A Pair of Mug Rugs to Greet the Sun and a Milestone

"Sun's up, everyone! Forget sleeping in. It's a new day!"

Well, that's what the rooster is loudly crowing.

But what about the hen? Just look at that face! What on earth is she thinking?

This little poultry pair had me giggling from the time I began sketching until they were completely finished. A proud, loud rooster and a hard working hen. There was a story to tell, but I think everyone has to come up with their own interpretation.

It all began with a small block for the 2015 quilt along when I made a pair of whimsical little birds. There was just something about them that inspired a different story, the tale of a pair of barnyard fowl with a more complex relationship.

I had intended to put both the hen and the rooster on a single mug rug. That didn't work at all! The chickens are much more detailed than the bluebirds on the wall hanging, so if the size of fabric pieces was to be manageable, the birds had to grow in size. They finished as two mug rugs, 7 1/2" x 10" each,  just a bit larger than most, but still usable as such. They were also a great size to hang on a narrow bit of wall in my kitchen.

The light in this corner of the kitchen is really poor,
but you may be able to see that this piece of wall needed a bit of color. 

I'm afraid that I take the names for my mug rugs very seriously. Every now and then, a perfect name totally eludes me, and this was one of those times. Everyone saw something different in the pair.

My husband thought the hen was disgusted with the rooster for crowing so proudly when he really hadn't done any of the work involved in laying those eggs. But, "What are you crowing about when I've done all the work?" was just a bit too long for a pattern name.

A friend suggested something that was hilarious, but just a touch crude. We all roared with laughter, but it didn't quite fit my grandmotherly, former school teacher image very well.

I thought that folks should be able to make up their own minds about the story of these two. Some people might just see chickens doing their thing. Some might see something else.

So a call went out to friends on Facebook and a number of clever folks in my sewing group. I used the promise of a free pattern to the winter as an enticement to take part in the naming process. The entries covered everything imaginable:  a king and a princess, a proud pair of parents, a hen ready to trade places, a mother concerned about the rooster's racket waking the chicks, a simple "Good Morning", and more.

My hubby made the final choice. He settled on the simple, "Sun's Up!". It didn't come from my Facebook buddies, but there were a couple of runner's up, so free patterns will be going out.

As I finished this blog and publishing my pattern I realized that this is pattern my 100th Craftsy pattern! Wow! I don't know how that happened, but I guess it's something worth crowing about!

Wishing you many, many happy sunshiny days!!