Christmas Reveal: Denver Broncos Mug Rug (and a giveaway!)

Now that our family has finally had its last Christmas celebration (the season lasted FOREVER this year!), I can reveal all the fun quilty things I made as gifts.  I will be sharing those over the next few weeks, as well as the rest of our Frozen Friday blocks.

With the Seahawks' recent Super Bowl win, I thought I would get cheeky and start with a gift I made for my father-in-law, who is a huge Denver Broncos fan.  I wanted to make him a mug rug or small wall flag featuring the team's logo.

The finished mug rug.

My first try at crosshatch quilting.  I think this was the perfect project for it.

These would be incredibly easy to make up for a fan of any sports team.  I simply went to Chris Creamer's Sports Logos Page to find the logo, then reversed it to create an applique pattern.  I appliqued it onto a 6"x9" piece of background fabric, did a quick crosshatch quilt job, and bound it.  I used white thread on the binding and I love the way it looks like an inner border.  The whole project took me maybe an hour and I was able to do it with scraps I already had.

Sitting on my pallet coffee table, which will be receiving a light coat of whitewash this summer.

Is it just me, or is that poor pony looking a little sad?  I suppose next year I will have to make him a Seahawks championship mug rug to keep it some company. But enough gloating.  ;)

Speaking of orange and blue, and of bowls, how about an introduction to the blog's first giveaway?  We are giving away three prizes:  first prize consists of this cool fish bowl quilt kit and 2/3 a yard of the orange batik fabric I used in mine, and the two runner up prizes consist of the quilt kit only.

Grand prize:  School of fish quilt kit and 2/3 yard of orange batik.

Second and third prize:  School of fish quilt kit.

I have been piecing so many tiny little blocks lately that I wanted a quick pick-me-up project with some instant gratification.  I had bought this pattern at a local quilt shop with a coupon from a doorknob flyer, and I set it aside thinking I would use it some day for a baby quilt.  The kit ("School of Fish" by Darlene Zimmerman, via EZ Quilting) includes everything but the fabric and batting that you need to make the quilt.  You get the Tri-Rec rulers, the fish eye buttons, and the complete set of instructions.  The Tri-Rec rulers are amazing and I have used them in many different projects, including the Modern Trees quilt-along at Christa Quilts!  The finished quilt measures 33.5"x45".

My two color choices.

The blue batik up close.

I chose two very unusual colors for me:  bright orange and bright blue.  They are both batiks, which I just love for their colors and the fact that they press so well.  These were calling out to me at the fabric store, but I had no idea I would love the completed quilt so much.  The blue looks exactly like the bottom of a swimming pool in the sunlight.  This was so much fun to stitch up with snow falling just outside my sewing room window.  The pattern would work really well with colorful scraps, also.  Think Rainbow fish!

There are a few spots where the points don't match up exactly, but I am really trying to get over my perfectionism when it comes to quilting.  I don't do a lot of traditional piecing because that bothers me so much, and paper piecing allows me to get the precision I like.  However, there is something really satisfying about being able to make a quilt top in an afternoon.  Here is my quilt top so far:

My quilt top.

This one is my favorite.

Here, the batik looks like a fish eye.

In a few spots, the batik pattern just happened to look like eyes.  I will probably leave the eye buttons off those fish because I love the effect so much.  I was planning on giving this quilt away, but my husband and I fell in love with the bright, cheery colors and I think I will keep it as a summer wall hanging.  Soon we will be adding a curtain rod on our blank living room wall so we can switch out quilts seasonally.  Now I just have to get all my seasonal quilts made!  I hope to have this one quilted and bound by the time our giveaway ends, so I will share the final product with you then.

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post, linking me over to your favorite easy weekend project.  Quilting, sewing, crafting, jewelry-making ... as long as it's a fun project that gets quick results, I want to hear about it!  Of course I would love for you to follow the blog and share it with your friends, but none of that is a requirement to enter.  Please make sure you sign in before leaving a comment or leave an email address within it; if I cannot contact you, I will not be able to declare you a winner!  I will draw three names on Sunday, February 23 and announce them in a new posting then.  Good luck!