Mug rug swap

Earlier in the month I shared this picture, which was a sneak peek of a mug rug I made for my friend Ida in my first ever swap.  I also posted some pictures of the *gorgeous* mug rug she had made for me.

Not only was I excited to receive such a beautiful gift from her, but I was tickled by the similarities between the mug rugs we had made for each other.  The only instruction was "mug rug" but as you can see, we both used similar colors, applique, a diagonal corner stripe and (my favorite part!) ladybugs!

I made her mug rug while on vacation in New York.  All I had (in terms of supplies) was my hexie kit -- paper hexies, needle, thread and scissors.  I procured a FQ bundle and started stitching --- completely by hand -- until I came up with this.  Instead of batting, I used 3 layers of craft felt in the middle.  (Two would have been more than enough, but live and learn!)

I hadn't really intended to do the entire thing by hand, I was just going to make a hexie... but once I got started, I thought it would be a fun challenge to see how much I could do.

Basting was the hardest part, nothing seemed to stay flat as I was hand stitching, but it worked out well enough.

If you look closely, you can see that I stitched "Made with love and ladybug hugs" (in addition to a ladybug).  Not only is it the name of my blog, but it's how I make everything -- with love and ladybug hugs.

I also sent Ida a small ladybug notepad, some shells collected on the beach near my house (in Florida) and a bottle of Adirondack maple syrup from Upstate New York, my favorite place on earth.  I hope she will enjoy all of them as much as I enjoyed making this for her.

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~