Jennifer's Quiltie

I joined a quilting block swap on Flickr way back in August 2010 - the 3 x 6 mini bee. The concept is that you commit for 1 quarter at a time (so you can jump in or out as your schedule permits), and each quarter you're paired with 6 other people. You commit to making a block for each of them, but the catch is that all of the blocks you make are identical in design and different in colour. We supply our chosen colours to the group and that's absolutely the only input we have in what we get back.

Anyway I joined knowing that what I wanted to make was a lap/nap quilt for Jennifer. Her favourite colour is purple, and I just don't have a lot of purple in my stash. I knew this would be a great way to get a variety of purples :) I chose purple, grey and white for my colours.

I completed 3 rounds of the bee and made a few extra blocks myself, and was able to deliver for her a sweet VERY PURPLE sampler quilt when we got together in New Hampshire for our yearly scrap, drink and gab session :)



I love it when a plan comes together ;)

Fabric Basket Fun

Fabric baskets made from the awesome Pink Penguin tutorial (destined to be gifts for my April retreat-mates - Jennifer, Tina and Louise :) )

A swap

I love online swaps. There's something liberating about making things for other people who you don't really know - you get to work outside your comfort zone with pretty much no fear. Cool :)

I made this little quilted place mat for a Flickr swap. It's unlike anything else I've ever made, and I love it. The appliqué was cut by hand out of black cotton fused to steam a seam, then sewn to a pieced background (the idea was to go for a sunset look).

It's currently flying all the way to the west coast. I hope it makes it there soon!

Scrappy Mug Rug - completed

Another swap :) Can't help it, these are fun. This is a "mug rug", basically an oversized coaster designed to hold your coffee mug or tea cup and a little snack.

It measures about 4.5 inches by 8.5 inches and is made from two foundation pieced string blocks in a variety of green and blue fabrics with a punch of red.

Somehow it almost looks Christmassy to me. Maybe I should make another for Santa's milk and cookies?

DQS9 received

Ohhhhh I love this!!!! I can't believe I didn't see it in the pool, it's the most gorgeous thing (and Tina it could not have come at a better time, I soooooo needed this wonderful pick-me-up today!)

DQS9 complete

My entry for the Flickr Doll Quilt Swap #9.

The piecing is pretty good if I do say so myself, and the quilting isn't bad either. I stitched a few lines of silver filament through the dark grey squares to give a chain impression, gives it a lovely subtle sheen. The binding, however, is not great. I've really struggled lately with binding and I made many mistakes on this one. Oh well, hopefully that will be overlooked by it's new owner...

PQS3

I joined my first quilting swap last year, the placemat quilt swap. It seemed so low pressure and friendly... and I had a blast :) Fast forward - it's now Placemat Quilt Swap 3. And while I haven't *quite* finished the one I'm sending out yet, I received this beauty from Laura in New Brunswick (along with matching pcnic bag and sandwich container full of ymmies!). I am a seriously happy camper :)

How I spent my summer vacation

I'm on vacation this week. We're enjoying a 'staycation', which is hardly a hardship given our great yard and pool. Today, day 1, we've played in the park, gone for a walk and swam in the pool, and I've worked on a placemat mini quilt.. Alas, the weather promises to be ookie most of the week...