WHY DO WE DO IT?

Before I made my first mug rug a couple of years ago, I had never done applique work of any kind ... in fact, I had done very little sewing aside from mending for almost 40 years!

My first mug rug was made from a free pattern I found on the Internet.  It was a cup of tea with a bird holding a heart-shaped tea bag sitting on the cup...

I made a lot of these at first, trying my hand at machine applique until I was comfortable doing it.

But then, like everything I do, it seems I could not really stop there.  Why is that?  Why do creative people always have to go further with a craft or a design or an idea?

I don't know what pushes other crafters, but for me it's almost always my love for another person that makes me want to create something special for them.

I know a lot of people, some in my own family who would belittle that last statement.   It is, however true.  Every time I make something, no matter what it is, I am thinking - I should make one for....   

I can prove my statement this way.

Every mug rug I have made except that first design you see above, which was someone else's pattern, was made and designed by me initially because I was thinking of someone else.

A cousin of mine and her husband have a motor home, and love to spend time in the summer travelling around to different parks and campgrounds, so I created this mug rug design  for their special little home away from home.

I had a father who loved to hunt and fish, so I designed this:

My brother-in-law and sister-in law love to tour around the countryside and visit lighthouses, so I designed these:

I have a friend who had a vintage red truck, which he has since sold.  I made him this so he would always have his little red truck.

My son is a teacher... 

Some I designed for my own love of the subject like these two mug rugs:

Being a prairie girl to my bones, I have lived my entire life seeing these in every town across the prairies.  They are fast disappearing from our landscape... so I designed this mug rug.

Long before I was born, my Grandfather built a barn that looked much like this... so I designed a mug rug, in memory of him, but also in memory of my Uncle Alfred's farm where I spent so much of my childhood years!

A friend of ours has beautiful working horses that made me think to design this...

Everyone of these designs were initially created for someone I care about.

This is why I do it... it is what drives me more than the handwork itself.

I have made and sold some of these designs many times over,  and I have gifted even more.  I get the same reaction every time someone gets one... Joy, Gratitude, I've even had some tears!

Awe - it's so worth making someone happy! 

That's why I do it!