DQS10 sent...

Really? did I never blog this?
Here's a picture...

DQS10 Recieved!!!!

Oh I can't begin to tell you how excited I was/am about this little quilt! So I'll start from the beginning.

So yesterday after work DH and I stopped home real quick before heading over to my MIL's place for dinner (and to pick up the kid since she spends Saturdays there while we work). We were walking up the stairs and Wally says, "it looks like you have a package." (as if he didn't know that I'd been stalking the mailman for a week now). I glanced up the stairs at the spot where our landlords put our mail and spy a bit of white paper with the notation "DQSX" and I squealed! Then I grabbed the package and noticed that it was from - get this - India!!! I knew immediately who it was from and what it was!!! :) So exciting!! Shruti from 13 Woodhouse Road was my partner and she got it just right! (if you remember a couple months back I did a guest post on Shruti's blog? Pretty cool that we were matched up together right?). Shruti sent me the most amazing doll quilt which is a bit of a conversation/story of her and myself and Marilyn (flickr: Spiced Coffee) sitting around chatting. She explains it pretty well in this post on her blog. I love how outside of the box this quilt is - literally! Look at the three awesome oval mini quilts on there!! I've never even attempted sewing a curved binding!! So cool and personal! And that polka-dot binding!!! And the words and embroidered words!! :) And... I'll just have to show you how awesome the label is on the back! (I actually forgot to get a pic of the back this afternoon, so maybe I'll re-post with a picture of it tomorrow)

Ok all of this gushing and I haven't mentioned the extras yet have I? So I opened up the envelope (which it was a wonder that it got here since the envelope was ripped! eek!!!) and there were three wrapped packages, one with a tag that said "Doll quilt," one that said, "extras for you," and one that said, "for Allie!" How wonderful seriously! In the little note Shruti explained that she'd bought the little dress (sent for Allie) when she was pregnant, but she had a boy. It's perfectly sweet and Allie absolutely loves dresses! The extras are some pretty amazing fabrics - a bit for me to play with, and a bit for me to play with to make something for Allie! :) So sweet really!! And Allie LOVED opening up hers!!

A little update.

Here are some bullet points about what I've been up to:

• Sent my Doll Quilt Swap out last week and it was received by my bloggy friend Kaelin (The Plaid Scottie). So I can finally reveal that label that was actually the first part of the quilt I made. I tried a bit of embroidery for her little Scottie, and a Chicago flag to represent me (she had lived here once too). I love it!
• Participated in Iron Quilter at the CMQG (Chicago modern quilt guild) meeting a couple weeks ago. I have pictures and have meant to blog about it but it just hasn't happened.
• I had a sewing day (afternoon) with my new guild friend Emily and we had a blast. I worked on a baby shower gift (another one --all these stupid pregnant people), and some blocks to finish up my bee quilt. She finished piecing the top to her modern quilt challenge monochromatic quilt (which is fabulous - go to the link and watch her progress video)!
• I potty trained my 2 1/2 yr old. Whoa. Ok well mostly she wears a pull-up in the car and while sleeping but that's pretty good if you ask me. She's at the intelligence level now that all it really took was a bit of patience and a pretty selection of underwear. (the Ariel ones are her fav's right now).
• This was really trying since we have no washer/dryer here - hence the apartment search is moving forward.
• I broke down and paid $14 for some new Old Navy (men's) PJ pants. I had two pair from high school (eek like 10 yrs ago) that had ghosts on them (my "ghosties") that bit the dust recently. I want to live in my new pants but they need some ghosts on them. I miss my Ghosties... they got me through a lot. I wonder if my brother still has his... (my mom found them on clearance before Christmas that year... we all had at least one pair... even my dad!)
• DH and I got a little date of sorts today. We went to a tea tasting thing at our local tea store. Pretty cool and I know a lot more about tea and tea varieties (loose leaf) than I thought. Next up is tea blending class! (I'm drinking "Forest Berries" black tea right now which is pretty good). FYI my favorite "tea" (Rooibos) is not actually a tea, since it doesn't come from the tea plant. lol. It's still my fav.
• I want to sew right now but I think I might go snuggle in bed with DH and watch some Dexter... although I'm a bit peeved with Dexter right now. Grr (season 4 finale).

DQS10 -- all wrapped up!

This afternoon I decided to spend a little quality time with my Doll Quilt Swap 10 quilt.... Knowing I have to send it away to it's new home next week, I had to stare at it just a few more minutes! I also had to write the label parts on.... and pulled some random bits from my sewing room for extras. Some specially thought out and planned, some just added in at the last minute. I couldn't help myself with the tissue paper and the bows this time. I mean wouldn't you be excited to open up an envelope full of this?!

I was super excited when I found out who my partner was, and I sure hope she really enjoys this little package all wrapped up for her!

I'll leave you with a song, one that framed the creative process with this quilt. The quilt even has a quote from the song embroidered on it. You can see/read more about my DQS10 quilt here. Once the quilt is recieved I'll do a full post about it with pictures of both the front and the back.

Chicago Modern Quilt Guild Spring Retreat!!!

Alright...(insert giggle).

I can't begin to tell you guys how awesome this weekend was! First of all it was really great to feel accepted as a part of this group (even though I'd only ever been to one meeting so far). Second, I was super lucky to be able to get a ride with Emily - so my husband didn't have to make that trip to drop me off (thanks!!!). Third, I accomplished a TON! Fourth, there were nuns. lol Ok I'm going to stop with the numbering and get on with the pictures.

Friday:

 We arrived and set up our sewing spaces. I worked on a couple additional blocks for my bee quilt. Emily had much help unpicking some free motion quilting (that honestly was pretty great and could have been left) -- I know none of my regular friends will understand what that means -- to help someone unpick quilting?! WOW. I got a lot of input about what to do about finishing a mini quilt for my UHGS partner and managed to finish, quilt, and bind it all that night, I also finished binding my DQS10 quilt. Ebony, Emily and I made a pact that we'd stay up until we finished our projects (unpicking quilting - Emily, binding my UHGS mini - me, piecing a baby quilt top - Ebony). It took us until almost 4:30am. lol. Not too much later than normal for me though (notice the clock in the background of Ebony's pic.)

Saturday:

 Breakfast was at 8 but many people slept in. We had enough snacks in the room to feed four times as many people so there was no problem of being hungry. I made it down to the room before 10 and worked almost all day on blocks/quilting/binding the quilt for Gia (which I'll post about later). Ebony gave us a little lesson on how to us MR T and her other cutters. I'd never seen anything like this before. AMAZING! I was impressed too by how people popped up out of the woodwork to help others out when they were cutting on the machine and prepping fabric to cut. Pretty cool. Also cool is the stack of Nicey Jane that I cut into 2 1/2" strips and 2 1/2" squares and millions of circles using the Studio (MR T). It was scary to finally cut into that fabric, but now I'm sure that I'll use it!

So much was accomplished on Saturday. Quilts were coming together all around. We did a charity competition and in a matter of half an hour sewed up enough blocks to make two baby quilts to donate! 

*edit* not Iron Quilt Challenge lol charity competition.

Once again Emily, Ebony and I closed out the place at about... 2 or 3am. Eileen was up nearly as long making the absolute cutest robot/rocket ship pillowcases with her kids' names on them! I got Gia's quilt done (minus the hand sewn binding)!!!

Sunday:

Sunday everyone was wrapping up projects and packing up. Emily finished piecing a million green squares for her (st Patrick's day) altar banners, we had a few more 10 minute demos, and took a group picture.

Here are the projects I worked on. Three blocks for my bee quilt, a baby quilt finished, two doll quilts finished (binding included), a flannel baby blanket sewn, and one cloth napkin embellished (which may have broken my machine....).

I'd say it was a successful weekend! And the group has already reserved the location for two more retreats, one in the fall and one next spring! Exciting!!

Dear swap partners...

(DQS10 & Urban Home Goods) I'm so overwhelmed right now with ideas I want to make for you. I love your style, and we have similar tastes. I want to make it all.

I'm really loving the plethora of inspiration from both partners. Especially UHGS partner. My DQS10 partner makes the most amazing stuff. Seriously drool worthy. I feel like I like all their stuff and all their styles, so I should just go with my heart. But I want to make something just so special for them.... lol. Ah. So I think I have a good start.

DQS10 - Making Progress!

Remember that terrible picture I posted last week of the boat and the sidewalk... it was so not me. So I scrapped it and started my DQS10 planning all over. Here's what I've got: 

Yes, that's a quilted Chicago flag!

This star is just under 2"

My partner better like tiny, because these are 1" squares!

Are you dreaming of my quilt yet?

Well partner, if you're reading this I hope you've enjoyed the little peak. I took a lot of time stitching those words on there...... it's so rewarding. I have just a bit more embroidering to go then I'll be piecing together the back/label/special thing and quilting.

Today's the day...

Things I want to do right now. (I'm feeling unmotivated and sometimes putting out here makes me get off my butt and do something I want to do!)

• make tiny tiny stars. Why? Who knows. Will they be a part of a mug rug? will they be a part of my DQS quilt or Urban Home Goods project? Who knows. I just want to make them. Out of Good folks fabric.

  

  Edit: finished... with one. It measures just under 2 1/4" square and is the cutest thing I've ever made!

  
  
• Scrap my DQS start (minus the special thing - which is AWESOME and I wish I could show it to you guys). I think that curved piecing is fun but the "art quilt" style isn't really me. I think I need a more traditional layout and some embroidered bits to tell the story. I'm not sure what to do with that start, but at least I'll show you:
  
  
• Make some pleated blocks. Or tiny patchwork. 
• Decide what to make for the Urban Home Goods Swap.
 

That's it for now. I'm hoping today doesn't end as crappy as I think it will. 

DQS10!!!!

I just cannot resist the wonderfulness of this group. Last summer I joined my first swap, and lucky me it happened to get into one of the best swaps out there, the flickr Doll Quilt Swap (round 9). Not only did being a part of DQS9 push my boundaries, and encourage me to try new techniques, but it also showed me what a great group of people are out there crafting in the world! 

I'm very lucky to have gotten in this swap again for round 10. This time around the swap mamas had us list in our form whether we were chatty or not. I guess I'm pretty chatty. lol. They placed us with partners that were similar in quilting style, fabric likes, and chattiness. That is turning out to be really cool too since my partner is someone who I've already been admiring. We have lots of things in common... and a couple of those will find their way into the quilt.

Here are my ideas thus far. I'm thinking of using linen with some fabrics like AMH and Tula Pink (parisville), and of course grey. I think for colors it'll be mostly blue, pink, and purples... depending on what format I go with. There will be an embroidered quote there... that I found online last night in a fit of inspiration. Perfect!

As per my usual goal with these swaps I've already started trying new techniques. Today I gave curved piecing a try. It was really much easier than I thought it would be! Seriously, if you haven't tried it, please do! Here's the tutorial I used, although for some of the curves I found cutting the fabrics with scissors gave a bit more control than the rotary cutter.

The one thing I need to remember to keep in mind while doing this, is that the cut line is reduced by your seam allowances. I'd planned on a little more of the pink to show up there in the middle! lol. I see a lot of possibilities here!

What a day!!!

Today is once again Tuesday, which means watching my friend Courtney and her mom Marci kick ass on Biggest Loser (go team AQUA!!!). ...so I haven't watched them just yet, we recorded it while I was at work - off to watch it in just a moment! I hear it's supposed to be a great episode! Can't wait!
(Edited to add: Courtney totally said her trademark "Absolutely" on camera! Awesome!)

And... My very first guest post is now up. 

And... today I got info on my super secret swap partner for the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap #3. Wooo Hoo! I love the stalking and the sketching and planning. As you can see if you scroll down to my earlier posts, I've already started trying new things for this swap! I love it! And with mug rugs you just can't make enough... they're quick and a great way to test out an idea. 

And... although I wasn't expecting to hear anything until this weekend, I also got an email letting me know that I did indeed get into the Doll Quilt Swap 10!!! I'm so completely excited about this!!! The participants are picked via lottery so I didn't know if I'd get in again! Oh I'm excited! I guess I can now make a mosaic for that too! :)

And... today is my mom's birthday! Happy birthday Mom!!! (tomorrow is my dad's birthday!)

And... something else exciting is possibly happening too. But you guys surely don't want to know. More on that later (hopefully).

Is that exciting enough for you guys??

Completely unrelated photo of the kid.