New mug rug

Sorry about the crappy picture.  I took it with my phone because I was too lazy to get my camera out.  I've been admiring a bunch of mug rugs on Flickr and felt to urge to whip one up today.  This 6" x 9" mug rug was made of a bunch of "firsts" for me:  first applique, first dresden plate, first echo quilting, first single fold binding.  Since I've never done a dresden plate before, I didn't have a template so I just made my own.  It was a rather large size but it was okay.  I think I made it 1 1/2" at the bottom x 3" at the top x 5" tall.  Now I know that most dresden templates are usually much narrower but I don't think I did so bad on my first try.  I really wanted to try my hand at echo quilting and had read about using a single fold binding because it is less bulky on such a small project.  I will definitely do the echo quilting again but I felt that this type of binding was more fiddly than a double fold binding and wasn't any easier to do.  In fact, I felt it was a bit harder and I wasn't happy with the corners on the back.  Oh yeah, I tried a new end joining technique on the binding which worked well.  I'll have to try it again!  I should have put a little pocket on the mug rug for either a spoon or a tea bag.  Next time!  I love using up scraps this way.  I used hardly anything at all. 

Not sure if I'll keep this one or save it for a gift or swap.  I really am proud of it even though it's not very much of anything...except a bunch of firsts.  Dang it!  I'll probably keep it now!