Fun Mail

Spicing Up the Kitchen 2 package from sewlikesue

Yesterday, WH started to go out to get the mail, opened the door and shouted, "You have Fun Mail!" and I thought, "What could that be?"  I had totally forgotten that I hadn't received my package from the SUTK2 swap.  What a fun surprise!  I opened it up, and look at the cool stuff that sewlikesue included.  I always need dish towels and pot holders, and these are awesome.  My potholders are old, burned, and worn out, so these gorgeous new ones are most welcome.  And I think WH must use my dish towels for paint rags, because aside from the ones my sister made me for my birthday a couple of years ago, they are few and far between.  The lovely decorative dish towel is also most welcome.

But would you check out that luscious table runner?  It's gorgeous!  And look how well it goes with my placemats from meanfish2 in the placemat swap!  I asked her if she planned it, and she said no, but if not planned then truly inspired.  Just look at this:

Won't they be great together?  Now, how cool is that?

I also received 6 more blocks for my Christmas village quilt in the CF Bee.  June was my month, and my blocks are trickling in, but it's ok, because I know I won't get to them til fall, anyway.  Every single block is just awesome!  Look -

CF Bee Blocks from domesticass

I was truly dying for a block like this! A flying Santa!  How perfect is that for the family of an airline pilot?

And I just love the stone foundation of this little house.  And the candy roof.  So cool!

CF Bee Blocks from CNSnow

Isn't this the perfect little house for a Christmas village?

And the snowy tree and presents are awesome too

CF Bee from breathe and sew

I just love these snowy hills - won't they look great in my village?

And this little house is soooo cute!  Love it!

So, I've received half of my blocks for my Christmas village quilt.  I'm sure the rest will be along shortly.  These are all so wonderful, I am sure my quilt will be gorgeous.  I actually have enough fabric, I could maybe make 2 or 3 quilts.  Hmmmm....  maybe that's an idea for some Christmas gifts.  Well, whatever - it will all need to wait until after September.

In other news, I am finally making progress on Pauline's gifts for the Santa Sack swap.  I had planned to do them last weekend, but with BD#2 home, I really didn't do any sewing.  (I did mend some stuff she had sent home with me months ago, though.  THAT's pretty amazing.)  Anyway, I did promise Pauline I would put her package in the mail on the 14th, which is the date she requested.  I'm going to include July, August, and September's gifts, since sewing time will be limited for the next little while.  More bang for the buck, you know.

Anyway, have a great week.  Happy sewing!

Making Progress

In the midst of all the wedding stuff to do, I have commitments to keep and deadlines looming.  This was yesterday's finish for my partner in the Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap round 2.  I have some accessories to finish to go with it - towels, apron and pot holders I think, and then it's ready to go in the mail.

I got this guy backed and bound for PTS5, but I haven't taken a picture yet.  It's just too dark for me - all the gray reminds me of a rainy day - but after all, I didn't make it for me.  I think a hexi needlebook and maybe some perle cotton will complete this package.

All I've managed to get done on the Santa Sack Swap so far is the sack.  I have some great ideas, but nothing has actually come to fruition yet.  I'm sorry Pauline.  I hope to work on it tonight and get it in the mail.  No photos, obviously.  I feel terribly guilty, since Pauline mailed mine at the first of June!  She's obviously an overachiever {grin}.

And then there's the wedding...  It's really terribly difficult to plan a wedding 2000 miles away, but we're muddling through it.  Today's task?  Invitations.  She wants something kind of different and fun, so I need to find a printer who can do what she wants.  So, I'm off to work, where I will spend my lunch hour looking for wedding invitations.

Happy Thursday!

So Far Behind... Big Sewing Weekend Planned

This is the PTS4 pillow I received from Lexiloo in January

Don't forget about my Little Apples giveaway  which ends Saturday at midnight Central time. 

Since BD#1 introduced me to Flickr and swapping last fall, I've been having a great time.  I have had fun making projects for others, and received some awesome things in return.  I have tried things I might never have tried if it hadn't been for the creative challenge of the swap.  My own creativity has been stimulated as I observed what others have done.  It has been a blast.

But, as with so many things in my life, if a little is good, a lot is better.  When I was a kid, my mom would say that my eyes were bigger than my stomach.  I think maybe it's the same principle.

And I didn't expect the distraction of a wedding...  or a second trip to Salt Lake City in less than a month...

And so now I am way behind, and deadlines are looming.

The good news is that I have this weekend to sew, and I am determined to get these projects done on time (the placemat swap is due June 23, but everything else is due July 1). 

Here is my list for the weekend:

1.  Placemat Quilt Swap 6.  This one is new to me and it sounded like so much fun!  My partner keeps sending me teasing emails and even posted a black and white picture of her project, complete with polka dots and stripes, and it has points, similar to a Dresden.  Such a tease!  And I know what I'm going to do - finally - so it's just a matter of sitting down to do it.  Let's just say that I'm thinking "summer"...

2.  Pillow Talk Swap 5.  I loved PTS4, although that was my first "real" swap.  I really struggled with it, and I don't think I would do that project again if I had it to do over, but it was a real learning experience.  I received not one but TWO great pillows from my partner.  Here's the second one...

This is the other pillow I received in PTS4 from my partner, Lexiloo.

3.  Mug Rug Swap Adventure 2.  This is another swap that is new to me, but it sounded like so much fun.  One of my partners from a prior swap is the swap mama.  Mug rugs are amazingly hard for me.  They are so small and look so easy, but their size is deceptive.  But I have an idea for this one too, and just have to execute it in fabric.  For this one, I'm thinking "beach"....

4.  Spicing Up the Kitchen.  I did the first round of this swap and it was a blast. My partner gave some pretty good hints, so I know exactly what I want to do for this one, but my idea seems a little bit challenging, and will require WH's help.  I've been admiring the embroidery hoop clocks - in fact, BD#1 actually received one in a swap and I wanted to swipe it, but restrained myself.  Anyway, I found an awesome tutorial online, and can't wait to try it.  I really struggled with this one last time too, but I'm hoping this time it will go smoothly.

5.  Santa Sack Swap.  This one is not a Flickr swap, but it sounded like so much fun.  You make a large Santa Sack, and two items and send to your partner on July 1st.  Then, 2 items a month until December.  On Christmas Day, your partner gets to open her sack with all her gifts in it.  This one isn't a secret swap, so I'll have to be discrete with the photos and hints.  My partner is Pauline from the UK.  She has already sent me her 1st package, so I really feel like a slacker.

6.  Christmas Fabric Bee.  June was my month for the CF Bee, and I mailed my fabric {almost} on time (it went out June 1st), so that's one I can wait a little bit on.  {The blocks the ladies are making and posting on Flickr are AWESOME!!!  I'm so excited about this quilt.  It is going to be way fun!}  The other QB for June is Julie, and she chose a "village" of trees and houses.  My assignment is a tree block, so that shouldn't be too hard, although she wanted pieced blocks, not appliqued, so that takes a little more thinking maybe.

7.  First Time Bee.  Carol has asked  us to do a black and white block with a pop of color.  I have ideas of what I will do for my two blocks, so it's just a matter of actually doing it.

So, I think that's it.  Over committed?  Undoubtedly.  Insurmountable?  No, I don't think so.

I will say that I have scaled way back for the rest of the summer.  I have a wedding to help organize and a wedding dress to alter, after all.  The good news is that it's too hot to be distracted by ANYTHING that has to do with outside. { It IS Father's Day weekend, and WH probably deserves a bit of attention.  I told him I'd take him to a movie.  And we'll probably do dinner or something easy.}

And I just couldn't resist another round of the Make Mine Modern swap - it was SO much fun last time, but I don't even have my partner for that one yet, so I've got awhile. 

Anyway wish me luck - and a productive weekend.

Happy sewing!

Resurrected

If you have been following my adventures with my project for the Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap, you will remember that the placemats above were giving me fits. My intention was to make reversible placemats for my partner.  These were definitely not cooperating!  If I took them apart once, I took them apart 8 or 10 times, to the point where I finally gave up on these, finished the others and sent them off.  Frankly, I was tempted to chuck these, but the yellow is bright and cheery and Kumari Gardens is so, so pretty, and I just couldn't.

Meanwhile, I've been pondering what to do for my sister for her birthday.  Suddenly, a few days ago, it hit me - finish these for her.  So I did.  They were really no more cooperative at the end than the beginning, but I did finish them.  The border on the towel and the potholders were made from the very interesting scraps produced by the diagonal borders.  They were actually a lot of fun!

Can you see the quilted butterfly?  I had a terrible time getting a shot of the actual quilting.  This was really the best I was able to do.  The quilting was actually fun.  

And believe it or not, after all that angst over what to put on the back, I didn't get a photo.  Well, I did, but apparently it didn't get downloaded and I've already erased the pics off the camera.  And the gift is already in the mail.  Suffice it to say that the Weekends fabric looked awesome on the back of these things.  The butterflies and flowers - and the colors - coordinated very well with the Kumari Gardens.

And after they were done, they had to be washed because the wash-away marking pen I used to quilt the butterfly on the yellow centers had to be washed out, you know.  And I know it's all the rage, but I really like quilts before they are washed when they are crisply pressed and they feel so smooth and nice.  But these were washed and I didn't press them again.  Am I a slacker?

The binding is Central Park. The color was perfect.  The design didn't detract from the rest of the fabrics. It's what I had.  

Nuff said.

I hope she likes them.