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!!

Doll Quilt Swap 14 - Finally a bit of progress!

We're nearing the end of the 14th round of the Doll Quilt Swap on flickr. I can't believe it! I was working thinking that the final mail date was Feb 14, not Jan 31! Oops! 

This week I really buckled down and settled on a sketch. I picked out my fabric and now today I found a bit of time to sew! I have completed 7 cross stitch blocks (the tutorial for these can be found at Pile O' Fabric). The blocks finish at just 2 1/2" and that makes me happy! I'm going to work on some free pieced arrows to add to this... and I'm adding FMQ text too. I sure hope my partner loves it because I love it a lot already!

I'm hoping to have some time next week to keep working on this. I'm really inspired by so much of the work I'm seeing in the DQS group right now. It's just the inspiration I need to push through the rest of this dreary and COLD winter. I'm ready for some sunshine!