Swappy Stuff

I've been horrible lately about posting pictures of my swappy stuff.  The truth is, I haven't done as much swapping this year, but I'm really starting to miss it.  I kind of overdid the swapping last fall, doing something like 11 swaps between October and Christmas, and when all the January swaps started, I purposely avoided signing up.  I did participate in the 4S Swap again though (formerly the Sweet and Simple Scrappy Swap - which I admit was kind of a mouthful) and I received this Friendship Bag (ala psiquilt) and awesome goodies from Stephanie @ the Quarter Incher. 

I owe Stephanie a huge apology though - the package came just after I got back from watching the grands in March when I was miserable with bronchitis for the 3rd time.  Her beautifully colorful package really cheered me up, but I put it away before photographing it or even thanking her.  I'm usually not so thoughtless.  I'm going to blame it on being sick. 

I absolutely love the handles on this bag.  Aren't they fun!?

And I received this cute little mini quilt from Mhairi in Australia in the Sewing with Friends swap.  This group has been swapping for more than a year now, and it's always so fun to see what others come up with.  This neat little mini has pockets, that Mhairi kindly filled with fat quarters.

And the back is almost as much fun as the front.  What cute fabrics she used!  I just love how bright they are.

And she thoughtfully put hanging corners on the back.

Thank you Stephanie and Mhairi.  I feel like a very lucky girl!

Mini Quilts

So, have you caught the "make everything tiny" bug???  No it's nothing like the bronchitis I had last month (thank goodness!)

Everyone seems to want to make everything smaller.  Including quilt blocks.

Have you seen the crazy small quilt blocks my lovely daughter has been making??  Oh my gosh, they're adorable!  (But maybe just a mite too small for me, really.)

But I did need a mini quilt for a swap recently and decided to try my hand at one of Camille's adorable little patterns.  This one is the mini Rain Check, and it's free on her blog right now.  And remarkably, I even had an April Showers charm pack sitting around. 

And being as I'm from Seattle originally, I've always been just a little crazy about umbrellas.  And teeny tiny umbrellas are even better.

You know what they say about those of us from Seattle, right?  We don't tan in the summer - we rust!  Bwahahah!  (Sorry.)

These little umbrellas are just adorable, and totally fun to make.  I did have a bit of an issue with the handles, however.  I've always said I have a love/hate relationship with fusible web, and this time was no different.  It just didn't want to bond as well as I thought it should, particularly on these super-tiny pieces.  Next time I may try embroidering the handles, instead of the fusible web.

These little umbrellas are super fun!

Which cute little mini quilt shall I do next?

Fun Mail

I'm really not sure what's wrong with me lately....  Ever since I got home from my uncle's funeral in Seattle I've been in kind of a sewing/blogging funk.  I just don't seem to be making much progress on things lately.  But I did manage to have a photo session of finished projects and swappy gifts last week, so I thought I would share some of them.  This very cool panel is part of a lovely tote bag that Susi made me when we did our bag swap back in...  um....  June or July?  Really?  And I'm just getting around to taking the photos??  Forgive me, Susi.  I'm not sure what happened.  I opened them...  And admired them....  And put them away, and just.  Never.  Took.  Pictures.

And here's the bag.  Isn't it just the cutest?  I love the spools.  And the books (arranged horizontally and vertically - Fun!)

Check out the adorable pin cushion...

And the button jar is just too fun!  I honestly have one very similar to this on the shelf in my sewing room.

Along with the adorable bag, Susi made me this Girl On A Swing mini quilt.  Isn't this adorable?  And I love the bright colors.  I have to admit that I have been admiring coveting these since Aneela did the tutorial way back in 2010. but I was always intimidated by doing the face, so I doubt I would have ever tried it. 

Thank you, Susi, for the lovely gifts.

I received this fun little mini quilt from Michelle (A.quilter.2) in the Super Swaps Flickr Swap.  The theme was "embellishments" and I think she did an awesome job with the buttons, the embroidery, and the beads.  The little pouch even has a 3D flap.  so cute.

Michelle even included an adorable little matching fabric basket to help me organize the sewing room.  I took photos, but they are all so blurry that they make my eyes cross.  Not sure what happened there, but apparently the camera and my eye were not communicating.

Thank you, ladies, for the lovely surprises!

Fun Mail

 There has been some really fun mail arriving at the prsd4tim2 household lately.  Last Saturday was no exception.  I received my Modernista package from Heidi (fabricmutt).  I am so excited by the things she sent.  First was this wonderful little mini quilt.  I've seen these around Flickr and always been slightly envious.  What an adorable creation she made for me.  I especially love how the fabrics she chose work so well in this little scene.  The pearl bracelets for the sky and the DS Quilts green for the grass.  The text picket fence.  The "brick" for the house - not sure what fabric that is but it works so well.

The detail is really cool.  I love the "trim" on the eve of the house and the quilt on the clothesline.  How about the lady in the window with the turkey?  And check out the mailbox.

So fun!

But that wasn't all she sent.  She also sent this great table runner.  Love the colors with the linen.  And there are some of my favorite prints in there.  So yummy.

She added a few charms, and what a perfect package it was.

I also received my winter package from Mary P in the Rugs with Friends swap.  Mary is really on the ball, because I haven't started my little mug rug yet, although I do have a plan, which is an amazing fact in itself.  Such cute little FQs came with the package.

But the mug rug is an amazing creation in its own right.  This is a Texas snowman (Mary is from Texas, obviously!)  How do you know?  Check out his hat!  But I love the expression on his face and the detail of the quilting.

Thanks Heidi and Mary for such great swaps!

W is for Wonderful

While I was away, my partner Maria, a/k/a MollyJolly, finished my partner's first initial quilt.  What a fun little quilty it is.  Of course, she included the letter "W".  It was only after I mailed my little quilt that I thought about quilting it with "M's" or putting an "M" cloud in it.  Ah well...

So this is a story about a Witch with a Wart on her nose.  Notice that she has a magic Wand...  Apparently the witch was worried because her wart was getting smaller, and she was afraid no one would find her attractive without her wart, so she was in a rush to get married.

Or, as Maria tells it...

The wicked witch was lonely and feared her beauty was fading - her wrinkles were growing and a wart on her nose kept shrinking - if she didn't find someone soon, it would be completely gone.  How could a witch with no "beauty mark" attract a man?  

Luckily, she met a werewolf and they hit it off!  What you see on your mini quilt is the wedding scene.  Willy Wonka officiated, and Wonder Woman and a White elephant witnessed.  It was a beautiful ceremony, with wine and wedding cake, wisteria, a weeping willow, water, a wishing well, and some wild flowers setting the scene.  Guests had weiners to celebrate, but the witch played a mean trick on Willy - that's his wallet lying on the ground beneath her new groom's feet.

She became engaged to the Werewolf.  Willy Wonka (whose Wallet you see on the ground there BTW) is to perform the ceremony.

Wonder Woman and the Wolf whippett, with the Wishing Well in the background, attend the wedding.  (I'm not sure what W words are there in the flowers and the other details in this part of the scene.  Ideas?)

There is Wisteria on the Wall.  The White elephant looks on.  And of course, there is a spider Web on the wall. 

There is a Weeping Willow and Water in this view.

And what would a wedding be without a Wedding cake and a bottle of Wine.  It looks like they're having beef Wellington weiners as a main course for the wedding supper.  And is that a Weasel I see?  I'm not sure what the other animal is, or the round item...  That's a wombat stealing a watermelon...

Are you ready to see the whole little quilt?

Here it is!  I've been having a marvelous time discovering all the W words in this little quilt.  As you can see, I haven't identified them all yet.  It has been great fun.

Thanks, Maria, for a Wonderful little quilt.

M is for MollyJolly Part II - The Reveal

If you read this post, you know that I played along in the Mini QT Swap where we were to make a quilt using items that used our partner's first initial.  I really struggled to get a theme for my little quilt.  In fact, I drew 4 or 5 sketches between the concept, and the finished quilt.  I think the only item that was in the original sketch that ended up on the final product is the moon.

Now that Maria has received her quilt, I can tell you about it.

Since my letter was "M", these are the elements of the quilt...

The moon, of course, and some mountains...

Some marigolds...

A little mushroom house, a mail box, and MollyJolly, written on the mailbox...

A monkey...

A mouse in a meadow...

A magnolia tree, a mockingbird, and a moth...

A mermaid, singing (music) in her little pool...

A melon...

And a macadam road.

If I've counted correctly, that's 16 "M" words. 

I actually thought up a little story about how MollyJolly invited her friends Mouse, Monkey, and Mermaid over for an early Morning waterMelon picnic... (or should that be Meal?)  Mouse tiptoed through the Meadow on his way to MollyJolly's Mushroom house, while Monkey came down from his home in the Mountains.  Mermaid provided the entertainment, singing Music for the event, while the Mockingbird in the Magnolia tree echoed her Mournful song.

Anyway, you get the idea. 

Meanwhile, I'm off tomorrow to see the kids and the grands.  I'm not taking the computer, so it may be awhile before I post again.  I'm so excited to see these little people!

Can't wait.

M is for MollyJolly

Some weekends are just so frustrating...  I have such big plans and don't manage to get nearly as much accomplished as I would like.  This weekend was especially so because I just felt so exhausted, it was hard to focus.

The good news is that I did manage to finish one project that I have been obsessing about for weeks.  I'm playing along in the Mini QT swap, and this time it was to create a mini quilt using words that start with your partner's first initial.  I've made lists of M words, drawn scads of pictures, and generally been haunted by this since the partner assignments came out in August.  Then, I had difficulty paring down the M words so that my little quilt would make sense.  Then I had to pare them down again so that this little quilt would be manageable - maximum size is 8 x 10 or something like that.  I think this one is actually 9 x 11, but oh well.

Of course, I can't show you the whole thing yet, since you know who you are partners with in this swap, and she might see this, but I did manage to include 15 M words.  The little mini includes embroidery, buttons, and applique.  And quilting, of course.

And if you haven't guessed it, the first word is Moon.

Sick Days

I thought I had miraculously made it through the winter without being sick, but alas, it was not to be.   And you know I'm sick when I don't feel like sewing.  But I did have some scraps and hexies don't take much thinking, so I managed to get some hexie blocks done.  I'm maybe 3/4 of the way to my GMFG quilt.  That's progress, especially considering that I never thought I would EVER do this much hand sewing.

I managed 5 blocks in 4 days.  Hmmm...  at this rate, it will be a long time until I get the other 20 blocks made. 

And I actually did a block with gray in it.  I even like it. 

And I planned the block for my Ticker Tape Mini Quilt for Denise in the Mini QT Swap.  Can't show the whole thing until Denise receives it on Monday.  Here's a sneak peek.

I think even this little bit of progress is way better than daytime TV.  I think I'd go crazy if that was all there was to do. 

Here's to feeling better!

Swappy Stuff

I've been playing along in several swaps recently, and I finally have something to show for it.  Being gone so much and then being sick really put me behind, but thank goodness, I think I am finally almost caught up.

Taking advantage of our love for Denyse Schmidt, Leona put together a fun Flickr swap using DS Quilts fabrics.  Have you ever had a project that just wouldn't work?  I had what I thought was a great idea, and it just would NOT go together and look like it did in my head.  After several frustrating sewing sessions, I finally scrapped it and set about to do something different, and frankly, I think this idea was far superior to my first one.  I really like how this one turned out.  I hand quilted inside each of the circles and echo quilted the outside.  It honestly turned out better than I imagined it.  I hope my partner likes it.

The pattern was inspired by a quilt in the book BD#1 got me for Mother's Day.  Timely, huh?

And I finished my "for real" mannequin pinnie.  She is ready to fly off to her new home.  I hope my partner likes her.  As I was creating her, I decided that I really have a love-hate relationship with hot glue.  I haven't used it in awhile - in fact, I had to buy a new glue gun because I have no idea where the old one ran off to - and if I don't use it again soon, it will be OK.  The stuff goes everywhere except where you want it, and then cools too fast to stick your stuff together - except when it gets on your fingers.  Hmmmpft.  Anyway, she is finally finished.

Partners, here they come!