Sweet Pincushions

I showed y'all the pincushion I made for this round of the Scrappy Pincushion Swap on Flickr, and now I can show you the sweet pincushions I received! 


My secret partner was Rachel (sweetteamom on Flickr), and she made pincushions that are perfect for me. She nailed all of my favorite things - the color aqua, Matryoshka dolls, and my initials! These sweet pinnies are a lovely addition to my sewing table. She also sent along some adorable Matryoshka doll fabric - I need a special project for it! 

sweet pincushions!

Pincushion Love

I am part of (yet another!) wonderful swap group on flickr, the Scrappy Pincushion Swap. I love this swap because it's a small, quick project. And let's be honest - I can never have too many pincushions on my sewing table!

I finished and mailed my pincushion to my partner on time, just under the wire. This was my inspiration for this round!

pinnie inspiration!

I made a simple pincushion (based on several tutorials around the internet) in bright colors for my partner. She hasn't received it yet, but here it is...

pinnie front

and the other side!

I love both sides, so it's hard to call one a front and the other a back :) I hope she likes it, because it was so fun to make! I haven't received from my mystery partner yet, but will be sure to share when I do.

Scrappy Mug Rug Swap Round 3

I was lucky enough to participate in another fabulous round of the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap on flickr. Making and using mug rugs is absolutely addictive, and the flickr group is incredibly creative and inspiring.


I received a fabulous mug rug from Dawn this round. It is so lovely, I put it right to work on my desk. It has colors I love (red and aqua!) and some adorable little birdies, plus some embroidery. Fabulous, I say!

mug rug in use

 She was also sweet enough to include some charm squares of the fabric she used for me. I want to think of a perfect project for these sweet squares!

mug rug & charm squares

For my partner, and since I waited until the last day to mail I won't say who that is, I made a green and grey chevron mug rug. I hope she loves it as much as I do - I had a hard time sending it off in the mail! 

finished mug rug

mug rug in action

I used this binding tutorial from verykerryberry, and it made a world of difference in this smaller format! So I can definitely say I improved my binding technique this round. The back has a special little surprise on it, but I'm going to save that for my next post! 

Back from the holiday-vortex

I am back and alive from the final-exams-and-holiday-vortex! Excuse my long absence, but I have been busy making several things (some of which were special holiday gifts). So, on to the catch-up show and tell!

I finished this lovely mini quilt in December for My Favorite Little Quilt Swap on flickr. It was a wonderful swap to participate in, because participants have total freedom to create whatever strikes you! I used Elizabeth Hartman (Oh Fransson!)'s Favorite Songs pattern to make this orange and green quilt. The sashing is a kona grey (but I can't remember the exact shade name).

Front

Back

close up

And the best part was that I received a fabulous mini quilt in return! It was exciting waiting to see which quilt I ended up receiving, since it was a kind of blind swap. I received this gorgeous "Plus One" quilt from Lynda (littleloops). I love the back especially, where you can see the quilting in pink. 

Plus One front

Plus One back

The deadline for round 2 is January 31, and I am planning to use one of my new books to make the next one. 

3x6 Bee, Third Quarter

I'm a member of  the [3 x 6] Sampler Quilt Mini Bee on Flickr, which is an inspirational and fun group! It's a variation on a traditional quilt bee (that usually lasts 12 months) - you make a 12.5" block for the other 6 members of your hive using their color selection and likes/dislikes and use the same block pattern for all six blocks.


For the third quarter (July-September), I made Broken Dishes blocks. I wanted to do something simple, but with some chance to be creative with fabrics, and this block was perfect!  

The 6 blocks I made for Beehive 11

The colors I requested were "make it a rainbow" and green. I received a variety of blocks back - I love them! Don't yet know what I'm going to do with them, though! Suggestions welcome .... table runner? pillow(s)? I'm just not sure! 

My received blocks - they're all so bright & vibrant! 

I love this swap group, and we're already into the fourth quarter! I've been working diligently on my fourth quarter blocks, and completed a trial block I'm happy with. I focused my color selections for this quarter and requested orange, aqua and white, and am hoping to use them in a quilt.