a busy week (and a swap)

Whew! It has been a busy week. I was working on finishing up some blocks for a couple of groups - SewConnected and 8two8. SewConnected is a block swap group started by John from Quilt Dad. It is such a popular group that there are three (or four?) of them. Each member of the group is assigned a month. When the member's month comes, he or she sends out some fabric with instructions on what kind of block is wanted. Next month is mine. Any guesses as to what block they will be making and what fabrics I will select for them? *waggling eyebrows*

Here is the block I made for Amy this month.




The other block group in which I am participating is 8two8. This is a group started by LauraJay and I. There are eight of us. Again a person is assigned to each month, and she lets the rest of us know what kind of block she wants or what colors to use. We don't mail fabric in this swap. We use our own. The blocks of this group are 15.5" and we make two for each person. That makes it a quicker swap. Less people, more blocks, less months. Eight friends, two blocks each month, for eight months. With a potential to make a 60" square quilt when you have all your blocks.

Here is what I made for Beth this month.







I also made a placemat yesterday. I made it to get everyone excited about the placemat quilt swap I am hosting! (Does it make you excited?)


16.5" x 11.5"
free pieced
machine pieced, quilted and bound

Signups are being held now until Saturday, June 6th. You all are welcome to sign up over there on flickr in the placemat quilt swap group (don't sign up here). But so you know, it will be a flickr thing more than a blog thing. So you need to have a flickr account. You can get one for free. All the other particulars are posted in the flickr group.

Gee, I should have titled this "Big ol' honkin' post". Have a great weekend. I think I'm going to make another placemat quilt.

wordless wednesday

mini quilt monday

doing double duty! this mini quilt is also an angel quilt for doll quilt swap 6. someone was unable to send a doll quilt, and there was a need for one to be made. actually there was need for more than one.




this one was a quickie. i love making house quilts. i don't know when or if i will ever tire of making them. the colors of this quilt were inspired by a bouquet of zinnias from a friend's garden.




since this was a quickie. i did quickie machine finished binding. i hope my partner doesn't mind. i've gotten pretty good at it (if i don't say so myself - ha!), so i think it looks good.



now, since i'm "apologizing" for machine finished binding, it made me think of all the other times i'm critical of my piecing and quilting. i don't think i'm the only one who does this. but why do we do this to ourselves?

i declare that i'm not going to feel bad or apologize for my quilts anymore! who's with me?!

***edited to add - i meant to say "if i do say so myself" - ha! thanks for the reassurance though!***

mini quilt monday

posted a day later : )




Have you heard about mini quilt monday? Malka from stitch in dye has started a group for mini quilts on flickr. I'm not sure if you are supposed to make the whole thing on monday. Be finished on monday. Just post it on monday. I don't know. But I had 5 of these blocks left from Doll Quilt Swap 2, so I made another, put it all together and finished it with bits of leftover binding.

and just between you an me.....yes, it's a mini quilt, but it's also a placemat quilt. You know I've declared it the year of the placemat.


great backing fabric from Calamity Kim


So are you interested in making a placemat quilt? Need a little incentive to try your hand at one? I'm going to host a placemat quilt swap soon! Wanna play?

my weekend in review

• sewed another lazy days skirt and a snoopy applique onto a shirt for marguerite
• took the kids to visit my mom for the day on friday. we had lunch, went to a quilt shop (where i bought nothing!) and to the beach.
• sewed 20 out of 36 quilt blocks for my picnic quilt (remember those fabrics from wordless wednesday?)
• ran some errands
• went out with billy for a quicky dinner and then to see startrek - good movie!
• stayed up too late
• slept in
• enjoyed a peaceful house while billy took the kids out for awhile on sunday
• tidied my house (notice i didn't say clean) so i can start the week off right
• watched the season finale of survivor - don't you judge me!

hope you had a good one!

wordless wednesday

lazy me is happy

I have a split personality. Lazy me and diligent me. They take turns being in charge. Sadly I think that lazy me is the dominant personality. I don't want that to be the case. Someday, when I die, I would want people to say "she was a hard worker" and not "what a loaf!".

My personalities had a very busy weekend. Diligent me kept the house tidy, did the laundry, did the shopping, and basically kept everyone moving. Lazy me went out to dinner with the family, took a nap, read a book, watched some tv and sewed this skirt. In less then 20 minutes!




Have you tried the lazy days skirt pattern from oliver + s? So quick. So easy. No raw edges. Zip zip zip and you're done! I've made one already this year, and I plan on making some more. And I love seersucker. Don't you?

Marguerite dislikes pants and shorts so I try to keep her loaded with skirts. She even wore a skirt to soccer practice last week. Her soccer shorts were in the dirties, and she wouldn't/couldn't wear any of the other (few) shorts she has.




Two notices for you
1. First, thank you for all the great comments you leave me. I appreciate them very much. I just don't usually get back to you, and I feel a little guilty about that. Do know that if you ask me a question, I will do my best to reply to you.

2. My wrist has been bothering me lately. Lazy me has been on the computer too much. So lazy me is going to take a break from the computer for a few days. That should make diligent me happy because she will get more done. So if you see lazy me hanging out on line, reprimand her! OK?

The Toy Society

Have you heard of the The Toy Society? It is a street art project started in Australia. Check it out, it's pretty neat how it has spread.




I showed the kids the project and thought it would be a good project for us to work on occasionally. I used a monster pattern from RevoluzZza. A quick and easy project.




We "dropped" it at Zach's soccer game last night. We put it up before the game started because it would be seen by people leaving the first and second games. When we left the game it was still there. There are games today i'm sure, so it should find a home soon. I hope it brightens someone's day.




We plan on doing this again. How about you? Would you like to do it too?

wordless wednesday

*whispering that you can click on it to go to flickr and find out why the block went for a dip in the pool*

swap #2

Swap #2 is Doll Quilt Swap 6. There have been 6 rounds of Doll Quilt Swap, and I have done every single one of them. I was beginning to feel like this might be my last one, but nope! This was a fun round. I had a great partner on both ends! Sign me up for the next round.

Let me share with you why I like this swap so much.
1. The camaraderie is wonderful between all the swappers in the flickr pool and discussions.
2. It's sneaky. You know who you are sending too, but you don't know who is sending to you.
3. It feels like Christmas waiting to see who gets what.
4. It inspires me to create something new. It truly pushes me creatively.
5. And if you get a great quilt, especially the one you've had your eye on, it is like icing on the cake!

Amy is the one who sent to me. Look at this beauty! Amy is a sneaky one too! Did you know she is the wedge making queen? She and I were talking about our love of this quilt. And she drafted a paper pieced pattern and sent it to me to try. Then she starts making one for DQS6, and I'm thinking "whoever gets that is a lucky duck!" All the while she is making it for me. She even sends me an email saying "we should do a swap sometime". sneaky sneaky!




She also sent doggie pillowcases for the kids:




and a few great fabrics for me:




Thanks Amy! I love it!


Here is the quilt I made for Anita/RhubarbPatch. Another lover of houses. I knew I wanted to make houses. When do I not want to make houses? And I haven't tried row houses before. But I wasn't sure what fabrics to use. Then I started looking at pictures of row houses, and realized that it was just the colors I was seeing and the structural details. aha! I used all solids and solidish fabrics for the first time. And thought black doors and roofs would keep things simple and unified. Did you know you can hide all kinds of "mistakes" in prints, but you can't hide a thing in solids! Solids will amplify any quilting or piecing mistakes. yikes!




Here is the back. House fabric from joann's. And a leftover block for the label. Did you know I'm pretty lazy? Sad to admit. My mother still shakes her head at me sometimes. When I make a label, I usually write on a piece of fabric or extra block with a micron pen, heat set it, and piece it into the back. That way, when I'm done quilting and binding, the label is already done.




It was a pleasure to make this for you Anita, and I'm thrilled that you like it!