July's Block!

Cocoa, coffee, cappuccino, cookies and cake.... all good things start with the letter 'C'.  This month's block celebrates winter and our wintertime drinks. I love to sit in my favorite comfy chair, by the  fireplace with a nice hot cup of coffee, (or hot chocolate) on those cold, snowy Minnesota nights. A good book or a project to work on is an added bonus! This month's block is called 'Toasty Mugs'. It's a bigger section of the quilt. So I have an extra special giveaway for July's block. It's an awesome prize but I won't be announcing until the 15th of the month.

You can make all the mugs with the same fabric, or mix it up and make each mug a different color. My mugs are all red but I used different fabrics for each one. In November, instead of a block, I will be giving you some embellishment ideas to sew, add or applique onto your quilt. So keep that in mind as you work on your mugs. I have also given you two 'steam' designs, you can choose to use one or both. It's up to you. I have used both. I have also decided to make the background scrappy using several blue fabrics of the same hue. I must confess, when I first started this, I bought two different blues thinking I would use a light and dark. I have decided for mine, to use only dark snowy fabrics. Well, here's the dilemma.... I don't have enough.... so I scramble to stretch what I have originally bought with fabrics from my stash. The up side, I love the results I have so far.

 The 'Toasty Mugs' pattern can be found on Craftsy. The pattern is free for the month of July 2014. If you missed Chilly Silly Snowmen, Cozy Cabin or Big Tree, Sparkling Stars, Fir Tree or Northern Hockey Skates, it's not too late to get the patterns. They can be found for a small fee on Etsy and Craftsy.

I have my pattern printed and my fabric chosen.

I have decided to make my block scrappy using fabric that
I have set aside for this quilt from my stash.

Sewing corner to corner to form my triangle blocks... 

Following the block layout for Toasty Mugs
I have one of the blocks laid out all ready to sew...

Sewing the block together using 1/4" seam. 

Tracing the steam for the mugs... 

Cutting out the mug handles...

Using dark brown thread I machine applique a buttonhole stitch
along the edge of the steam.

Toasty Mugs
July's pattern

Block layout so far!

Remember to post your finished Toasty Mugs strip onto the Flickr account for a chance to win the prize at the end of the month! If you blog about it, please email me a link so that I can attach it to the Pinterest Board I have going for the BOM 2014. I hope you have fun with this section of the mystery quilt. It can easily be done in a weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's mugs! As you can see with the quilt layout that the quilt is coming along nicely. There's still some surprises! 'll be announcing the prize for this month's block around the 15th and the winner will be announced on August 1st, when the next section is out.

Happy Quilting,

Cindy

Congratulations!

Tami Chaulk

Tami won a $20 gift certificate from The Fat Quarter Shop!