I made a bible cover. No really.. I did!

Once again I've craft swappin' on Craftster . This time it was for the March Birthday Swap. The idea is if your birthday is in March you sign up and post a little bio about yourself along with a wish list of crafted items, supplies and extras you would like. Then you wait until someone claims an item from your list to send you as a birthday gift. Well I picked a lady in Virginia who is actually pretty similar to me. She's a crunchy, homeschooling mommy who had a list I could have made myself. One thing on her list was a surprise from her Wist so I headed on over and saw a bible cover.. this bible cover . I thought " Hey! I can make that!" I search for tutorials but quickly realized a zippered cover wasn't going to happen. ( Have I mentioned how much I dislike zippers??)




All was not lost though because I found this pattern and knew it was the one! I love the my partner loved black and white and found the perfect material.


It was a very straight forward pattern and very easy to put together. It turned out so very nice. Here it is.

It looks sharp. I was really really impressed with how it turned out! I love it when I make something for someone else and I am genuinely proud of it.

Here is the inside where you put the bible. There is a small pocket for pens. The whole kit and caboodle is tied closed with with a ribbon.

It was really fun putting this together for my partner. I hope she likes it. :)

Mug Rug. What Every Coffee Cup Needs!

I am a Craftster swap addict! I love joining swaps that challenge me. Joining different swaps gives me the excuse to try a new craft. Recently, I joined 2 swaps. Keep Me Warm Swap and Mug Rug Swap. The Keep Me Warm swap is all about the hot drinks we consume to keep our bones warm and toasty so the mission is to send your partner hot yummies, something cozy to wear and an accessory for said hot yummies. The Mug Rug Swap is just that, a swap of mug rugs. Never seen a mug rug? Here's a pretty one. Basically, they are a small place mat for your mug. They are usually quilted. I have never quilted. I have always wanted to quilt. Perfect! An excuse to learn quilting.

I've already mentioned the Keep Me Warm Swap. Hey! An ideal situation to practice said mug rug! So I sat down with some fabric scraps that were sent to me with a fabric I purchased on Ebay and this tutorial on Stash Manicure , this tutorial for binding from That Girl...That Quilt and this binding tutorial from Oh, Fransson!

I would like to tell you it was so easy I had it done in 15 minutes.. but I can't. I can say, though, that is was very straightforward and once I figured each step out it was much easier. I really need to learn to measure, measure, measure!

The binding was a bit tricky but after making a royal mess out of the first try with a binding I made too narrow the second try was much better. I think with practice it will only get better though.

Overall, I really enjoyed making this and I really hope my Keep Me Warm Partner loves it just as much as I do. I'm darn proud of that mug rug!!

Oh! Wanna see it?

Tada!

*I'm not sure what's going on with the colours in this picture but the purples are much nicer and all the orange you see is actually pink. Odd camera I guess.*