Whooooo's Got Something New for Her Kitchen?

I nearly passed up the opportunity to play along in Potholder Pass 12.  After six rounds of potholder swapping, I have replaced all the old, nasty pot holders with lovely new ones.  I thought about taking photos of the old ones, but decided it was too humiliating.  Most of them were at least 20 years old and scarred, scorched, worn and torn.  But then I thought about BD#2 who is only just starting out.  She doesn't have a ton of cute kitchen things yet, so perhaps she would enjoy a set of lovely pot holders.

So, not being one to be able to resist a good swap, I signed up, but said I was swapping for pot holders for my daughter.  These are the ones I sent...

And I received the cutest set of pot holders from Sarah (coincidentallyquilting).  Isn't the little owl adorable.  I really love his feet!  And the way she mixed the fabrics in his body to give him dimension.  I have to say that it was an inner struggle to make myself put these back in the mail and send them to BD#2.  After all, she didn't know that I did this swap for her, did she?

But then I opened the drawer the pot holders were in and knew I had to pass these along.

The other one is just as cute.  Such fun fabrics here.

Speaking of fabrics, Sarah included her scraps.  Possibly I will make something for BD#2's kitchen that coordinates with these fun pot holders (or possibly I will make something for myself!)

 Sarah also made her a cute table cover.  I love the scrappy binding.

Thanks, Sarah, for such a fun swap!  In this one, you made two women happy!

Trick or Treat

Last week, before I left on my great grandbaby adventure, I finished up a pair of swappy pot holders (and actually met the mailing deadline!!! - but only because I couldn't get out on the flight I wanted.)   I'm not a big Halloween fan, but I can - and do - enjoy candy corn.  So, here is a pair of candy corn pot holders.

I did a little embroidery, and actually went waaaaaaaaay outside my comfort zone and did the quilting in -gasp- orange!

The fabrics were in my stash.  BD#1 "donated" the black swirl, which was perfect for Halloween.  Especially since I have no black, not even Kona, in my stash apparently (an oversight that MUST be rectified soon.)

So here is the package.  Those cute little kitties with the pumpkin were also a donation from BD#1 and I used it for the backing on the pot holders as well.

This was  a fun, quick project, and I had a blast making them.  My partner said candy corn was her favorite Halloween treat and that her hubby really liked them, so I think they have found a good home.

SUMMERTIME - and the Livin' is Easy!

I recently participated in the 11th round of the Potholder Pass Swap.  That sounds like a lot of pot holders, except that I missed the first 5 or so.  Add to that that I've been married a really long time and that most of my pot holders were obtained when we first got married, and you will know that I really needed to get rid of the ratty, worn out ones and get some new, fun ones in my kitchen.

I like to make pot holders.  They are fun and useful little mini quilts, and don't take any time at all to make.  My sewing machine still doesn't like Insulbrite, but I've found it's a lot easier if I use one layer of Insulbrite and one layer of batting than 2 layers of Insulbrite.  I think it's the tinsel in the Insulbrite that my machine doesn't like.  Oh, well, they're still fun.

Anyway, for this round, I was lucky enough to get my original package from my partner, Laura...

which included potholders, an oven mitt, a soap bottle apron and some lovely placemats,

AND an angel package from my new friend, Peggy!

So when one of the members of the swap didn't receive her pot holders, I thought it only right that I become an angel.

The theme was summer, and what is more summery than lemonade?

And if you're going to have lemonade, you need to have glasses to drink it out of, right?

And because Nicolette had to wait SO LONG for her package, I added a little border to a kitchen towel...

And the other tote bag I made the other night ...

And sent it off to Norway with my fingers crossed.  And amazingly enough, it got there in just a week!

I sure hope her original partner's package gets there eventually.  That would be awesome!

Meanwhile, Nicolette has something to help her enjoy her summer.

Fun Mail

It has been an amazingly long time since I've done a Fun Mail post, and the truth is, there has been some amazingly fun mail come my way lately.  First up, and most recent, is one of the coolest PTS7 pillows ever!  Made just for me by the amazingly talented tinkingalong.  (OK, you can read on - I promise I'm done with the word "amazingly" - at least for awhile.)  The drunkard's path pinwheels are so cool, and I love that she did it in aqua and red to match my Teal We Meet Again quilt.  Some of the fabrics are even the same.  She included some fun little goodies, including nail files, a little notebook, a postcard from her home state of Maryland, and to top it off, a "green" Christmas wrap/sack/bag to help save waste from gift wrap.  Too cool, huh?

Ironically, the day before I actually received this little beauty, I had gone through and "faved" the PTS7 pillows that struck my fancy, and this was one of those.

I have been receiving a lot of fun mail recently, and apparently, WH picked up the mail from his truck one day last week, and left my PTS package in the back seat.  Frankly, I was beginning to worry.  When I got home from work last Monday night, WH was standing in the driveway, and I asked him if he had gotten the mail.  He said he had, so I asked if there was any Fun Mail today, and he got the most sheepish look on his face.  Apparently, he'd been driving around with PTS7 for several days.  And I can't really get angry, since he had rotator cuff surgery last January, he can't carry stuff like he used to.  And besides, I have it in my possession now, so it's OK.

 Then, a month or so ago now (yes, call me a slacker!) I received these wonderful pot holders in the PP10 swap from Cottilello all the way from the UK.  I was so excited to receive them, I put them away without taking any pictures.  I don't really intend to use them - they're too pretty - but I am glad to say that after 3 or 4 rounds of PP, I no longer feel like my pot holder collection is exclusively made up of 20-something year old eyesores.  I now have the most gorgeous collection of pot holders ever.  

Check out the cute selvage centers...

And the cute label.

Too fun!

And then I've been getting bee blocks.  I haven't taken pics of all of them yet, but here is a smattering of what I've gotten this week...

These are from Crafty Liaooo for my GMFG quilt.

And this one is from Saricx - she has already made me a couple of blocks from another bee we were in together.  I'm glad to say, I am now about halfway there with GMFG.  I need to decide soon about the joining fabric, and then start making some hexies to begin to put the blocks together - I'm getting excited.

And speaking of hexies, this is the block megmormel made for me in the 3x6 bee.  Truly unique.  And so fun.  I've gotten a couple of other blocks from this bee so far, so I need to go round those up too and take more pictures - maybe the weather will be better tomorrow.

And I actually won a blog giveaway!  I won this "T is for Thelma" pattern from Thelma at Cupcakes and Daisies Blog.  It's always fun to be a winner.  Looks like fun.  And it is apparently the monthly block for the Schnibbles on Sherri's and Sinta's Year of Schnibbles and monthly quilt parade.  I have never participated before, but maybe, just maybe, this month....

So there it is, round 1 of Fun Mail.  Aren't I a lucky girl?

How Can the Weekend be Gone Already???

I planned for this to be a sewing weekend, but I certainly didn't accomplish all I set out to do!  I have a long list of things I need to get done by the end of the month, and while I did make some progress, I still have a lot left on the list that isn't finished.  But I am determined to have a "glass is half full" attitude, so aside from the wonky cross blocks I shared on Saturday, here is the rest of what I accomplished this weekend.  These are the "From My House to Yours" potholders I made for the PP9 swap.

I wanted to make a castle, but I'm not sure if this doesn't look more like a football goal post.  In any event, the castle "keep" is the theme of this house.

And this one is the cottage out back, I guess.  Much more traditional, and with a totally tidy front lawn.

I hope my partner likes them.

Swaps Completed

 May seems to be shaping up to be a busy swap month.  I just can't seem to resist them.  I see cute stuff on Flickr, and before I know it, I've joined another swap.  They are just too addictive.

Yesterday I popped my Great Cover Up swap items in the mail to my partner.  It included the Charley Harper Sewing Machine Cover I've posted about a couple of times before and

this embroidered hoop.  I found the quote on the internet, and it is my original design.  To be honest, I really had trouble giving the hoop away.

And, of course, a hexi needlebook.  Oops, I forgot to add the D-ring.  Oh well, sorry partner.  It's way too late now.

I am also participating Potholder Pass 7.  Apparently, many swappers have enough pot holders, and perhaps I would too if I had been participating from the beginning, but I have only done one round before this one.  If you could see my collection of ancient and aging pot holders, you would see that they are sorely in need of replacement.  They are all stained, burned, and/or aging.  I received 2 new pot holders with the last swap, and they were welcome additions to my sad collection.

These are the pot holders I received from SweetTeaMom in the last swap.

My partner for this round must have very similar kitchen decor to mine, as the colors she selected would have made themselves at home very nicely in my kitchen.

The theme was "anything but square", so I made a more-or-less hexagonal pot holder, which is a modification of a Dear Jane block I found here

along with a double-sided pot holder.  I've made this one before.  It's from Emily's tutorial on The Boy Trifecta blog.  Such a great idea.

I also opted to swap market totes, and I used a modification of Keyka Lou's Market Bag pattern.  It's reversible, and so very versatile.

I've made this pattern before, too, and it makes up soooooooooooo quickly.  Love it!

I was going to make an apron, but I was getting into the wee hours of the morning, so I opted for a decorated towel

and a hexi needlebook as extras.  I actually remembered to put the D-ring in this one.

Lots of fun for me.  I really hope my partners enjoy them.