Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap - Sent!

It's been ages. I know. 

No excuses. This is my blog and I'm sad to have let a month go by without sharing a bit of my sewing. It's getting harder and harder to find a minute to post -- but I don't want to let go of the blogging. I love blogging. So thank you to whoever is still out there reading!

Last month I finished this sweet little mini quilt for the Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap. I decided to go with a mini Red Letter Day block - since I can't stand the cuteness of all those tiny bits! Also, I paper pieced a tiny paper airplane there. Really the theme of this was cute (check out those tiny Briar Rose strawberries). 

I have been a bit addicted to paper piecing these days - my preparation for Demoing at International Quilt Fest hooks me every time! I decided to go super personal by spelling out my partner's name in perfectly paper-pieced letters. I imagine with a name like Rhiannon, she doesn't see her name printed on most things. The pattern I used is "My First Alphabet" by Diane Bohn / From the Blank Pages. Diane is awesome and I recommend her patterns - they're great!! 

This one is now living with its new owner Rhiannon / @Raebirdrhi (on instagram)

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!

Doll Quilt Swap 13 Sent!

I'm so excited to share my quilt for DQS13! 

First up is the quilt that I made. I was super excited and nervous when I received my partner assignment. I've known and respected Elizabeth for years. We were in a bee together for two years (I still don't know how I got into that gig!), and we've generally known each other around the blog / flickr world forever. I really love Elizabeth's style and her quilts are fabulous. We have a lot of things in common, our fabric choices are similar, and she loves paper pieced stars too. (she's pretty much the modern paper piecing guru with her BOM!).

I was first inspired by this quilt that I found in Elizabeth's flickr faves / pinterest. I've adored this quilt too so I decided to try my hand at doing a sampler of sorts - but with the twist of the low volume background that it seemed Elizabeth likes (texty fabrics too). 

It proved to be a lot harder to really do it justice given the size constraints. In the end I used some improvisational piecing to put it all together. And major sad face here, I managed to lose my hand sewing kit on a trip back home - inside the kit was a finished (not photographed) attempt at the "Camelot" blocks. If you know me you know I don't particularly enjoy hand piecing.... I didn't have it in me to sew another 30+ 1" pieces together. :(

Fake piped binding and prairie point signature.

I bound it using the fake piped binding look... which was a bit annoying. The last time I did this sort of binding was years ago and I remembered loving it... I think I've grown a lot in precision since then. This wasn't as precise as I would have liked it to turn out. I do love that jolt of pink though. And I'm proud of myself for remembering to include my little signature, the three prairie points. They always make me smile. 

Some little extras, a boxy pouch and some AMH ribbon.

In the end I hope that Elizabeth likes it. I decided I don't really care for the scrappy low volume look for backgrounds, it feels so busy to me. I can't get over it. It was too late to change it though. I do love the look of the text prints if they were used individually as a background. 

Doll Quilt Swap 13 Received!

Fractured Quilt Doll Quilt Swap 13 Received from Silort

I'm so excited about the quilt I received this time around for the Doll Quilt Swap! This is by far my favorite swap, and I'm one of the head swap mamas for it... which meant I split up the bebe's for the other mama's to pair up.... I tried not to remember or even to think about what group I was in... (since partners are paired up within that group. Sneaky Jen, worked with another mama to pair me up so I wouldn't have a clue! It's a good thing too, because I had my eye on this beauty throughout the whole swap!

Doll Quilt Swap 13 Label, Received from Silort

I recieved this fabulous quilt made by Silvana / Silort. Silvana was inspired to try one right off my inspiration mosaic! The pattern for this little one is based off of Charlotte's Pervalong / Fractured quiltalong. Silvana did a great job executing this - the colors are perfect and bold and fun! I love the quilting, which really carries your eye across the piece. 

I'm so excited to get this hung up on my wall! It is perfection!! I'm so lucky to have received such a beauty!! Thanks Silvana!!

Doll Quilt Swap 13 - Sign-ups starting!

We're preparing for another awesome round of the Doll Quilt Swap on flickr. This will be the 13th round - and I'm one of the head mama's for this swap now. I'm pretty excited to have a bigger part in a swap that's so special to me! 

Doll Quilt Swap 9

The swap is open to all active flickr members (posting sewing related pics a couple times a month). If that's you, feel free to go sign up! 

Doll Quilt Swap 10, made for Kaelin / theplaidscottie

This will be my fifth round with DQS. I'll always have a special place in my heart for it since DQS9 was my very first swap (I know that's not supposed to happen since you're required to have participated in a swap before... but I got in!). I have grown and learned a lot throughout those five swap rounds. I've made a lot of really great friends too.

Doll Quilt Swap 11, made for Maria / MollyJolly

I have to say that this swap keeps getting better and better. I always try to push myself to learn something new on my DQS quilts. I also love getting to know my partners after they've received their quilts. 

Doll Quilt Swap 12, made for Mona / QuiltCyclist

Some really great friendships have been formed here - I first "met" Shruti in Doll Quilt Swap - she sent me this fabulous quilt for Doll Quilt Swap 10! We've been friends ever since (maybe one day we'll meet in real life - when my life becomes glamorous enough to take trips to India for a visit! I can dream right?). Though I will be lucky enough to meet my DQS12 partner, Mona this year at QuiltCon! 

Are you ready for a fabulous swap? Please go sign-up now! Don't wait too long, sign-ups won't be open too long! :)