quilted mug rugs

The local quilt group I belong to made adorable large coasters during our bimonthly meeting and I was so excited about them that I decided to make them for thank you gifts for the children's teachers. This is their last week of gym and art classes at the local public school before we go to the farm for the "summer" (yes, I know it is only April, but the garden beckons). I bought some large mugs at Target and plan on putting some fancy hot cocoa packets inside to finish each gift. 

First you cut four 5" squares of contrasting fabrics (if they are too similar the effect will be lost) surrounded by a 3 1/2" border. Then you cut a 3 1/2" template out of clear plastic with lines drawn in 3/4" from the corners to form a kite shape. You can actually make the square any size you want to vary the pinwheel size. The Twister ruler can be purchased. Line up the template on each intersection (make sure they are all facing the same direction by putting your initials in one corner and always have that corner in the bottom right) and draw a line around before cutting out. The result are 4 pinwheels. Here is another blogger's tutorial to  visually follow.  

 I made 3 mugrugs with the same fabrics, quilting each in a slightly different way.  Then I decided that Mary's male gym teacher needed something a little less floral, hence a black and white color scheme. Both Saturday and Sunday I attended a machine quilting class at the local quilt shop and came home so excited about to practice that I quilted the last coaster a little fancier than the others.

 With this project completed, I am anxious to start quilting a huge king-size red double 9 patch that mimics this blue quilt I sent out several years ago to be finished by a long-arm quilter. My plan is to baste it on my frame and take it up to the farm and work on it at the machine over the summer. I'll back it with red flannel to be my winter bed quilt and save the muslin-backed blue one for summer.