March Wind Mug Rug Pair

Materials

Cotton fabric, thread, clear polyester thread, fusible web, quilt batting.

What was your inspiration?

It's the windy month of March! Actually every month is windy in Nebraska, but there is finally hope for spring and relief from the cold! Some of my fondest memories of my father are from those windy spring days when he took me and my sister out to fly kites. After what felt like hours of trial and error we managed to get our kites flying. It was so exhilarating! We always came home exhausted, hungry, and happy.

I've loved silhouettes ever since my first grade teacher made silhouettes for each of her students to give to our mothers on Mother's Day. That was a long time ago! During my 32 years of teaching I used many silhouettes to illustrate bulletin boards. I thought I might experiment with the same concept on a March mug rug - two, as it turned out.

What are you most proud of?

Nothing ever turns out quite as we expect. I had envisioned very different pieced background, something more abstract, but it just didn't work. When I went searching through my stash in desperation I found this blue and white print that I had purchased at least six or seven years ago. It seems to work fairly well - definitely better than my first plan. The dog with the boy isn't wonderful for sure, but I do like the swirls in the quilting that depict the wind.