The Frog Council Mug Rug (and Why Asking Artists Matters)

This little mug rug adventure actually started with a request from my daughter Alex.

Alex works at a desk and asked if I could make her a mug rug for work. Of course she also had one important design requirement:

It had to involve frogs.

Alex loves frogs.

Naturally my brain started hopping around for ideas. I began searching online for frog illustrations and even some frog tattoo art just to get inspiration for shapes and styles I could turn into thread sketching.

That’s when I stumbled across the adorable artwork from Buoy the Fish Lover — three little frogs sitting inside a teacup. (Buoythefishliver.dashers.com

And I immediately thought:

“Well this is just too perfect.” Mug rug + Mug + Frogs = Happy Kid!

But before I stitched anything, I reached out to the artist and asked permission to recreate the design as a small quilt project and write about it on my blog. The artist kindly said yes as long as I wasn’t selling the piece.

And honestly, that’s something I think more makers should feel comfortable doing.

Don’t be afraid to ask permission to use artwork.

Artists appreciate being asked to use their art and should be asked. It shows respect for their work and keeps our creative pond a friendly place to swim in.

Plus… the worst they can say is no.

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Stitching Frogs the Old-Fashioned Way

Now here’s the funny part.

This wasn’t an embroidery file.

There was no magical machine doing the work while I sat back drinking coffee and admiring my brilliance.

Nope.

This was thread sketching, which basically means drawing with thread while guiding the fabric under the needle.

Every line.

Every fill stitch.

Every tiny frog toe.

All stitched by hand at the machine.

Which means when Alex saw the finished mug rug and said:

“Mom… can you make three more?”

I laughed.

Then I laughed harder.

Then I said:

“Alex… absolutely not.”

Because while these frogs may look small, they were a surprising amount of stitching.

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The Secret to the Puffy Cup

One of my favorite parts of this mug rug is the texture.

Instead of stitching everything flat, I stitched densely around the teacup and parts of the feather quilting while leaving those areas unstitched. When you quilt closely around shapes like that, the untouched areas puff up slightly.

It’s a simple trick, but it adds wonderful dimension.

The cup pops.

The feathers float.

And the frogs look like they’re lounging in their personal little frog hot tub.

I especially love how the feather quilting turned out in the border. Once feathers and bubbles started flowing under the needle they almost stitch themselves.

Sometimes they behave.

Sometimes they wander.

Kind of like frogs.

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The Frog Council Glows at Night

Originally I planned to stitch the frogs’ eyes with white thread.

Very normal.

Very sensible.

But halfway through I remembered something hiding in my thread drawer…

Glow-in-the-dark thread.

And suddenly my practical brain left the room.

Because obviously frogs sitting in a teacup should have mysterious glowing eyes.

Now when the lights go out, the mug rug reveals its secret…

Six glowing frog eyes staring into the darkness like a tiny Frog Council meeting after midnight.

I’m not entirely sure what they’re planning.

But it probably involves snacks.

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The Finished Mug Rug

The finished mug rug fits a coffee mug perfectly and makes me smile every time I see it.

Alex loves it.

She still wants three more.

And I still say no.

But if the Frog Council keeps staring at me at night… I might reconsider.

Until my next creative adventure… may your thread behave, your feathers flow, and may you never find a council of glowing frogs judging your quilting skills in the dark.

~ Angela McPherson

P.S. I loved find frogs 🐸 and turtles 🐢 when I was a little girl.