Fun Mail!

This has been another great week for fun mail here at the M household.  WH is in awe that there have been fun packages in the mail nearly every day.  If you read this post, you will remember that for once I had very specific ideas about what kind of journal cover would make my heart sing.  My partner for this round was ValeryAnne, and she really hit the nail on the head!  We've been partners before, so she knows my style...

And she met all the criteria:

It is pretty enough to take to work.

It is bright and cheery.

It has embroidery and embellishment.

It has this nifty snap latch so that I can tuck papers in and they won't escape.

And it even has an adorable pen holder on the inside.

She really pegged it, didn't she?

And I hadn't gotten around to taking pictures of the cool name tag that Wendy (lovethesky40) sent me in the RATZ swap.  This is one swap where I thought I had signed up and something went wrong.  Wendy came to my rescue and we swapped with each other.  We have also swapped before, so it was great fun.

And I just have to show you the back of my new name tag.  Love it!

I got a whole bunch more GMFG blocks in...

And some more basket blocks...

And even some blocks for a special project I'm working on...

So all in all, it was a great week for mail around here.

Wish I could say I had made this much progress on the outgoing mail this weekend.  Oh well....  Maybe next weekend.

Paved With Good Intentions - Starting Over

I had such high hopes for the month of August.  I planned to make myself accountable and work on THE LIST of WIPs sitting in the sewing room to make room for some new projects.  Well, naturally, things did not go according to plan.  As usual.

I was fairly productive.  I participated in the Think Christmas Blog Hop and made a quilt....

I did manage to get two tote bags out of the WIP pile...

I made 4 Swoon blocks....

I played along in the Bowls With Borders blog hop and I made two wall hangings...

I finished my Covered Journal for my partner in Super Swaps...

And a name tag for my partner in the RATZ swap....

I made my swap items for my partner in the Scrappy Bits swap...

And chose the fabric I'm going to send along...

And even made some more hexies for my GMFG quilt.

But I didn't touch THE LIST.

1.  Jelly roll quilt - top is finished; needs to be sandwiched, quilted and bound
2.  Fairy Tale Friends - ditto
3.  3x6 Bee Blocks - I have accumulated enough blocks to make this quilt!
4.  Citrus Quilt - I have 10 of the 12 blocks I need, so the plan is to make 2 more blocks, then sandwich, quilt and bind
5.  Granny Squares Quilt - I have 12 of 18 blocks I need, so I'll make 6 more blocks, then sandwich, quilt and bind (SQB for short!)
6.  String Blocks Quilt -  I have 40 string blocks, so that should be plenty, , so make the top, then SQB
7.  Bow Tie Quilt - I have 80 bow ties, again, plenty, so make the top, then SQB
8.  Bento Block Quilt - I have 40 bento quarters, again plenty, so make the top and SQB
9.  Breath of Avignon Quilt - I'll have to see where I am with this one, but I think I can get it done as well.

Not.  One.  Single.  Finish.

I guess the good thing about lists is that this is MY list, and I can do it or not do it as I choose.  So, all those things will remain on the list.  For now.  Maybe I'll do better in September.

Maybe.

Meanwhile,  I have to go make a dress.

It's not on THE LIST either.

But despite progress on the list, I'm linking up with Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day.  Won't you join me?

Productive...

Despite all the anxiety of having a potential hurricane barreling down on us, I did manage to turn off the Weather Channel long enough yesterday to finish up some quilty items.  I had planned to sew all weekend, but Saturday, when the storm looked like it was heading directly for us, husband went into the panic preparedness mode and we ended up shopping for things like bread, batteries and plywood.  Once the storm began to turn to the west, things got a lot more sane at our house, and I realized that turning off the tropical updates every 10 minutes was a healthy thing to do.

First, I made this pinwheel notebook cover for the Super Swaps covered notebook swap.  The pinwheels were the bonus HSTs from the mini-Swoon blocks I made for the 3x6 bee a couple of months ago.  I love it when things I might otherwise throw in the trash become useful and beautiful in another project.  It makes me feel so - thrifty!  I used a standard composition book for the journal.  They are inexpensive, easy to find, and a pretty nice size to write on.

Then I made a name tag for my partner in the RATZ (Rapid and Tiny Zakka Swap).  I thought I signed up for this swap and was perplexed when I didn't receive a partner.  I had just about reconciled myself to not playing this round, which wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen, when the swap mama emailed me and said that someone else was left out too, and asked if I wanted to partner up.  Naturally, having a chronic inability to say "no", I agreed.  This is a sneak peek at the name tag I made for her.

And finally, I finished my Raspberry Sundae Bowls with Borders mini quilt.    I took the photo with my phone, so the colors aren't perfect.  Overall though, I'm pleased with how it turned out.  Raspberry Sundae is currently winging her way to Germany, which is somehow fitting, considering that is where the pattern came from.  How ironic is that?

So, all in all, despite the distraction of the weather threat, I feel like it was a pretty productive weekend.

Super Swaps Covered Journal Swap

1. 1st finish of 2012, 2. Pieced quilted book cover, 3. Capa para agenda, 4. Foxy Sketchbook, 5. Selvage Book Cover, 6. Recycled Cloth Journal cover, 7. DS fabrics journal cover, 8. Journal made with Bliss from Moda Fabrics, 9. Composition Book Cover, 10. Quilted Journal Cover, 11. journal cover, 12. Journal Cover, 13. journal cover, 14. Echino journal cover, 15. Monogrammed Planner Cover, 16. Whimsy Plus journal cover, 17. Stack of selvedge notebooks, 18. Eiffel Tower Journal, 19. Selvedge notebook/journal cover, 20. Calendar-cover: front, 21. Notebook Cover, 22. journal front and back, 23. Scripture tote, book cover, journal cover, quilted journal cover, quilted book cover, 24. Journal Cover, 25. Linen + anything = success!

Apparently, I just can't say no to a good swap.  This one is no exception.  This one is called Super Swaps.  Last round we swapped oven mitts, and I got that awesome package from marslaura.  This time, we're swapping journal covers.

I was flitting around blogland today and saw that Kristy had made a mosaic for this swap, and I thought, "What a good idea!" so when I got home this evening, I decided to do the same.  I searched "journal covers", and quite honestly, I had a really hard time finding covers I liked enough to put in a mosaic.  Many were too unstructured or too "messy" for my taste.  Some were too artsy and too multi-media, and while that can be fun, it's not really me.  Some were felt, and while felt certainly has it's place, a felt book cover seems like it would last me - oh - about 3 weeks.  Some were painted or made of paper.  Some were (dare I say it?) just plain ugly.


But, all that searching (I literally looked at hundreds of book covers) helped me to think about what I do want in a journal cover.  I would like something I could take to work if I needed to, so I would like it to be fairly structured and - well - tidy.

I would like it big enough that I can write down ideas or even sketch them as they occur to me.  I'm thinking the perfect cover would fit one of those composition notebooks you can buy in the school supply section of Wal-Mart or Target, or even at the dollar store.

I want to be able to use it a long time,so it would be great if I could put on a new book when the old one is full.  And it would be great if it latched closed so that if I tucked a sketch from some random napkin into the book it would stay there.

Knowing me, it should be washable.

As with all quilty things, I like bright colors and cheerful themes.  I love brights on white, but that may not be the best idea for a journal cover.  Gray and linen might be a really good choice for this project.  I would like to have it made from modern fabrics.  Selvages would be way fun.  Embroidery is fab.  Solids are OK.  Batiks, not so much. 


Wonder what my partner will like? Hope she makes a mosaic and gives me some good hints.  I think this will be a really fun project.