how big a mug rug is supposed to be, but I think between 4 x 6 and 6 x 8 inches. Sometimes I go a little overboard and make it a little larger. I just change the name to a mini-placemat or an XL mug rug. No matter what you call it, I think it would be used AND appreciated. Sometimes I wonder about the miniature doll quilts if anyone really does something with it. Oh, sorry, a tangent...back to my post.

My challenge, create a "spring" mug rug. That's pretty simple. I first worked on my swarm of bees! I love the paper pieced bee, but the colors of yellow, gray, black aren't very springy! I love the color palette, but not very springy, is it?

So I remembered I wanted to try out the Dresden plates featured throughout my lastest edition of the Quiltmaker. I have never made Dresdens and wanted to try out the technique. I also found a QAL featured by McCalls Quilting featuring something really good....mini Dresdens!! I love minis!! In the background you can see my freshly (sometimes) ironed and folded laundry. My sewing space doubles as the family laundry mart. ;-)

I cut enough scraps using the Dainty Dresden template from Lesson 8 (great for 1½ inch strips and scraps) and 12 plates of the larger Dresden template (Template C from Dancing Dresdens) from 2½ inch scraps. I had a lot of fun going through my scraps too. I de-stashed a lot of the darker colors and had a great mix of colorful fabrics to choose from. I tried to stay in a turquoise/yellow/pink/green colorway.

After you get the little cuties cut out, you sew them together on the longer side, RST. I chain pieced in a snap using a smaller stitch length, backstitching at the start and stop. It is worth the extra time. The pieces are really dainty, but I find it relaxing to take my time. 

Then you snip the bulk off the tips where you will turn them right side out and press. Just take your time and don't stress. They go together very easily.

Now the watch them shrink in size! Sew them all together! The little ones make three inch Dresdens! How cute! You know I am a sucker for anything mini! I think the larger ones make five inch Dresdens. I didn't measure.

I had the idea of making flowers with them. I wanted to use all of them, but there simply wasn't enough room on the 6 x 8 inch backing fabric. I would have to use the smaller ones or...let one jump right out of the mug rug!! That's a great idea, Karen! The challenge was the binding. I would have to construct it, so the flower would not be disturbed by the binding. I decided to make my binding as border strips and pull to the backside. It worked! I also hand sewed a backing fabric onto the petal the extruded over the mug rug.

I added one of my mini stickers with "easypatchwork" to the yellow petal. I thought about adding more text, but just a hint is also good. I am really pleased with it. It is bright and cheery! I am also looking forward to seeing what my swap partner comes up with. I love swappin'!

What did I learn this week? Don't short cut your binding. I prefer single fold or double-fold binding, not border strips. ;-) They were a headache for me and didn't really turn out the way I wanted them to.

Are you looking forward to spring? What are you making that is springy? I'd like to hear from you!