March Minis

I recently participated in a couple of mini quilt swaps and I received two of the minis this month.

The first one was from the ALQS8.  It is called Mason’s Whirl and was made by Marie (no blog) in NH and I really love her design and use of colors.  As I have said before, this is a fabulous swap each year.




My second mini quilt came from Sharon as she was my partner this round in our Sewing with Friends swap.  Her work on this is perfect and I love how this little quilt says “spring” through and through.



This past year I have been a member of a Japanese X&+ block swap.  Our group sadly fell apart along the way and we were only left with a few members.  I hated to see the blocks that I had received not be put to good use so I have slowly added more blocks over the year as I made exchange blocks for others.  I think I now have enough to make a top with them.  After looking at the photo of the blocks, I see a few that need to be changed, but this will be my goal for April’s ALYoF.





One last March project that was finished was a feedsack challenge.  Emily provided us with a vintage feedsack to repurpose and this is what I decided to do with mine.




I cut up some old denim jeans, used an orphan quilt block and used the feedsack to create a pillow for the sofa.  It has a nifty pocket on the back to store the ever lost remote control!  Thanks, Em, for the chance to play with the feedsack.

One last note - Jacquelynne Steve's new Art of Home spring e-magazine is coming out this week.  You can go here to sign up for your free copy which is going to be filled with wonderful projects, patterns, recipes and ideas for spring.

 





Now.......onwards to April!

Making Aqua Headway

I’m really enjoying working on my New York Beauty blocks.  This was a QAL from several years ago and although I printed off all of my blocks, I did not get all ten sets finished.  The color aqua must be on my mind since that is the RSC14 color this month.




The aqua continued with the arrival of my swap quilt from the ALQS8.  This piece was made by Mary Jackson and came from the U.K.  I really love the wonderful scrappiness of this quilt and the workmanship is excellent.  The colors are fabulous too.




Switching gears a bit…. I completed a table runner for an auction that is coming up later this month.  I did one last year for the same auction and it went over really well.




The detail of the machine embroidery is a little hard to see in the photo above, but it was completed using various colors of Floriani threads.  These threads are really lovely for machine embroidery.  They have such a beautiful sheen to them. 



We’ll have little ones for the weekend so there won’t be any sewing being done around here. 

End of the Year

Another year is rapidly coming to a close.  It seems inpossible that we are saying goodbye to 2013 already. 

The last month has been so busy and we are now left with great memories.  It was hard to find time for stitching of any sort and my cutting table was in sorry shape.  Everything got dumped on top of it when I was rushing around.  Yesterday was a day for cleaning it up and getting ready for new and old projects. 

Christmas was fabulous!  This was a shot of a very full room as gift opening started. 

Nedra had showed the cutest napkin folding technique on her blog so I used it for our Christmas dinner setting.  It was quite the hit.

I did manage to finish up the newest Christmas stocking for the grandbaby born this year.

The weather for Christmas was amazing and provided us with fun outdoor entertaining.  One flower that grows really well in our area is the poinsettia.  They are all in full bloom right now and this one is at my neice's home.

I received a stunning gift from a dear friend of mine.  She is an accomplished artist and you will see her artwork in many places - LAX and cruise ships to name a few.  This is a new project that she has taken on in her journey.  These are large fabric beads (about 3" across) and can be strung on ribbons, leather or chains.  This one she put on a hand dyed silk ribbon.  She has started an Etsy shop to sell them if anyone is interested.  I cannot tell you how many compliments I have received when I have worn it. 

The little sewing that I have accomplished here has included my mini quilt for the ALQS8 swap coming up next month.  It's not too late to participate if you are interested.  I LOVE the way this swap is run and have participated in the last 4 or 5 of them.

I also completed a couple of wonky houses for Beth's annual Neighborhood Party - one for the party and one for a charity quilt she will make with them.

A couple of fun squishy packages have recently found their way into my mailbox.  These were wins from the most recent Blog Hop Party.  First off was this package of beautiful charms from Kristin at goobadesigns.

Then I received these wonderful mini metal barn quilt designs from Barbara at Cat Patches.  These have little holes so they can be attached with needle and thread if you desire to do so.  They will be fun. 

I wish all of you a wonderful upcoming year.  I will look forward to another year of amazing creativity and inspiration from all of you.   

A Lost Week

The past week I have been battling an upper respiratory infection and my head has been in a fog.  Needless to say, there has not been a lot of productivity from this end.  The one thing that I did get finished was my needlecase for the Sewing With Friends Swap.  Since it has arrived at my swap partner's house, I can share it with you.

Ida has a pet turtle, as do wee, so I took off on that idea.  I really had fun creating this little guy.

.......but, best of all, look at what Ida made for me.  I just love how elegant this crazy quilt needlecase is.  She did such a fabulous job on it and filled it with all sorts of terrific goodies.  I love how personalized it is with the "M" on one side and the cowboy boot (Ida lives in Texas) on the other.    This has been such a fun group for swapping.

I was really glad to see Kate start up her newest swap - ALQS8.  I LOVE the way this swap is run and I have been thrilled with each round that I have been a participant.  This one is for a mini quilt so check it out and join in if you are interested. 

I had a really fun win arrive in the mail this week too.  This was from Jamie at Busy Bee Quilts .  Isn't the emergency thread kit a great idea?  It's all the colors that you are constantly needing.  Of course I love the jelly roll and look forward to using that in the near future.   Thanks so much, Jamie.

Since I have spent the better part of the week sitting around, I did make some great progress on my Christmas Stocking.  I am now onto the outlining stage.

One last small project that I tackled was another friendship bag.  The colors don't show up well, but it is in purples, blues and pinks.