Stitch Duchess Pin Cushion Swap

Stitch Duchess Pin Cushion Swap received from Catherine in NZ

I am really enjoying swapping.  I get to make things and try things that I might otherwise not try, and send them to people who will (hopefully) enjoy them, and at the same time I get something fun in the mail that I will enjoy.  Great plan, huh?  A perfect symbiotic relationship.  So awhile back I participated in the Stitch Duchess Pin Cushion Swap.  It was really fun.  I received the above package from my partner, all the way from New Zealand!  There is just something about an international package that makes it even more special and exotic.

And a week or so ago - right at the deadline, in fact - I mailed off my little creation to my partner, who happened to be the Stitch Duchess herself (whose real name, oddly enough, is Wendy too - what are the odds of having 2 swap partners at the same time with the same name as myself?)...

And then, I apparently erased the pictures from my camera.  So if you want to see what I made for her, you'll have to go here.

ETA:  I found the photo of the pinnies I made.

Thanks, Stitch Duchess, for a fun swap!

Swap Anticipation

Scrappy Mug Rug  Package from Wendy T

I have been anxiously awaiting the mailman for the past month or so.  I have participated in 3 swaps lately - well 2 now - that I haven't received yet, and the waiting is getting hard.

Here is the package I received Friday from Wendy T (lovethesky40).  Isn't this package the cutest?  The travel portfolio is so adorable.  Perfect for the girl whose grandbaby lives 2000 miles away.

Isn't she the cutest?

The "Passport" has fabric pics of all kinds of great places to visit.  And all the handmade travel cards in the portfolio are very cute.  And the girl in the swimsuit on the mug rug itself is just too die for.  

But my other swaps have not been so gratifying as yet.  I'm not ungrateful - I'm just impatient.

The PP7 package I created for my partner

I did  Potholder Pass 7, and mailed my package a month ago, but haven't received a package yet.

Sewn Spaces Swap Package for my partner

I also did the Sewn Spaces Swap and haven't received anything from my partner yet.  I sure hope they come soon.  I'm getting not-so-patient with the mailman.  I hope they're not lost!

But meanwhile, you'll find me by the mailbox, K?

Block Party Saturday

Mondo Bird pair for Laine in First Time Bee.

With all the craziness going on at my house lately - graduation, Quilt Market, work and DD#2 getting engaged, I've fallen behind on my swaps and bees, so I spent yesterday catching up. 

Taking the most tardy first, I completed the Mondo birds for justplainlaine in the First Time Bee.  I tried them a couple of weeks ago, and messed them up, so I was a little bit intimidated going back to them, but I was pleased with the results.

Mondo Mom

Mondo Baby

Then I worked on the blocks for the 3x6 Bee.  I had a terrible time with these because my pattern was for a 12 -inch block and I was supposed to make 12.5 inch blocks, and somehow I didn't ever seem to get the math right.  To top it off, I broke my quilting foot just before quilt market and haven't been able to find a replacement locally.  Guess I'll have to hunt the Net.  In any event, here are the blocks I made...  Can you believe 6 blocks took me all day? 

For Sabi - green and cranberry with pink and orange

For Darcy - autumn theme

For Dorrie - blue, aqua, green

For Dustin - beige, burgundy and dark brown

For Kathleen - greens and burgundies (totally missed the sunset comment though, sorry)

For Micci - blue

I have also received 5 of my 6 blocks for the 3x6 Bee.  It has been fun to get little packages in the mail the last couple of weeks!

From Sabi

From Darcy

From Dustin

From Kathleen

From Micci

Busy Weekend

This weekend, we had company.  And not just any company.  This was very special company.  BD#2 brought a boy home.  We spent Saturday doing touristy things in Pensacola, which was pretty fun, because we don't do that very often.  We went to the "Naviation Museum" (a term HS coined when he was about 6, and which is now part of our family lexicon) and had a top-notch tour guide.  Yup, WH is perfect for the role.  Having a Master's in Military History and a life-long love of all-things-aviation, he was almost certainly a better guide than the ones provided by the museum, not to take anything away from them, of course.

We had a really good time.  I hope he did.

Then, on Sunday evening, he took her for a walk on the beach, and she came home with this

and plans to be married here

on September 3.

Oh my.  I think I'm suddenly looking at a pretty busy summer.

SMS Giveaway Winner!

Thanks so much to everyone who visited and left a comment during the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway.  I've had so much fun reading your comments.  It's been fun to see what new fabrics everyone is excited about.  I've replied to some of you, but haven't been able to reply to everyone yet.  I hope to be able to reply to everyone in the next few days.  (We're having company this weekend, so I've been away from blogland scrubbing and cleaning.  I would much rather be here with y'all!)

But, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and so it is with this little giveaway.  My friend RNG (Random Number Generator) has picked

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

98

Timestamp: 2011-05-26 12:12:36 UTC

who is Melissa, who said,

Melissa said...

Thanks for the giveaway! I love Tula Pink Prince Charming.

May 24, 2011 4:04 PM 

Congratulations, Melissa!  Email me your address and I'll get that in the mail to you - probably Tuesday.

Thanks again to everyone who entered.  Check back with me, because there might just be a little something later for you Little Apples fans - if I can bear to part with it!

Quilt Market Loot - and a Giveaway!

One of the really cool things about quilt market was the fun things people were giving away.  My favorite, of course, was the mini charm squares.  I was fortunate enough to snag a couple and boy are they cute!

But there were some other fun things, too.  Some folks gave away patterns.   This one is cute.

I totally missed out on the mini charms of Ruby, but I was fortunate enough to get a pattern.  See those receiving blankets made with Ruby flannel?  That flannel just may be the softest flannel known to mankind.

The folks at Interweave gave me a calendar and a whole bunch of magazines.

 And then of course there were the brochures.  sarahjane's new fabric is gorgeous, but I especially loved the embroideries.

And Jillily's booth was so fun.  They were giving away mini sorbet cones in some great summertime flavors.  My favorite was raspberry.  Yummy!









There was some other loot as well, but I haven't taken photos of it all.  Suffice it to say that my luggage was heavier coming home than it was on the outbound trip.

And since the folks at QM were so generous, I thought I would share.  If you caught this post, you know that I have a running love affair with French General (shhhhh...  don't tell WH!) so you can tell that I really love this fabric.  It's classic and fresh and olde worlde all at the same time.  So I really hope you will like today's giveaway as much as I do.  It includes a mini charm pack of French General's new line Panier des Fleurs, which comes with a project sheet for a sweet hexi pin cushion, and a copy of the 2010 Quilting Arts Gifts magazine.  Even though the mag is last year's, there are some fun, simple gifts lurking within those pages.  I had a browse through it and I think I'm going to try one or two of these ideas before it wings its way to someone else's home.

So what do you need to do to win?  Just leave me a comment and let me know your favorite fabric from this spring's collections, or let me know what fabric you're most looking forward to for summer/fall.  That's it.  I'd love it if you'd FOLLOW my blog, but it's not required.  ETA:  Oh - and I forgot to mention, be sure I have a way to contact you if you win.  Duh!  And I think I forgot to mention that this giveaway ends THURSDAY, May 26 at midnight.

And if you're in the mood for a little web surfing, check out Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day post.  Lots of folks in blogland are having giveaways today.

Good luck!

I'll Never Do That Again

Next weekend, we have company coming.  This may not be a startling fact until you realize that WH has been remodeling the guest bathroom since Thanksgiving.  He actually is a wonderful craftsman, but quick? - not so much!

Anyway, I started out the weekend with the thought that I really needed to clean house.  Having the bathroom "under construction" for so long has provided all the justification I needed to neglect the cleaning and spend more time sewing.  I did, in fact, get some cleaning done.  But in the process of trying to tidy up my sewing room (it is just too small to call it a "studio"), I decided that since Monday is quilt guild night, if I got these two MIAGIA quilts finished, quilts that were already sandwiched and pin-basted, it would get them out of the basket and make the room tidier.  Makes sense, right?

Last quilt guild night, one of the ladies mentioned that MIAGIA quilts are a great project to use to practice new techniques.   "What  a great idea!" I thought.  I had already tried (definitely not mastered, you understand, but tried) the FMQ meandering stipple, so I decided to try the stippled pebbles.  BIG MISTAKE!!  I used up an entire 850 meter spool of Guitermann thread, about half a spool of serger thread, at least 25 bobbins, and about 6 hours.  NOT what I had in mind.  And worst of all, I really don't like the way it looks.  It could be my technique, but nevertheless, i won't be doing that again.

The good news is that both MIAGIA quilts are now quilted.  The bad news is that I'm too tired tonight to bind them, so the chances of them being done in time for the quilt guild meeting tomorrow night are slim.  Ah well, maybe next month.