Toothbrush Rugs - Beyond Oval

Don't get me wrong, I still love the oval toothbrush rug. It's classic - simple utility at its best. But with so many other patterns available, who can resist using this technique for other rug shapes and projects.

The baskets are, well, they're just darned cute. And unlike the rugs, you only need 2 yards of fabric for these. Now, if you don't have 2 yards of fabric laying around, you can hardly call yourself a quilter. I probably know a few people who have more fabric than that shoved in the glovebox of their car.


Once again, Cindy's busy and capable hands made the baskets. She's starting early on Christmas gifts (don't you wish you were her friend or family member) and plans to fill the baskets with the recipients' favorites (chocolate, girly lotions, you get the picture).

This is the beginning of the dog bone- shaped toothbrush rug. I think this is a very clever idea.
1) It's made of muslin, so you're not spending a bunch of money on fabric for the dog's rug.
2) My dog weighs somewhere around forty pounds and can be a very eager eater, sloshing water and dropping food all over my floor. So this rug is going under her dog bowls.
3)Plus, it will just look cute under there.

We had a nice Father's Day yesterday. We made the drive to my father-in-law's house and had lunch. That side of the family is pretty big (as in lots of people, not physically), so any time we get together there is plenty of food and conversation. Other than a brief muggy spell, the weather was cooperative. We sat under the tree in their back yard and watched our dogs frolic and the boys toss a football around. The football landed in the tomato plants a couple of times causing my father-in-law's blood pressure to momentarily rise (which made the rest of us laugh). It was a pretty nice Sunday afternoon.

My dad is travelling for work right now. He's on the east coast, and I totally forgot when I called him after 9:00 p.m. that it was after 10:00 there. I got his voicemail, so I assumed he was already asleep. Mom's with him, so she probably wore him out shopping all day. I'll try again this evening. Until then, Happy Father's Day, Daddy! You're the best!

Cutting a rug

Now is the time for spring cleaning, and what better way to spruce up your home than with a new rug?

This is a toothbrush rug (a la Aunt Philly). This rug was my first attempt, so naturally there are some things I would do differently, but all in all I think it turned out pretty well. The rug has been in front of the register at the shop, so it's become a little misshapen from being stepped on and squished against the legs of the counter (not that it was a perfect oval to begin with). The technique is really pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

Here's another one I have in progress:

As you can see, totally different fabrics give it a different look. As far as shape goes, its coming out much more "oval" shaped than my first one. Practice makes perfect, as they say. The thing I love about these rugs is that there is NO SEWING involved. I saw Aunt Philly demonstrating these rugs at Quilt Market in Houston in October, and I knew they were something I wanted to try. Don't you just love learning new things? Even if it's something I know I never want to do again, I just get a good feeling from having the knowledge. Who knows how or if it might benefit you in the future? That's probably why I'm such an internet junkie... endless amounts of knowledge just waiting to be discovered.

Speaking of being an internet junkie, it's time for me to get away from my computer and go accomplish something in the real world. Which means I'm going to go piece. Oh, the hardships of working in a quilt shop... =)