Mood Mug Rugs (Giveaway!) - April Showers Mug Rug Blog Hop Stop

Welcome April Showers Mug Rug Blog Hoppers!  First, I would like to thank Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt for putting together all these marvelous blog hops.  They are so much fun!  And Erin at Sew at Home Mummy for being our cheerleader for the Hop.  I have felt inspired every day.

As I understood it, I was challenged with creating a mug rug, with anything that "April" brought to mind.  While yes, April showers bring May flowers.  April in general, makes me think of spring and spring flowers.

I should explain first....I grew up in South Florida, which didn't really have seasons (unless you count "snowbird season").  Also, despite its name meaning land of flowers, Florida didn't really have the kind of flowers that I wanted to see in springtime.  I loved the flowers that sprouted from bulbs in particular.  Tulips, lilies, iris (technically a rhizome), and especially daffodils.  Oh, how I yearned to have daffodils cheerfully showing their faces in our yard.  But Florida is too hot, too many bugs, too hungry squirrels....you get the point.   Luckily, my grandparents lived in Connecticut in an adorable little woodsy cottage.  The perfect place to have all these beautiful spring flowers nestled around the stone foundation.  I was still in school in the spring, so there is no way I could actually be there to see all these glorious flowers, but I could live vicariously through my grandparents.  And being the economical child that I was, it only made sense to get as many beautiful bulbs as I could for my $money.  I only realized once I got a little older more mature, why my poor grandparents were never really delighted to unwrap a bushel of 200 daffodil bulbs that would need to be planted in the rocky soil.  Never-mind that is was also a gift that they would have to wait another 6 months to actually get to see the benefits of.

Well Gram, here is a daffodil that doesn't have to be planted and can still herald the coming of spring!  I made it using a FREE pattern  at Craftsy made by Beth at Piece By Number.  Yes, I did say "Free", it is one of my favorite words in the English language!

My second favorite words are "on sale", and for my next few mug rugs, I used a pattern that I got on sale at Connecting Threads called "Let it Rain" by Jo-Lydia's Attic from The Joy of Sewing.

I decided to make these "mood mug rugs", because while I find little umbrellas cute and spring-like, every storm runs out of rain.  I am usually in a much sunnier mood after finishing my morning cup of coffee.  So, I made these reversible with suns on the back.  You get to choose which mood you are in - drizzly or sunny!

Wake up in a funk?  Need a little brightness in your morning?  Flip it over for a little sunshine.  Way too perky barista a little too bright for your morning?  Making you feel like you need a parasol? - flip it back to the umbrella side and breathe a little.

The Giveaway is now closed.

Did I mention a giveaway?  Yes!  I am giving away all of my mood mug rugs - one mug rug each for four lucky winners.  All you have to do to enter is:

• Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite FREE or on sale pattern is right now
• If you are follower of mine, you get a bonus entry!  Just leave me another comment telling me how you follow me (Bloglovin', Google Friend, etc).

That's it!  I will randomly draw 4 winners on Friday, April 19th around 9 am PST, and notify those winners by email.  International entries are welcome - I love to surprise those guys at the post office with interesting destinations.

****Please note!  IF you are a "No-Reply Blogger", I am not going to try to track you down, I will just draw another winner.  Wordpress people - this is usually you, I don't know why.  If in doubt, please leave your email address in you comment!****

Don't forget to visit all the other stops on the blog hop today.  There have already been some amazing mug rugs throughout the hop, and I know there will be more tomorrow too.

Here's the rest of the schedule:

Wednesday, April 17

Marjorie @ Marjorie's Busy Corner

Elita @ A Pieceful Perspective

Green @ So Sew Green

Mara @ Greco Mara

Wendy @ Why Knot Kwilt?

Gmama Jane @ GrandMama's Stories

Debby @ Debby Kratovil Quilts

Britt-Inger @ Hill Valley Quilter

Connie @ Freemotion by the River

Beth @ Words and Stitches

Kathy @ iHeartSquishy

Thursday April 18

Merry Gay @ Merry Gay in Stitches

Mary @ Sew Maybe I Can

Joanne @ Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Linda @ Buzzing and Bumbling

Mary @ NeedledMom

Sherry @ Peanuts Patchwork

Fredrika @ Feltfree på Åsly

Shauna @ Welcome to Shauna's World

Sharon @ Dancing thru Threads

Madame Samm @ !Sew WE Quilt!

Thanks for reading today and good luck in the giveaway!

Jen