weekend sewing

Thanks to a quiet weekend at home, I was able to tackle two items on my to do list!

First up, some bee blocks for Krista. She's kicking off the first month of the Free Bee and has requested blocks similar in feel to these wooden trees (but without the stems). She only wanted one block, but I couldn't stop myself and did two. It was fun to sew up something so low stress.

Next, I completed my partner's bag for the Potholder Pass 10 swap!

My partner likes patchwork  and modern fabrics. I used a grey Robert Kaufman Carolina Chambray for the main part of the bag, a Suzuko Koseki kitchen print for the panels, and a scrappy log cabin for the pockets.

It's lined with one of my favorite white and orange florals. I hope she likes it!

Ah, to be sewing again. It feels so good.

a super swap experience

I feel like I'll be doing catch up around these parts over the next couple of weeks. I've had so many great things to share, but I've been too worn out to do much posting. So bear with me!

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After I pretty much freaked out in jealousy about this Krista's paperpieced pouch, Suzanne contacted me about doing a private swap. I'm back to swearing off large group swaps, but the idea of a private swap with her was totally exciting. Suzanne does beautiful work, and in return she wanted a version of Cooper's mini bike quilt (something I really enjoyed making).

This is the beauty I received, stuffed with fun goodies:

As if the paper-pieced perfection on the front wasn't enough, look what she stitched on the back:

Since I'm someone who pretty much stinks at embroidery, to get a peice of personalized loveliness like this is a dream come true. It so happens that this pouch is made to hold an embroidery hoop too. I can look at this for inspiration as I try to get better with my own projects.

In return, I sent her this little quilt for her bedroom. This design never gets old for me.

Suzanne and I are now both in the Pastiche Bee together, and I can't wait to get to know her better over the next year of making blocks. This experience is yet another testament to how great it is getting to know other crafters through flickr and blogging.

Hanging Hoop Wall Pocket Swap

I joined one last swap for the fall- my dear friend Amy's Hanging Hoop Wall Pocket Swap. There is a small group of us exchanging some super cool sewing organizers made from the free tutorial here on Sew Daily.

Since we're such a small group, I don't want to give away any hints to my partner about how I chose the fabrics. But I will say that I may have gone a bit more crazy with the patterns than she would prefer. I just couldn't resist mixing some patchwork with that Echino fabric!

We've got snow on the mountains behind our house this morning. How about if we just skip fall and go straight into winter?

And no, I'm not kidding. Break out the hot chocolate and ski boots! I'm ready for it.

sneaky peek for the week

We had a busy weekend, focused on some not-so-fun home and family projects that simply needed to get taken care of. I'm looking forward to a quiet house this week so I can complete an important project. Here's a sneak peek:

Stay tuned for more-- there's a pattern coming!

And in other fun news, I received my package for The Love of Solids swap from Jacey! She was so sweet and made a set of 5 placemats for my family. Each one is completely different, both in piecing and quilting. She also sent me a cool zip pouch and some awesome fabrics. It was like Christmas!

everything's coming up rainbows

I've completed my "Everything's Coming Up Rainbows" mini quilt just in time for my For the Love of Solids swap partner! She really hoped for something with rainbows. I was happy to oblige and play around with this combo again (I went rainbow in my "99 Bright Flying Geese on the Wall" doll quilt too), but this time just in solids.

The quilt is made of a combo of 20 different solids in a rainbow of colors, paired up with borders of white and Kona ash.

I couldn't resist going rainbow on the back as well.

But I did choose to keep the binding more simple with deep purple and shot of cerise.

For the bonus item, I made a tanagram fabric puzzle. I first saw the link to Beauty All Around's tanagram-esque fabric puzzle tutorial in a mosaic on the long thread, and I knew I had to give it a try! I made my pieces just a bit bigger though (they finish out at 4" square) and chose to topstitch around all of the edges instead of hand-stitching the openings. There are 42 of them after all! I think they'll provide a bit of fun for my partner (and maybe a small little someone else in her house).

I also made a matching pouch. The pouch is made from a strip of rainbow scraps and grey linen and features a lime green lining.

I figure my partner can use it for the puzzle pieces, or whatever else she wishes! (I have a rainbow zip pouch in a similar size that holds a small notebook and Cooper's crayons.)

All in all, this was a super fun swap to participate in! Everything I've seen in the For the Love of Solids flickr pool is amazing. It's fun to think about what might be coming my way!

get ready to sing...

I just finished up my quilt for Doll Quilt Swap 11. I need to say right away that I was completely inspired, pretty much to the point of copying, Nettie's Rainbow Geese quilt. It is amazing. When I recover from this teeny version, I might have a go at pulling out my fabric stash again to make a big one just like her's. If you haven't checked it out yet, you must!

My quilt top is made out of 96 flying geese that each finish out at 1 x 2 inches when sewn together, making the overall size 12 x 16 inches. Although right now there are 96 flying geese, I've got 3 more on the label that will be stitched to the back to make it 99. I had to bring the count to 99 so I could name this quilt the obnoxious "99 Bright Flying Geese on the Wall." I could not shake the song "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" that kept playing in my head while I was sewing these things up, but with the words changed to be about the geese. "Trim one down, toss the scraps around, 96 bright flying geese on the wall" etc. What can I say, teeny piecing like this makes me a bit delirious. Do you have this song in your head now? I hope so. I don't want to be the only one singing it.

Including the white, backing fabric, and the other 3 geese (one is a repeat of a front goose), there are 100 fabrics in this baby. All from my stash! Yikes.

 
It's pouring rain today and DARK in our house, so a wall photo just wasn't working. My quilt model was less than enthused about her photo shoot today, but I got her with the rapid fire shots.
 

summer swaps

After swearing off swaps for so long, I found myself signing up for three this summer! I decided it was time to stretch my skills again by sewing for a partner's likes. And I got my wish. So far I've got two great partners, and they both have tastes pretty different from my own.

The first is Doll Quilt Swap 11. The rules are a bit different this round with no art quilts and a requirement of at least 6 blocks on the front. I've got teeny piecing planned. My partner loves bright, clean colors. Break out your sunglasses, because I've got them here!

I'm looking for something maybe a bit more mellow. Give me mustard over orange, and aqua over turquoise.



1. Triangles, 2. Squares quilt, 3. A year in scraps..., 4. from Helinaq, 5. squares!, 6. triangles, 7. Anniversary Crosses, 8. his rose garden is immaculate, 9. bag swap progress, 10. Yellow and Gray Triangles, 11. alphabet baby quilt, 12. YIP 365.341 :: Fish Baby Log Cabin, 13. Mini Quadrilateral Quilt, 14. The Art Quilt Collection, 15. Vivaldi finished, 16. Color Study: Nine Patch ~ 2002, 50"X50"

 My Pretty {little} Pouch Swap partner seems to love all things pretty. Pastel pinks, aquas, and greens are her absolute favorites from what I can tell. I haven't sewn with these colors in ages! And I think only on a baby quilt.

I'm looking for something a little less sweet. Um, more mustard please? 




1. #10, 2. flex frame pouch, 3. pretty little pouch front..., 4. his rose garden is immaculate, 5. head over heels quilt, 6. bag swap progress, 7. Yellow and Gray Triangles, 8. Untitled, 9. Rich cream clutch with applique abstract rose detail ... organic fabrics (1), 10. Mini Quadrilateral Quilt, 11. Hey Alice!, 12. table runner love., 13. Color Study: Log Cabin 2 ~ 2007, 14. the peaceful pincushion, 15. Andrea Block #2, 16. Concert Ukulele Bag

 

 The third swap I signed up for is For the Love of Solids. Sign ups are still open until they hit 100 participants, so hurry up and add your name! I was blown away by other members' mosaics and just couldn't resist adding my name. There is so much inspiration out there.



1. Triangles, 2. Squares quilt, 3. A year in scraps..., 4. from Helinaq, 5. squares!, 6. triangles, 7. Anniversary Crosses, 8. his rose garden is immaculate, 9. bag swap progress, 10. Yellow and Gray Triangles, 11. alphabet baby quilt, 12. YIP 365.341 :: Fish Baby Log Cabin, 13. Mini Quadrilateral Quilt, 14. The Art Quilt Collection, 15. Vivaldi finished, 16. Color Study: Nine Patch ~ 2002, 50"X50"


Any grand plans for the weekend? I've got a pretty long trail run tomorrow (um, 15 miles? Help!) and then some birthday celebrations with family on Sunday. We're definitely taking advantage of summer.

pretty {little} pouch swap complete!

After swearing off swaps for a bit, you may remember that I couldn't help but join in the Pretty {Little} Pouch Swap on flickr. The pouch I made was well received by the fantastic Kerry of VeryKerryBerry last week. As members kept adding their pouches to the pool, I'll admit I was getting a bit antsy wondering which one would come my way. I loved so many of the pouches that were posted!

Well, I am so thrilled that my wait is over, because I received this lovely package in the mail today:

When I opened it, I literally squealed and started jumping up and down. Linda (lindakl on flickr), who lives in the Netherlands, made me this incredible patchwork pouch out of some of my most lusted after fabrics. She even lined it with the coolest hot pink Suzuko Koseki button fabric that I have had in and out of my etsy shopping carts over the last few weeks.  Inside the pouch were so many great goodies too-- awesome Suzuko Koseki and Kumiko Fujita fabrics, fun trims, and a waffle cookie (that was immediately devoured).

Receiving such a wonderful gift was a great treat after a long day spent chaperoning the 2nd grade field trip to our local indoor water park. Linda, THANK YOU!



a pretty pouch

When I got my partner assignment yesterday for the Pretty {little} Pouch swap, I couldn't help but head straight to my sewing room and try out an idea that was brewing. A little log cabin, some hand stitching, and a some happy polka dots, and here it is:

I will admit that I want to make oodles more of these. Oodles. So plan to see lots of pouches on these pages in the future!

pretty {little} pouches

After a big break from swaps, I decided to join the Pretty {little} Pouch swap on flickr. I think it will be a lot of fun to do something creative AND useful. Sign ups go until April 8th if you're interested in playing too. This is the inspiration mosaic I posted for my future partner:

1. Islands in the stream, 2. Untitled, 3. All finished with the quilting, almost finished with the binding, 4. echino box, 5. Embroidered pouch meets polymer clay, 6. small zipper purse, 7. mobile phone cover, 8. Andrea Block #2, 9. the peaceful pincushion

It's kind of a mix, but what is obvious is my love of solids mixed with bits of prints and handstitching. I'm just hoping that the partner I sew for wants a zipper closure. I just stocked up on a whole load of them from zipit on etsy. Such great prices and service (my order was shipped just a couple of hours after I ordered!), I don't know why I kept buying them individually at JoAnn's.

scrappy {hoops} received

Check out the wonderful hoop I got in the mail yesterday from Kaye of Miss-Print!

I had loved the sneak peeks I saw on flickr, and in person it's even better. Thanks Kaye!

scrappy {hoops} swap sneak peek

I started my scrappy {hoops} swap piece this morning. (You should take a look at all of the hoops that have already been posted. Amazing!) I was really struggling with how to put together my design ideas into a round format! I finally just went for it, using some of my favorite things-- shot cottons, graphic prints, and improvisational piecing-- and used this tutorial from Kathy at Pink Chalk Fabrics to tie them together.

I'll be adding some hand stitching, but am thinking I'll keep things simple otherwise. My partner said she likes bright, modern fabrics. Plus red, orange, and aqua were on her list of favorite colors. I hope she likes it!

one last mug rug

My mug rug swap package is complete!

I finished up one last mug rug this morning, and since I couldn't decide which one to send out, I decided to just send both of them. Because my partner just might be messy. And when one mug rug is in the wash, she'll need another one to take its place.

This will be my last one for a bit, but I'm pretty sure you'll see more of them in the future-- I've decided they'll be my go-to teacher gift this year for the holidays paired up with a snack size loaf of my favorite banana bread. Yummy!

squishy, feel good kind of stuff

I managed to finish the binding yesterday morning on my mustard and aqua mermaid quilt. I washed it up and was so incredibly happy with how squishy it ended up! The flannel backing makes it extra cozy, and I can see it being used a lot this winter.

It even coordinates with Casey, so maybe I won't mind when it gets covered in her fur. Although I will not invite her to snuggle in it again.

I made another mug rug as well. As I was putting it together though I didn't really think through durability, so the quilting only goes through the batting, not the backing. So I think this is destined to be a micro-mini of sorts, which will hang on the wall in one of the kids' rooms. But I can see myself making another, and doing it right. It's just so happy.

And finally, Cooper is 9 months old today. As I type this, he is happily cooing away in his crib, hopefully about to fall asleep for his morning nap. Well, scratch that. Now he's fussing, hopefully about to fall asleep for his morning nap. He's about to get his first tooth-- we can see it under the surface ready to pop. And his army crawling is getting pretty fast. He's got a two handed, one foot technique that works well. It makes him a busy guy with a lot going on. We like that.

Have a great, feel good Tuesday! What are you working on this week?

back to it

While it's slow going with the binding on my mermaid quilt, I did manage to complete a wee mug rug this morning. I'm struggling (in a weird way) with my mug rug swap partner-- because she seems to like everything! (I realize my problems could be much worse!) So I keep stalking her comments and favorites in hopes that I will be able to tell what she REALLY loves. Maybe this will work, maybe not? I'm thinking I might need to go brighter...

basting and quilting...

... are not going well! Argh!

I decided to pin baste instead of using spray, which has been my norm lately. I ran out of safety pins. Some swear words may have come out of my mouth. Even more came out when I left to see if I could find more pins, and came back to find a muddy dog laying right in the middle of my half-basted quilt. I decided to spray baste the rest instead of risking leaving it on the floor to go buy more pins. It's much easier to deal with, and I should have done that in the first place.

Quilting is also going horribly. I decided I'd do loops. Thread keeps breaking. I quilted one corner of the quilt to the middle of it. How, I do not know. And I found out I suck at loops. It will look better once it's washed, right? (deep breath)

On a good note, I received my quilt from the Doll Quilt Swap the other day! It's hanging in my sewing room where I can see it all the time, and I love it. Thanks Carla!