I made this for @Magpie’s Mr. in the latest round of the Mug Rug Swap. He is a Phish fan, something I don’t really know much about beyond the standard “Phish” logo. But I do have a friend who is a fan, who was my unofficial “consultant” in this project.
I knew I wanted to use Mr. Road’s old tie-dye t-shirts for this project, even though they were mostly Grateful Dead tees and not Phish. I still have a stack of squares as long as my forearm from when I made him a t-shirt quilt back in…2013. I used sky colored squares to make the sky, random-pieced style. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have interfaced the blocks because the seams are a little bulky if you’re setting mugs on it, but hopefully it will flatten out with use/time.
The mountains were one of the inspiration images sent by @Magpie, and the one that spoke to me the most, so I just went with it, adding the quote along the top. I decided to add some stitching embellishment to the mountains to add some depth and visual interest.
My consultant friend knew the quote right away and added some nonsense about the Helping Friendly Book that I didn’t really understand, lol, when I said the imagery is supposed to be inspired by Mt. Icculus (?). I don’t really know, lol, but I loved the quote and the mountains, so, yeah! Hopefully it works.
I also added a coveted focal piece from an old tie-dye to the back:
I handed him the package & he was all “For ME?”
Then he got a lil’ squee-ish when he saw the Phishy tiedyedness of it all. Yay, you got it perfectly, he loves it. It’s on his desk with zero cups touching it, he’s treating it like art.
I love how you did the mountains! The stitching on them definitely adds depth and visual interest. The tie dye sky makes for a great background!
I don’t know anything about Phish either, other than the fact that Phish Food is my favorite Ben and Jerry’s ice cream (though I’m not 100% certain if that’s a reference to the band or not…). Great job incorporating the quote!
SO COOL! The stark b/w of the mountains against the soft tie dye is wonderful. There are some aurora borealis vibes going there. I love seeing both of these mug rugs in the same day - did you two discuss both using mountains or is that just serendipity?
I also thought the aurora borealis was deliberate. It’s a really great composition.
And can we just talk about how the bit of your sleeve in the pic also coordinates? If you ever feel low and wonder if you’ve got a creative eye just wander over here and look at what you did without even straining your brain. chef’s kiss
