Happy Mail

These last few days my mailbox has been turning up lots of goodies! I just love a fun fabric swap- I feel both parities always come out on top - new pretties for both!

Goodies from Kelly- I swapped some Outside Oslo fabric that I loved, but just wasn't getting around to sewing with. Now I've got new prints to go with some other projects I'm working on!

I received this tiny, and oh so adorable crochet baby hat from the shop Two Cute Boutique. It is so sweet in it's simplicity!

A pretty bundle from Karen, I became inspired for a few projects once I opened up the envelope!

A too stinkin cute monkey hat from RoseyToesCrochet. I love how very thick this hat is - it should be great for keeping baby warm this winter!

Fun, fun polka dots from Bonnie! These will work as some great coordinates for some of the projects I have planned! and I think that fun math problem fabric would make for a very fun baby bib!

DQS11 Inspiration

Sorry for the delay partner! I didn't think I had enough favorites to compile this mosaic, and then I had a hard time narrowing it down to just a few!

These are just a few of my favorite quilts, or little quilties that I am drawn to lately. I like bright colors, solids, and palettes of just a few colors are very loved. I hope this helps you, but please don't be to stressed about what to make me! I am sure I will love the bitty doll quilt you make me :)

Here are a few notes about why I choose the quilts in my inspiration mosaic:
1: Love a cathedral block, and all the crisp white with color
2: Grey & yellow, a fav color combo of mine as well as love for zig zags!
3: Love the cool color palette used in these blocks, and I think the wonky log cabins would be great bitty!
4: The quilting is amazing, as well as all the saturated colors against the white.

5: More grey and yellow love, also the polka dots and pinwheels are great!
6: Love the colorful pinwheels when combined with the grey. The simple quilting is also fantastic.
7: Awesome whirly-gig blocks, love the bright yellow with teal and grey!
8: Simple block in fabulous colors!

9: More zig zag love, and I love orange & teal together!
10: I love cross and plus quilts. I really love all the solids in this quilt against the white.
11: I love all the motion the flying geese and quilting have in this quilt
12: Love the polka dots & solids together

14: Love the wonky crosses and color palette!
15: Oh this block makes my heart pitter patter! I have a new found love for purple and combined with grey it is so sweet! I also love that this block is so simple, yet has an amazing end result.
16: oops! repeated from 7

SUTK Goodies

I got my amazing package from Collen this weekend for the Spicing Up the Kitchen swap,

3 great art hoops, 2 patchwork tea towels and 2 potholders. I feel so spoiled!

I love how fresh and sunny the potholders are, and they have little loopies on the back!

I am going to have a hard time putting these towels out to get used! I like how they have the big applique fruit on the front!

These hoops are perfect for my kitchen! We have one main (empty) wall that these are going to be perfect on. I love how I can hang some bitty buntings up, without actually having a kitchen bunting (something my hubs would not go for!). The embroidered words and Love flags just make these so perfect!

Thanks to Erin and Darci for hosting such a great swap.. I am already eager for a round 3!

Spicing up the Kitchen Inspiration

Dear Partner,pardon my tardiness but here is some inspiration for this swap, with some goodies I received last round as a starter! I love citrus colors, linen, patchwork squares rectangles and even triangles. I love crisp quilting and everything scrappy! A few random things I would love to recieve in this swap: Tea towels, cloth napkins, potholders and maybe even a mini wall quilt! Counter and table space is limited in my kitchen, so I don't have any more space for runners or placemats.

DQS10 Received..

I received the most Amazing little quilt from Pam - Uberstitch! My package came while our computer was getting repaired, so I tucked it away until I could send proper thanks first!

Pam did such an amazing job at making me a quilt with everything I love! (Pam, I would have been happy with your first ideas as well!) I love the mix of orange, blue and grey, the linen binding and the little details like the rounded corners and fussy cut centers of each block! The quilting is great, and compliments the quilt perfectly!

She sent along some great goodies too - I feel So spoiled!

A cross rug mug, lunch notes, a lunch tote (that my kids ran off with!), a fq of lime apples, extra of the Riley Blake print from the backing, and a charm pack of Sugar Pop! I am thinking about making myself a throw quilt with the charm pack, the whole line is pretty! Thanks Pam, for making the end of this round so very sweet for me!

DQS10 Sent..

We finally have our computer back from repairs so I can start posting regulariyl again, and my partner has received her quilt! I sent to Lori (lollydo), and had a lot of fun stalking her likes and making this little quiltie for her!

I tried to make this quilt full of everything she loves - orange, circles and trees! It was a bit of a challenge to try and incorporate it all into one quilt!

The back of the doll quilt, I pebble quilted the center, and it really stands out on the back! (the crayon is covering Lollydo's name, as the pic was taken before she received!)

The applique + pebbling reminded me of bubble wrap! It really gave it a nice 3-D texture!

I also sent along a few bits of fabrics I thought she would love! Lori posted a picture of the doll quilt hung up, it look great against her yellow wall!

Doll Quilt Swap progress

I have finally gotten my ideas together and started to work on my doll quilt for DQS10

Bright orange with bits of aqua and grey.

I got the quilt top finished up, and just need to applique the circles on and quilt it all! I am thinking pebbling in the center around the circles, and straight line quilting around the coins. I am hoping the quilting really brings all the elements of this quilt top together!

{SUTK} swap goodies!

I received my swap goodies from the {SUTK} swap this weekend!

Oneblessedmama4 sent me such lovelies, and perfectly my style!

A great table runner, awesome appliques tea towels, a cute card, hexies and even some yummy tea!

The table runner is so perfectly sunny! And I have a new found love for cross hatch quilting!

Tea towels with little hexagons! Practical, and cute!

I has some leftover scraps sitting on my table after I sent out my SUTK package, and made this little potholder and little table runner.

I felt quite lucky that I was sending to a partner that also had the same tastes as me!

Now I can't wait until this weekend when we are in the new house, and I can use everything to decorate our new kitchen! Thanks Erin and Darci for hosting (and creating) such a great swap!

{SUTK} Swap Package

I spent Monday binding up my little goodies to send for the Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap.

I made this mini quilt in bright green, orange and yellow, would you believe this was my first attempt at half square triangles?! They are quite addictive, just like piecing hexagons are for me! I think it is great sized that it could be a wall hanging, or as a little table runner or mat.

 A citrus-y potholder, whipped up at the last moment after seeing all the leftover small bits on my table!

I also sent some patchwork tea towels along with the mini quilt and potholder.

This swap was so much fun, and I love how many possibilities of items there was to create! Now I have to wait patiently for my own parcel to arrive!

Fabric Diet & New swaps!

Angela over at Cut To Pieces is challenging other crafters to join her in a fabric diet. The goal? To use the stash you have, and refrain from new fabric purchases for 8 weeks. At the end of each week there is a check in where we can all lend support to each other, and get an entry for fabric. And of course, console other who might have cheated a bit that week.. You can see the rules and join in here Now, swapping is totally legit so I have been trying to sort through my stash to find some new fabrics to use, and swap those I am not using..
Yummies from A Quilt is Nice . These prints will be so great to use in patchwork!
Goodies from ChickenJulie Great boy prints (which I'm always after!)

Woodgrain from SplendorFalls. I am still in search of more woodgrain; especially yellow/almond, if anyone has some in their stash or knows where to get some!

I Spy fabric swap

I got my 200 I spy fabric charms all ready to be mailed out for the 'I spy fabric swap 3.0' hosted over on FabricKate. I am not sending more than 10 of any of the prints, I hope that still gives some diversity to each swap package..

I just saw that there is 14 spots left if anyone wants to sign up!

Or if anyone would like to do a personal swap, I still have more of each print!

One of my projects this year is to get an i spy quilt made for each of my boys, and this swap will be a great way to get some different prints!

Spicing up the Kitchen Inspiration

My inspiration mosaic for the Spicing up the Kitchen [a modern swap]

This is swap is so exciting! I think it is gonig to be great to make something fun and modern to be used in someone's kitchen!

I am hoping to be able to decorate my own kitchen some more, and love the bright, cheery-ness of tangerine orange, lemon yellow and hints of lime.

A mini wall quilt, dish towels, hot pad/potholder, or even tiny fabric fruit would be so lovely,

just please no aprons or placemats as they wont get used (or most likely destroyed by my wee ones!).

I love to bake, especially cupcakes and would love the citrus-y colors to be combined with white, linen or even bits of grey. Have fun partner!

Doll Quilt Swap 9 :: Received!!

I am in love!

I got my partner's doll quilt mailed out yesterday morning, and had this bundle to open up before heading off to work! Everything about this quilt is so lovely! The grey with bright pop of green, the crisp half square triangles and the simple, modern quilting..
Anna - AnnaMichelleQuilts made this for me, and she has sent me over the moon!
such lovely details! polka dot binding and fresh quilting...
And she sent along such great goodies! A Quilting Arts magazine (which I never allow myself to splurge on), an adorable wristlet, silk thread, needles and thimble pads- how sweet!
I am usually so sad at the end of a round of Doll Quilt Swap, but sending and receiving all in one day turned out to be great!

Doll Quilt Swap 9 : Sent

I finished up my DQS9 and got it in the mail this morning! Here it is all finished.. I love the simple, crispness of the red+white..
My favorite block, I love the border with the matching binding..
a close up of the back and label.. sent to..?
I sent along a wee little linen basket with an applique Aunty Cookie fabric on the front.
Partner, I have had so much fun making this quilt.
I had to package it up this morning as soon as the label was sewn on. Otherwise I was going to talk myself into making another to send, just so I could keep this one.
The fabric in the center is hand printed from Australian designer Aunty Cookie.
I feel as though a larger baby quilt might be coming soon with this print, as I have been hoarding it's loveliness far too long..

DQS9 top..

I got my blocks finished yesterday morning for my doll quilt.

I added on a wee 1 inch border

And got it basted and ready to be quilted.. I am thinking to quilt around each of the blocks in squares..

Anyone have any suggestions on how to quilt this (with out going over the poor cookies!) but still make each block pop?

dqs9 fabrics..

I finally picked up a few fabrics for my idea for Doll Quilt Swap.

I went to two different quilt shops this morning, both of which left me a bit disappointed..

Aunty Cookie fabric+ red and whites..

some ric rac or hand embroidered details added in..

Do I need more color?

maybe aqua.. tangerine or grey was even suggested on flickr..

I am going to make blocks like these paintbox blocks,

with the cookies fussy cut in the center.

What do you think?

My pincushion!

I received my pincushion for the scrappy pincushion swap!

I had missed the mailman delivering it, so I had to go to the post office and wait to pick it up - I was so eager to get the package! tiny coins, pretty sunshiney colors, a hint of grey- I love it so!
Even the back is super cute!
Kiki already tried to claim this pincushion as his own, explaining to me 'you already have one!'
westychic76 made the pincushion for me, and she did such a great job and making me the perfect pincushion!
It is stuffed with crushed walnut shells and is the perfect size for me to use next to my machine with my little applique pins.
What a great swap!

Scrappy Pincushion

I finished up my scrappy pincushion! I was so eager to finish it I sewed up the rest yesterday before going into work. I added a tiny 1/4 inch linen border, to coordinate with the backing fabric.

The squares are are 1 inch finished.

The fabric on the back is a Japanese import Little Red Riding Hood cotton/linen print. So lovely.
It is so nice and soft, it seemed like it would make a great little pillow :)
I had so much fun picking out each of these fabrics and piecing them together, I hope my partner loves it!
(Inspired by the pincushion on Bijou Lovely)