Oh - One More Thing!

Awhile back, during Quilt Market, in fact, I completed my Ugly Quilt for the Save the Uglies Quilt Challenge.  I received two pieces of seriously ugly fabric in the mail and the challenge was to make a quilt from these hideous fabrics.

Well, as it turns out, I was the only entrant into the contest.  But, the organizers awarded me a prize anyway, which was a $25 gift certificate to Pink Castle Fabrics.  I had a really fun time shopping and choosing, and this week, I received my package.

And since I'm on something of a fabric diet due to the upcoming wedding (lack of sewing time and hit on the pocketbook), this little treat was especially welcome.  There's some Ruby Star Rising viewfinders (oh, yes, that reminds me of my childhood), some Lizzy House Castle Peeps, some Newsprint, a little Farmdale, and some Heather Ross Mendocino.  All things my LQS doesn't have and super fun!

So, just one more piece of fun mail!

Fun Mail

Lately, when WH goes to get the mail, he is frequently heard to call out, "You've got fun mail."  I love that he is almost as excited as I am to see those interesting envelopes show up in the box.  

So, guess what I got in the mail yesterday?  {Jumps up and down and dances in circles!}  My Sewn Spaces Swap sewing machine cover came!  Would you just look how cute this is?  LRH is so adorable inside the star.  Can't wait to put this baby on my machine!  I asked for bright and cheerful, and this certainly fills the bill.  So, so cute!

My partner, quiltergirl80 had a family emergency and was called away in the middle of the swap.  I have to admit that before I knew the story, I despaired of getting a cover.  I consoled myself with the thought that I got a great cover from Suzettra in the Make Mine Modern Swap, notwithstanding the fact that I have 4 sewing machines.  Or is it 5? 

But despite a pretty darn difficult month, Kristy came home and sat down and made a cover for my sewing machine.  I am pretty impressed.  And, I'm pretty durn lucky, huh!

And that wasn't all the "fun mail" I've received this week.  I got  6 more blocks for my Christmas quilt and the fabric to make the block for Marci's block.  Too fun!

Here are my 6 blocks!

CF Bee Blocks from Julie @ Distant Pickles

CF Bee Blocks from kristina_withak

CF Bee Blocks from toerintx

So, we've had a pretty fun mail week here.

And in other news, I finally finished the placemats for  Placemat Quilt Swap 6.  Here's another sneak peek. 

When I finished the quilting on the other side, I got this idea that it would be fun to embroider the dragonflies.  Boy, did that take forever.  I figured it would take about an hour or so for each placemat.  It took more like 4 hours each.  And you know, once you've begun, the only thing to do is continue on.  I did one Thursday evening and one Friday evening and started at 6 am Saturday.  With only a few minutes off for breakfast and a shower, I finally finished about 1:30.  Then I had to bind them, package them, and head off to the post office.  So, they were late, but not by much.  I'm pretty happy with them.  I hope my partner thinks they're worth the wait.

Mail Call!

PP7 received from quiltndot2003

The mailman has been pretty good to me for the last 10 days or so, but I haven't managed to stop long enough to take pictures.  I finally received my PP7 potholders and bag, and they were worth waiting for.  I love the yellow, and the aqua flowers with red centers make them so sunny and cheerful.  The watermelon market bag is perfect as well.  I love the watermelon seed lining.

3x6 beeblock from Dorrie

I also received my last 3x6 bee block made by Dorrie.  I love the tiles, and the flower in the center is so fun.  I'm sitting out the next round of this swap, for obvious reasons (something to do with a wedding), and I'm really kind of sad about it.  I'm hoping for 6 more awesome blocks and I'll make my sampler quilt.

Blocks received from the citrus surprise swap

I also received my 10 blocks from the Citrus Surprise block swap.  Won't this make a fun quilt?  I was sorry that more people didn't participate in this swap (I seem to have a knack for random swaps) but it was fun.  The other 3 ladies that participated in this swap were far more creative than I was.  I made 10 of the same block using slightly different fabrics, while everyone else made each block different.  That was seriously too much work for me - in fact, it didn't even occur to me - but I'm glad it worked out that way.  This will make a fun sampler quilt too.

CF Bee blocks from Stephanie

I received my first two CF Bee blocks.  I'm going for a Christmas village.  My inspiration was a bunch of Flickr blocks and the song "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas."  I think Stephanie did a great job.  There are also some awesome blocks in the Flickr group pool.  Can't wait to assemble all these and get my "village" built!

Santa Sack Swap from Pauline in the UK

And I received my first installment of Santa Sack Swap goodies from Pauline in the UK.  She is really on the ball, isn't she, considering that I haven't started yet.  The good news is that I do know exactly what I'm going to make.  Better get with it.  Do you know how hard it is to get goodies - especially international goodies - in the mail and not open them?

Aurifil Thread from Leona's Quilting Adventure sponsored giveaway

And believe it or not, I actually won a giveaway.  I have heard so much online about this thread, I was excited to win some to try.   The giveaway was on my friend Leona's blog.  She was my partner in one of my very first swaps - Spicing Up the Kitchen, I think.  Anyway, thank you, Leona.  I guess now I'll have to modify my, "I never win anything" lament to "I seldom win anything."  It's nice to break my losing streak though!

Ah, I love good mail.