Catching Up - Part One

Here's the Weekender bag Kristy made for me at the airport waiting for our flight.

I'm baaaaa-ack!

It seems that my vacation turned into a marathon.  Sorry for the very long hiatus.  I really enjoyed being away, but I'm very glad to be home.  I actually thought I would have a chance to blog a bit while I was away, but there never seemed to be a moment to spare.  So, I have some things to share from before I left, and a couple of things from while I was away - maybe tomorrow, since I don't want this post to turn into a marathon.

Did you catch my guest -blogger post/tutorial on Leona's blog?  This tote has 11-pockets, so it's a super way to keep organized.  We all know how I love totes!

Sometime in June, Susi contacted me and wanted to know if I wanted to do a private swap.  I wasn't sure I could get it done before I left, but I did - barely.  This Weekender is super scrappy, with the addition of some bits of Briar Rose a friend gave me a few weeks ago.  The Frog Picnic is my favorite!

I had a lot of fun doling out the Briar Rose bits in creating the bag.

Susi said she really liked it, so I think it was a success.  I asked her to hold my bag until I got home, so I am excited to receive it.  Hope it gets here soon!

I also managed to finish my blocks for the 3x6 bee.  In this bee you make the same block for 6 people, changing up the colors to their request.  Since I was in 2 hives (no, I don't know what possessed me to do that!) I had to make 12 blocks.  Someone on Flickr commented that it would make a beautiful quilt all by itself.  I think so too.  I really love all those colors.

The blocks were super easy.  I found the pattern on my daily quilting calendar and adapted it for the bee.  My first blocks were by-the-book, but by the time I created the last one ("rainbow - in order" was the request) I was feeling like this was a pretty versatile block.

I belong to a group called "Sewing with Friends" and every couple of months the mamas assign us a new partner to make a little something for.  Up to now, we've been making mug rugs, but after a year, we felt a bit of a need for change.  In any event, June/July was our last mug rug month, and my partner was Sunny.  I figured with a name like that, and given that we're talking about mid-summer here, her mug rug ought to be something bright and cheerful.  I had these bonus HSTs left over from something-or-other (I really love bonus HSTs - it's really worth the extra time they take to be able to create something cute in a hurry) so I used 8 of them to make this fun little pinwheel flower mug rug.  I am always amazed at how versatile HSTs are.  A little hand-quilting, some yo-yos left over from Abby's octopus, and it was a wrap....  well, a mug rug, anyway.

So that's my "before-the-trip" story.  Stay tuned - I'll be back tomorrow.