A Test and Finish

On Friday, I posted some pictures from a couple of rug classes that I recently taught and included pictures of the "rope" coiled up on the table. To see the other pictures click HERE 

I love how it looks! Besides looking really cool, I think there is a psychological benefit to coiling it this way. If you've made one of these rugs, you know that the process of making the rope is a long and tedious one. I think that seeing the progression and getting a general idea of how the rug will look (in reverse) keeps the maker motivated. 

Yvonne, who blogs over at Quilting Jetgirl commented on my last post that it would be fun to go back and compare the coil to the finished rug. I think she's right so I decided that I needed to make another rug and take pictures along the way. Okay, I admit that I used her comment as an excuse to make another rug; but I really did want to make the comparison. 

So, purely for the research aspect of rug making and to respond to Yvonne's comment, I made a new rug yesterday. 😉

I started with a Moda Jelly Roll - Collection for a Cause - Sunshine by Howard Marcus. I've had this roll for quite some time, having purchased it for another project. When I started working on that project, I decided that this was not the best fabric for the quilt so it got set aside. Gee, I'm using stash so that's another good excuse reason for me to make this rug.

I rearranged the strips a bit, kind of taking a guess on how I wanted them to appear in the rug. I try not to fret too much at this stage of the game, but sometimes that's a challenge. I knew that I wanted the dark on the outside of the rug and a couple of colorful rings throughout. I also did not want the lightest fabrics right in the middle so the rug, so I opted to put the grey fabrics there. I also chose to put a floral print in the center, instead of one that reads solid.

Once I made my decision, I started with the dark fabrics and made my rope. As I was sewing, I coiled the rope and this is what it looked like when I was done. I liked this!

Remember when I said I wanted the dark fabrics on the outside? You actually sew those fabrics first, so they ended up in the middle of the picture above. Plus, unlike the rug where you see about .75" of each fabric, you only get a very small piece of it at this stage. I'm ok with that and still love the look.

Of course, now I want to make a circular rug! Ohhhhh, will it ever end?  😂 

Here's the completed rug. (Getting good pictures of these rugs are such a challenge for me. Sorry!)

I got the rings of color I wanted, but I'm not totally thrilled with the big grey area in the center. I'm sure it will grow on my though. 

Thanks for the comment Yvonne, and the excuse to make another rug.

Happy Sunday Everyone!