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!

Friendship Bag Swap

Well, my resolution to ease up some on my swapping barely lasted a month, but this one was just too good to pass up.  This was an easy little project filled with fun goodies for my partner.

It started with an adorable little quilted gift bag made from Rachel's tutorial (of psiquilt fame).  And isn't it so much more fun and environmentally friendly than those cheap paper ones you buy at the dollar store?

For the outside, i used strips from that same FE bundle of Bonnie & Camille's Ruby that BD#1 got me at Sample Spree a couple of years ago - yup the same one that I made the Simple Merry Christmas Quilt and the Love Pillow from.  It's really amazing how far a FE bundle will go!  I used a scrap of texty print from the Waterfall pillow as the base.

My partner said she liked texty fabric, so I lined it with a texty print in the same colors as the outside.

And then the fun began....

I started filling it up.  I had the best time!  I hope there's something in there that will make my partner feel special.

Because that's what friends are for.