Doll Quilt Swap 14 - Received!

The other day I received the most amazing mini quilt in the mail!

Photo by Andrea

I was very intrigued last week when Andrea shared a sneak peek of her DQS quilt back - Anna Maria Horner fabric - the caption of the photo said that this was all that she could share without giving it away. The extras she showed were all fantastic drool-worthy Anna Maria Horner fabric scraps... and well I started wishing and hoping for that quilt to come to me! Without even having seen the front I secretly hoped it was Harry Potter related.

You see, at the beginning of each swap everyone fills out a questionnaire stating their likes and dislikes. Along with the typical stuff (I'm obsessed with AMH fabric, paper piecing, tiny quilt blocks etc) in my questionnaire I said I'd adore a Harry Potter themed mini. Apparently all I had to do was ask!!

Best quilt label ever!!

Andrea's quilt did indeed come to me! I couldn't be happier!! It really is just perfect!! I was so excited that this afternoon I re-arranged my mini quilt wall. I chose to hang the mini quilts from the last three rounds of the Doll Quilt Swap. I ran out of command hooks so once I restock those I'll have to see how many more mini's will fit on that little wall!

Thank you so much Andrea! You put a lot of effort into piecing this tiny little quilt - and the perfection is astounding! I hope you know your quilt will bring a smile to my face every day! :)

Doll Quilt Swap 14 - and new traditions.

It's 8:00 on Friday morning. Friday. One of my only days to sleep in. Well, those days are over I guess. Allie and I have started a new tradition. Friday morning I wake up BEFORE her (ugh). And once she's up I make breakfast and coffee. She sits next to me watching cartoons (It's The Magic School Bus today), and I sit next to her and catch up on email stuff - for just a few minutes. So far it's working and she's happier. I guess maybe Friday's can be my one morning to write a blog post? 

I'm still working hard at work and working hard at home to find a couple nights a week to dive into my sewing. It's not an easy thing - I miss my 3am sewing sessions! 

The past few weeks I've been pushing myself to finish my Doll Quilt Swap mini. Today is the due date for it and I just finished on Weds!! My swap partner had very simple requests (one sentence). After a bit of stalking her flickr I realized that her style is pretty similar to mine. She likes Anna Maria Horner and Tula Pink, she likes saturated colors and low volume texty backgrounds. With that I got started sketching. 

My sketches were all over the place but ultimately I went with this layout because I wanted to sew these blocks. I've been looking for an excuse to try these arrows. 

I used some favorite fabrics and I'm a little surprised that I managed to use so much of that Sweetwater newsprint fabric (it's OOP and I love it). I knew my partner would love it too though, so it's worth it!

Now for the details. The cross stitch blocks were made following Alyssa / Pile O' Fabric's tutorial. They finished at 2". The arrows were pieced freely (no pattern, just playing around) they finished at 3.5" x 16". The total quilt measures 16" x 21". 

I'm mailing this little quilt to my partner today and I sure hope she loves it!!