Pillow Talk Swap

It's been about a year since I've done a swap, and I've recently joined two over on flickr.  Modernista Homemade, a brand new group which I'll post more about very soon, and The Pillow Talk {Swap}.  I've been eyeballing PTS since I first discovered flickr swap groups over two years ago and I'm actually kind of breathless that I was accepted.  Seriously, the level of ingenuity and beauty of design in this group is A-MAZING.  I'm trying very hard to not let my inferiority complex creep in. ;)

My partner filled out her form and put up a great mosaic, but I've still been feeling a bit directionless.  Then I saw this awesome quilt that QuiltDad did, from Lizzy House's Outfox the Fox pattern, and was kind of inspired.

...But how to work it into a 20 inch pillow top?  Hmm...

I fiddled with it.  I mapped.  I sketched.  And I could NOT figure out how to make it fit without it getting all kinds of weird.  Finally, I realized that I was going to have to lop off just a few squares to make it work the way I wanted it to.  I sketched some more, then downloaded a very simple shareware quilt block program to see if I could mock up something that would show the modified design well.  It was in a weird format, so I ended up having to dump it into Paint to post it.  (Which also meant that the colors were pretty garish.)

I posted the graphic pretty late last night and it's gotten good feedback, so I'm moving forward with it for now.  Which meant choosing fabrics.

My partner gave very few clues as to her decorating colors and the items in her photostream and blog didn't really point me to anything in particular.  I *think* she'll like brights though, and I'm certain that a white background would be best, so these are the fabrics I'm considering right now.

I really only need one of the black and white fabrics, but I'm still trying to decide which I like the best.  Hopefully she'll weigh in.

And, lucky for me, if she doesn't care much for the colors, they're PERFECT for my Modernista partner. ;)

Modernista Homemade swap

Well, I did it.  I joined a flickr swap.  It's been awhile since the last one and I'm pretty jazzed about it.

The group is Modernista Homemade, and sign-ups are still going on over on flickr.  The idea is that we'll swap things (one large, like perhaps a pillow cover, and one small, maybe a pin cushion - whatever suits your partner) for a specific room in our homes.  We're starting off with the sewing room, which is apt. :)

I'd forgotten how inspiring it can be to get lost in people's photostreams... Though I suppose I really should get my butt in gear and get a mosaic made for my partner.  It's a blind swap, so it'll be awhile before we know which bits of lovliness are going where.

I find that I already want to play with fabric, even though I don't know what I'm making yet, or who it's going to.  Ah well, it never hurts to mull over ideas, right? ;)

Mug Rug Swap - Round 4

I got involved in the Mug Rug swap on flickr just in time for round two.  (And I'll have to look back to see just what I've posted about that...)  I didn't really need another hobby, but I think I might be hooked.  They're great.  Tiny little quilts, big enough for a beverage and a snack.  Relatively quick to put together, small enough that you can experiment and they have the potential to be stinkin' cute.

...so I'm still going with the swap. ;)

This is a blind swap, so I'm not at liberty to name my partner just yet.  Soon.  For now, I'll say that I was a little bit stumped on what to do for her.  She gave some really great information and I didn't expect to get stuck, but I did.  I latched on to her love of "kitschy" and decided to run with it...only, how exactly would SHE define the word?  I did some flickr stalking and fabric eyeballing, and ended up with this selection:

(Warning: crappy night time cell phone photos ahead!)



The Alexander Henry chicken fabric was something that I came across at Joanne's and didn't even realize what it was.  But it tickled me, so I abandoned my previous kitschy idea and let the rooster lead.



I was pleased.  Sort of.

I posted the pictures as a sneak peek to the group (which is suggested).  It was well received.  But it just didn't feel quite right for it's intended owner.  I stalked some more.  I eyeballed some more.  I went back to my original plan (and ended up with another Alexander-Henry-found-at-Joanne's fabric), and then abandoned it again.

I settled on bunting.  Because it's kind of fun, the design appeared very clearly in my head and (most importantly), my partner says she likes bunting.

I posted another sneak peek.





These photos were also well received.  And I have it on good authority that the person I'm making this for will be pleased.  So I'm ecstatic.

My original binding plan (polka dots) really, really, really didn't work out.  WAY too busy.  So I settled on black.  I think it frames it nicely.

It's kind of hard to tell in the photo, but I've quilted the front with big fluffy clouds.  It seemed to fit. :)



The back is quilted separately, straight lines.  I didn't figure I could go wrong with a little straight line quilting.  And I totally stole the tagging idea from some of the other swappers.  Had a stamp made up and heat set the ink on twill tape.  Brilliant.  Tagging is normally pretty stressful, but I love this.  It's easy-peasy, and I think it's super cute, too.


And, this time, I've gathered a few things to round out the package.  In addition to the mug rug - which I hope she enjoys! - I'm sending a mug, some teas in flavors that her profile suggests that she'll enjoy, a tin of sentimental candies and an Arizona-themed postcard.  Can't wait to see what she thinks of it!

Mug Rug Received

A few days ago, I received an awesome little package from Hope (GoingSewCrazy) from the scrappy mug rug swap.  It was amazing!  The mug rug is super duper cute, and she included some amazing goodies.



The mug is super cute - Richard said we need to find three more to make a set - and the fabric!  Bug was so excited to see it in the box that he snatched it out of my hand and kept asking "Is it fabic?  Is it mine?  Can I have it?"  He ripped the wrapper off before I could get a picture of the charm pack all together.  It's Moda's "12 Days of Christmas".  I don't usually go for holiday themed fabric, but these were awesome all together.

Here's a picture of just the mug rug.  Check out the cute cloud quilting. :)


(And now I can say that my little robot mug rug went to Kendra.  You might recognize the name from a June bee block post.  I thought it was super cool that, from a pool of something like 120 people, I was paired with someone that I "know".)

Mug Rug Finish!

(First, I know...I totally dropped the ball on NaBloPoMo.  But that's not the point of this post.)

Because I don't have *quite* enough on my plate, I decided awhile back that I REALLY wanted to take part in the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap.  I watched the last round come to close, drooling over all of the terribly creative and oh-so-cute things that people thought up and I HAD to get my name on the list for the holiday/everyday round!

This is a blind swap, so I know who I'm making for (though I can't say yet!), but not who's making one for me.  Very exciting!

I was lucky to be somewhat familiar with the photostream of the person who's name I was given.  Not saying any more than that so that I don't drop too many clues, but I was at least vaguely familiar with some of what she's done recently.  It was kind of cool to see that I'd drawn her name. :)  And the questionnaire thing we filled out gave me some ideas that I probably wouldn't have come up with strictly from looking at her photostream.

After a bit of thought, I knew which fabrics I wanted to use, but hadn't entirely settled on an idea.  Tonight, I cut into the fabrics with a plan in mind...and then watched the mug rug take shape on it's own.  It's totally not what I had initially planned to make, but it just came together so nicely that I ran with it.



Given the green stripy fabric, straight line quilting seemed the best fit.  I did a stitch-in-the-ditch at the edge of each white strip and then eyeballed the interior stitching lines so that they wouldn't be quite even.  It seemed like a good idea since the green stripes and the robot are both a little bit wonky and not-straight.  It's backed and self-bound in the green fabric.  My initial plan was to hand stitch the binding in place, but I kind of liked the idea of visible, light stitching.  Doing it by machine kept the stitches even and, I hope, seem a little more "robotic".

Or maybe I'm just talking out my ear.

At any rate, I'm pleased with how the mug rug turned out and I hope that my partner likes it, too.  We still have a few days before it has to be in the mail and I'm contemplating a holiday themed mug rug as well.  (She didn't specify one way or the other.)  I've got an idea for that one too, but the way this one took off on it's own, I'll have to see what happens when I start working with the fabric...

(This mug rug finished at 7 1/4 by 9 1/4 inches.)

3x6 3rd Quarter - Complete!

This post is a smidge belated, seeing as Q3 ended in September, but I just recently wrapped up my blocks and received my last package.

The blocks I received from Beehive 5 of the 3x6 Sampler Bee:



Aren't they amazing?  I keep getting mesmerized by them.  They're all so pretty individually, and I love how they look all together!

Here are the blocks that I sent out:

My tester block, in my colors


For smoochee


For bessiemae


For nikkipeterson


For quiltygirl2


For miesmama


For woolymama


I had so much fun with this (even though I took waaaaay too long), I can't wait to get started on my Q4 blocks!

Two Months of Sew Bee Wonky

Sew Bee Wonky - Another bee that I'm not behind in!  If you don't consider that I haven't done my October blocks yet.  (But I just got the fabric?)

For August, Kellie requested wonky houses.



I can not describe how much fun this little block was to put together.  I stressed over it for way too long, so worried that I was going to completely mess up her little bits of fabric and then have to figure out how to fix it and make it work.  No need to worry.  Pretty much anything goes with wonky houses, and they're so stinkin' cute.

For September, Paige requested wonky log cabin blocks.  (Yay!)  She sent some of the most delicious fabrics.



Yep, that's Mendocino in there.  I heart Mendocino.  And check out those awesome little bicycles!



The only thing I had trouble with was making the blocks big enough.  Even though I was careful not to cut into the long strips before I had to, I still ended up a bit shy.  The first blocks needed one more strip.  The second was considerably smaller.

Next up...more wonky stars. :)

Live Laugh Bee - Catching Up

Aside from two blocks this week, I haven't actually done any sewing for Live Laugh Bee in a little bit.  All caught up, if you can believe it!  (Well, sort of.  More on that in a moment.)  I just never got around to posting pictures.

Here's what's been going on:

Kelly requested confetti blocks.  I LOVE the blue fabrics that she picked out.  Blue, black and teensy little bits of gold in some of the prints.  Very pretty.  And she's planning to quilt with sashiko stitching, which should be gorgeous.



My second block came out a tad small.  I ran out of white fabric and couldn't find any in the right weight to sub in.  She requested that we just send small blocks if that happened.



Then Sarah requested wonky log cabin blocks.  I think wonky log cabins are my all time favorite.  Super easy to put together, lots of fun to put together, and I always love the way they look. Sarah sent a TON of fun batiks to choose from, too.





Of course, as soon as I finished Sarah's blocks I realized that I had done them wrong.

*headdesk*

She wanted then wonky, but with traditional styling.  You'll note that I intermixed the blues and greens instead of putting blues together on one side and greens together on the other.  Gah.  Lucky for me, these will be simple enough to rip apart and put back together properly.  Also lucky that she sent so much fabric in case I need to add a little more.  She also said that we could add some of our own fabrics if we have any that tie in, and I know I have some blue and green batik.

Ursula's blocks, for October, have been so much fun.  She sent out the same fabrics that I have waiting to turn into my nephew's quilt.  She requested flying geese blocks for a little boy's quilt.  It was so much fun getting to play with these fabrics and seeing how they look with the various solid colors (which I still have to choose for my project) before I've cut into my fabric.





The other blocks turning up in the flickr group look great.  I can't wait to see how she puts them all together!

Modern 12 Bee Block

Ohmygosh.  I can't believe that it's taken me so long to post a blog update.  SO much has been going on and I keep taking pictures and writing mental notes on posts and then I never seem to have my hands free when I'm awake enough to actually do anything with all of that information.  Or, at least not when there's nothing else that seems to need my immediate attention.

So, here's a tidbit.  And I'll try to get the rest of the goodies posted in a more timely manner.

Today, I did a bit of catching up.

Back in June, I foolishly (considering that I was supposed to have a baby in August) joined the {Modern 12} Bee.  It just sounded like too much fun to pass up.  We started in July, which was when I actually had the baby..and I've been behind ever sense.  Unfortunately, this isn't the only bee I got involved in this summer and I've been a little bit better with catching up in other areas.

Sooooo....I'm four months behind.  And, I can barely believe it, but the {Modern 12} ladies have been more than nice and beyond patient with me and haven't kicked me out. 

I HAVE actually been working on the blocks.  Just not making much headway.  So today I dove into September's block and, working in fits and starts throughout the day, managed to get it done this afternoon.



Kristy requested a multi-colored wonky star on a field of gray.

I've been seeing more and more of these stars (and have another to put together for another bee), and haven't really been able to decide how I feel about them.  I think I like them.  It was certainly fun to put together.  Wonky, but it didn't take too much extra figuring to make sure that it worked out properly.  And Richard liked it so much that I'm contemplating requesting wonky stars from the bees that will go towards making his quilt.  Maybe alternating with log cabins?  Would that look cool, or just be entirely too busy?  Hmm...

Anyway.

I quite enjoyed putting this star together and I hope that Kristy likes it.  If I had just a tad more of the gray fabric, I'd send her a second block.  I liked it that much. :)

Now to finish with the hexagons and get a second backlogged block completed...

Blocks Received

I've been doing some sewing, but don't have any new finishes to show off.  I DO have some good mail to show, though!

This first one, I've actually had sitting on my sewing table for awhile.  This block arrived from Rhonda (as part of the Quilt Block Swap) just as Boo was born, and everything went on the back burner at that point.  So I just got around to taking pictures today.  Oops.



I still owe Rhonda her block.  (Oops, again.)  I've also dropped out of this group, so it will be my last block to received and to complete.  As my first "real" block swap group, it was great.  (And not to take anything away from the LITJ ladies!  That swap is special on a whole different level!)  But it seems that my requests for non traditional blocks and enjoyment of nontraditional fabrics kind of threw some of the other members for a loop.  And it was pretty frustrating to put time and effort into blocks not knowing if or when the other half of the swap was going to take place.  (Not that I've never been on that side of it.  Like I said, I still owe Rhonda her block.)  I like the group.  Perhaps I'll rejoin after a while.  But, for right now, with my sewing time so constrained, I'd rather focus on other projects.

One of those is the 3x6 Mini Bee.  I originally signed up to take place in the fourth quarter swap (knowing that I was due to have a baby in the middle of the third quarter), but somehow ended up on the Q3 list.  I probably should have asked to be removed, but I got a little too excited about it and stayed on.  My blocks aren't complete yet (halfway through Q3, gotta get moving!), but the first of the blocks started to arrive yesterday!  All I can say is WOW!  These women do some beautiful work and I'm really super excited to be a part of the bee.

For Q3, I'm part of Beehive 5.  My color requests were red, orange and white.  I can't WAIT to see all of these blocks come together into a finished project!  (I think I may combine the 3x6 blocks with my month in another bee to make a big quilt.)

Becky sent this pretty.



And I received this from Elizabeth.



I was especially geeked by the daisy in the center.  They're my favorites. :)

Good Mail, Bee Blocks and a Completed WIP!

Lookie what came in the mail yesterday!



It's "los novios" from Alexander Henry and I wasn't expecting it at all.  I *might* have squealed when I opened the envelope.  It came from one of my partners in the Sew, Mama, Sew! fat quarter swap.  I am absolutely in love with this fabric.  It's so bright and wonderful and just a little bit crazy and something that I've admired from afar but would probably never actually buy for myself.

Now to decide exactly what to do with it...

I also managed, despite having had a really busy day with Richard and Bug, getting my June block finished for the Quilt Block Swap.  Or "blocks", rather.  My partner requested a log cabin in batiks.



I liked the way the first block turned out (and Richard said it might be his favorite yet - wow), but I wasn't convinced that it looked terribly log cabin-ish.  So I put together a second block.



I hope that one of them will suit her needs!

Then, I actually finished the secret, wonky green log cabin project!  Yay!  I'm terribly excited about it, but don't want to show pictures and give up the surprise just yet.

Perhaps just a sneak peek...



There are also two outings that I want to blog about, but I think they deserve their own posts.  And no way is Bug going to let me get into that tonight.

Vanessa's Blocks

Today, I received my fabric for Vanessa's blocks for the Live, Laugh, Bee.

She requested two 12.5" blocks, if there was enough fabric, in a version of a log cabin and/or star pattern.  The star made me a litte nervous and I wasn't sure that I'd have nearly enough fabric for a second block, so I went for two wonky-ish log cabin blocks.

Block #1 came out just over 12.5".  It'll trim down nicely.



I wasn't sure how the fabrics were all going to look together when I started (though the pictures already up in the flickr group look great!), but I really kind of like the way it worked out.  :)

Block #2 isn't *quite* to size.  I was only able to get a 10" block out of the fabric that I had left, so I'm sending it untrimmed with the hope that Vanessa will be able to add another strip to each side and get a block that's workable for her.



I'm not quite as thrilled with the composition of this second block, but I don't think it's unattractive.

And, lest anyone think that I'm letting yesterday's to-do list slide already, Bug and I have already sewn together six of the twelve strips for his new little blanket. :)

Busy, busy, busy

Oh my gosh... There's been so much going on here lately that I barely even know where to begin.

Bug and I have been spending a lot of time at home this week, staying up to late, sleeping in too late, running errands and somehow not managing to get to the studio at all.  Or for maybe an hour before we're ready for a nap and come home.  It's a little frustraing, but I've been carrying a big bin of work around with me, so I have stuff to do when I find a few minutes to do it.  Admittedly, we've also been watching waaaaaaaay too much tv.  I'm trying to convince myself that letting Bug watch more movies than normal while I'm pregnant isn't going to ruin his life.  I still feel guilty about it.  We've also been making more of an effort to get out and play.  We had a great water-play afternoon at Bug's bff's house last week, and finally set Bug's little swimming pool out on our patio.  Taking advantage of the summer and all that. :)

We also bought a new car!  Well, new to us.  It's pretty awesome.  And I'm really excited that now we not only have two reliable vehicles, but also two that will hold our kids.  Awesome.

We drove fo.ev.er to pick it up. though.  It was a nice drive.  The weather was pretty, Bug was in a good mood and we made great time.  Considering that we drove from Houston almost all the way to Dallas, I was stunned.  We met the seller and his wife at a restaurant in Corsicana called Collin Street Bakery.  It was pretty and relaxed and smelled so good!  They sell their cakes and such via a catalog (and even own the pineapple plantation in Costa Rica that produces their fruit), and sell the cakes and fresh baked goods and pickles and such in the store.  And they make some really fabulous sandwiches.  Needless to say, we lunched there before heading home. 

The trip home...  Oof.  We made the drive to Corsicana in 3.5 hours.  The trip home took closer to seven.  Seven!  Part of that was that we took our time at lunch.  Then we had to stop in a small town that seemed to consist of two gas stations, a Taco Bell and a Pizza Hut for a toddler meltdown.  That took 90 minutes.  Then we stopped at Rudy's on the way home for dinner because we were so beat.  (Had NO idea there was a Rudy's in Houston!  Woo hoo!)

Rudy's was a little odd.  We've been to the ones in Austin and Brownsville and loved them.  The atmosphere here in Houston was identical, but it seemed that no one there had ever seen a pregnant woman before.  I've never noticed so many people staring at the belly or, even weirder, doing these odd sideways glances as they passed by.  Weird.

Just before we left, Richard took Bug to change his shirt (covered in banana pudding and goodness knows what else) and diaper and I chilled at the table.  I got up to refil my glass of water and, on my way back to the table, caught sight of another pregnant belly as a woman walked past.  I sat back down, looked up as she walked past again...and then realized that I KNEW HER.  It was a dear friend that I've stayed in contact with but haven't seen in person in a number of years.  Our schedules just never ever align.  And she's pregnant with her first baby (so excited for her!) and we ran into each other the day after her due date had passed.  It was beyond amazing to see her.  She had never met Bug, we had never met her husband....it was awesome. :)

*sigh*

Now, to completely change gears, how about I post some pictures?

I received my block from Sandi awhile back and finally got around to taking a picture.  This was for April from the Quilt Block Swap.  As I recall, my only request was for a wonky block of some sort.



Sandi seemed concerned about what I'd think of the block.  I LOVE it.  It's bright and crazy and fun.  Bug fell completely in love with it.  I think I'm actually going to turn it into a pillow for him.

And I finally finished my May block for Virginia.

She asked for a log cabin block in white and blues with the traditional red center square.  I will admit that I was a little terrified by this request.  I've never actually done a traditional block...everything's been wonky or otherwise made up so far.  And, for some reason, I had a really difficult time picking out the fabrics.

Luckily, Virginia had a really specific tutorial that she wanted followed, so the construction part was actually really easy-peasy when I got to it.  It went together really, really quickly and was actually quite a lot of fun to put together.

The fabrics I tripped over at Joann's.  Bug and I were wandering the aisles - not our first trip for this purpose either, which made it particularly depressing - and I wasn't really seeing anything that excited me all that much.  Then I saw the three white and blue fabrics and that was it.  They were perfect (at least in my mind, hopefully Virginia agrees!) and I knew they had to come home with us.

So, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.  Hopefully Virginia likes it, too. :)


 

Show and Tell: Swap Goodies and Quilt In Process

A few things to show off today.  Mostly because I did so much actual work on the computer today that my brain feels scrambled.  I had to pull out some stuff I could actually TOUCH. ;)

First, some goodies from the Sew, Mama, Sew! fat quarter swap.  I've received three of the four fat quarters and just can't stand not showing them off. :)



Aren't they pretty?  I'm hard pressed to pick a favorite.  Thank you, ladies!!

This is the fabric that I sent out.  I hope my swap partners liked it.



I'm thinking that, just maybe, I've got a bit of a thing for bird fabric right now...

And speaking of.  I got the last of the print fabric that I need for the bedroom quilt!

I got more of "Birds" in brown and and "Blowing Leaves" in neutral from BratPacks.  I was so happy with how quickly the last order came (and her good prices!) that I couldn't resist ordering from her again.  (These are, of course, from Studio E's "Nature.ology" collection.)



And then I picked up "Feather Swirl" in brown and "Nature Weave" in turquoise from Creative Quilt Kits.  I was really happy with their pricing, communication and prompt delivery.  I'll definitely keep the site bookmarked for future reference.



I have to admit that I expected the "Nature Weave" print to be much more blue than it actually is in real life.  Every photo that I saw online looked very, very blue.  And when I pulled it out of the envelope it was most definitely much more green.  But Richard says he likes it (I was trying to work more blue into the quilt because it's his favorite color), so I guess it's all good.  It IS a pretty fabric.

This afternoon, I pulled out ALL of the prints and got them cut into fat quarters.



They still need to be pressed (again) and sorted, but I feel like I accomplished something by getting them cut.

Next step: picking the solid colors for the quilt top.  I'm waffling.  I need four yards each of neutral and contrasting colors, and I'm having a hard time deciding which colors to choose.  Cream and pale blue as neutrals?  Maybe brown instead of blue?  Just cream as the neutral and call brown, blue (two shades?) and green the contrasting colors?

...Too many options for this afternoon.

I'll play with the fabric a little more.  Sort the prints into pair combinations that I like.  Stare at them a little while.  It'll come to me.

Oh!  Bonus photo!

Bug insisted on taking pictures when I was done.  He got a nice version on his standard self-portrait.

Potholders, Done

Hrm...somehow I had the deadline for the Stitch In Dye potholder swap wrong and thought there was still a little time before mailing day.  Turns out I was wrong.  But I also finished them up in time, and so now they're on their way to Kelly.  I hope that she likes them!



A back view:



I chose the pink binding to make the pink in the floral on the front pop a bit more.  Somehow, that's not showing up very well in the photograps.  It looks better on the back, I think.

Also, while the binding DID eventually decide to cooperate with me, I ended up going back and adding a few layers of crazy zig-zag stitching over the edge.  Hopefully it looks like it was done on purpose - since it was - and not like I just gave up and decided to get the binding on however I could.  Always kind of a fear when I decide to do something like this.