Okay, so I drink coffee. I sew and quilt. I drink coffee while I sew and quilt.
I imbibe copious amounts of this nectar from the gods. Somewhere between two cups and a pot a day. I can tell you with certainty, I probably won't stop. I sew as often as I can. Which, is most days. But, this tale is mostly about coffee...
Did it phase me when the price of coffee rose? Nope. Not even when my favorite brand of coffee shot up from eight dollars for two pounds, to over fourteen dollars for the same two pounds.
I like coffee so much, I went to work at a coffee shop so I could have access to all the different coffee beans. My absolute, number one favorite is Colombian, by the way. A close second would be Guatemalan. But the truth is, I. Love. Coffee. Pretty much all coffees, from all nations. And it has to be H.O.T. Hot! At least 140 degrees.
I let it sit for a few minutes to cool to sipping temperature. I drink my coffee slow. I may take an hour to drink only one cup. Two flavorful sips at a time. I just love the stuff.
I like fabric as well, I could spend hours and hours in one small fabric shop just looking at cloth...I know...nuts right? And, I hoard fabric like an old woman hoards cats. Okay, okay, I'll get back to the coffee story.
One of my favorite coffees, can be found in truck stops. Like Flying J. I love to mix their cappuccino powdered concoctions with coffee when I travel. Half and half. I particularly like their mocha flavored pre-made powdered mix. A coffee snob, I am not. Well, not always anyway.
What I don't love nearly as much, are the vessels in which coffee is served to me. I hate paper cups with paper sleeves. I hate the texture of those foam based cups that feel like they have rubber fur on them. I hate those glass or ceramic cups that have those god awful little tiny finger holes. I hate short squat cups. I hate cups that don't have handles. And yes, I have been served a cup of gourmet coffee in a 'gourmet' coffee cup that rocked and hand no handle. Dumb right?
I have had coffee from the Atlantic to the Pacific. And there is one MAJOR problem from 'sea to shining sea' that I can definitively say is true, and that is this; Coffee cups, mugs etc, are for the most part, seriously lacking in practicality and design, wherever you go.
So, with these design flaws in mind, I collect coffee mugs. I have a couple of dozen, at least. The only cups I use regularly, are the tall ones. They stand approximately 4 inches tall. They have a narrowed bottom and wider mouth. They also have, and in my opinion this is critical to acceptance in my collection, very large and open handles. The perfect coffee cup for me, since both myself and my spouse, have large hands and like a lot of coffee in one sitting.
I don't know about you, but I like to travel. And coffee is critical to travel in my humble opinion. And believe me when I say, I drink coffee while traveling. Lots of coffee. I indulge till mid afternoon on most trips. He will indulge till late morning unless he is travel worn and needs that extra boost. But I digress...
Over twelve years ago, we bought ourselves two wonderfully, huge, over-sized travel coffee mugs. Big suckers. Twenty-four ounces of pure bliss, heaven in disguise and nirvana were found in those plastic mugs. One for each of us. And they were insulated, too!
Sadly, and I do mean sadly, after so many years of daily use, the outer shell of his perfect travel cup finally gave up the ghost. It cracked, then split and broke. I have to confess, it darn near broke my heart to throw it away.
Well, since I don't work anymore, I handed over, (reluctantly) my mug to him for his thirty-five mile morning commute to work. Hey, the man needs his twenty-four ounces of encouragement in the morning, believe me! Then, we started to seek out their replacements. Alas, nothing we found was similar or as well designed as our great old travel mugs.
Now, it wasn't too long before my cup began to crack. So, we started to search, more diligently, for the perfect replacement. He babied that old mug along while we looked. For over two years we searched truck stops, convenience stores, department stores, on line, you name the place, we looked there.
Our standards are high. We wanted to find a mug that didn't leak if it fell over. We wanted a mug that kept our coffee, either hot for both of us, or cold for me. (I love iced coffee on hot days) We wanted aesthetically pleasing mugs as well. Now you'd think we'd have found one or two that might work. And we did find some that were...okay. But not that perfect one.
After two years of searching, buying, trying and tossing, he finally found them! One for him, with a black sleeve and logo to identify it as his, and one for me, with a brown sleeve. They are made of stainless steel, (sort of like the old Thermos brand thermos that were made in the USA back in the day) and they came with little rubber sleeves. And best of all? The most perfect lid design. EVER!!!
You can stand this cup on the lid, and when closed, it will NOT leak. It is made of steel, so it can take a beating. It keeps our coffee nearly as hot as Hades and, for quite some time. It has a wonderful raised lip to sip from so I haven't burned my lips. It fits my hand and his. It is comfortable to hold. And best of all, our vehicles have different sized cup holders in them. And they fit! So these two travel coffee mugs are damn near perfect for us.
What is the problem, you ask? The drawback?
Well now, one issue is, the amount they hold. Our new mugs only hold twenty ounces of bliss instead of twenty-four ounces of sweet nirvana, which I cannot change. I guess we just budget a little more money for coffee while on the road? The other issue, for me, is the heat from the coffee which is translated through the little rubber sleeve and onto my sensitive hands. Ouch.
The solution, you ask? The fix?
Ahh, I thought you would never ask...and here's where the quilting comes into the picture...I looked on line and found a tutorial for a quilted coffee sleeve to protect my sensitive hands!
I made the quilted coffee sleeve with the batting used for oven mitts, layered it with cotton batting, put a pretty button on it, then put it on my new coffee mug...I even quilted the darned thing. It works! And best of all? It is cute as all get out! Want to see one? Buy one? Look me up on Facebook...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Belt-Creek-Baby-Quilts/119955228095346
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