Modern She Made Swap! Lots of goodies to go around!

This was a fun swap! Through a move into the mix and it totally threw off my sewing groove. For some reason finding a place to live took a little more precedence over sewing. ;) But alas, I finished my item for my partner and I really hope she likes it! :)


I made an 18" pillow form. I was going to go bigger, but I'm glad I didn't. :)

I used the same pattern that I tried out for my MIL and her pillow. I did get a last minute "I think I want to do something else", but I'm glad I stuck with this! I smoothed out a few kinks in the pattern and I really do love how this pillow came together in the end!

the back. super simple.
I put my label just under the flap on the right. I can't show you because then my partner would know it was theirs!

I love looking at patterns with the light shining from behind!

before I put the back on.

I did a wavy line cross hatching for the quilting again. I have such a hard time doing the exact same thing twice, but I was just so happy with the first pillow that I couldn't help myself. 

I really like the pattern for this. I've gotten a lot of compliments on flickr which I TOTALLY did not expect! Wow! Thanks everyone! You make me want to cry. ;) I am planning on making a pattern for this (after we finish moving). This pillow was made completely with a template, my purple pillow was made mostly with a paper piecing pattern I think, or at least a good mix. I don't know which I like better... But I will tell you, it kind of kicked my butt! lol. I think I finally got the sizing of the templates right so in the end it was a lot easier. But there is a lot of cutting, and where the points meet up it is thick. After a little ironing it's not too bad. It definitely requires some precision to get everything to line up right (which I didn't do perfectly, but people don't seem to mind). Anyway, there's the truth about it. :) 

My goodies arrived at my sisters house yesterday! Wahoo! My sis texted me a bunch of photos this morning! I couldn't believe all the goodness inside!! :) Kelsey did an amazing job!! Her pictures of the stuff she made are here, here, here and here. Here are the pictures my sister sent me:

There are 6 placemats! Look how awesome they are! My sister said they're big, maybe 12". It'll be like a house warming gift when I get them at our new house! ;)

Then she added some cute fabric

and this awesome magazine! I can't wait to get my hands on this stuff. 

Thank you Kelsey!! :)

I really did enjoy this swap! There were so many talented people in it! :) But I also have to admit that for right now, it is SO nice to not have anymore sewing commitments (as in I'm done with all my swaps and bees)!! Wahoo! :)

Happy sewing to everyone! 

I will probably be checking out soon for a bit. 

In less than a week we will start our drive to our new home! :D

W.i.P. Wednesday {5/30/2012}

I almost forgot that it's Wednesday! This may be my last wip post for a while because for the next few weeks I don't think I'll be working on too much... but hopefully I'm wrong. :) Warning, this post is a bit scatter-brained. ;)


I've been working on my key fob for the RATZ swap! I actually finished it and will be posting about it tomorrow. :)

I took some instagram pictures along the way...

I love Summersville! :) It is perfect for hand stitching and embellishing!

Because I still have some "MUST FINISH today" projects, I of course made something totally random!

This 12.5" x 12.5" block is all Little Apples fabrics by Aneela Hoey. 

I love it! :) Now what to do with it??

I finished up two bee blocks for the Moody Blues 2 bee.

For Susan. I used this tutorial.
I really love this design! Such a great use of HST's!

For Lisa. This is a block from 99 Modern Blocks called Escalator. 

In case you missed it, I finished my Giant Granny Square quilt! I think I'm about ready to let this one go and drop the price in my Etsy shop. If you want it, give me an offer and it just might be yours. lol. (I priced it really high because I originally made it to sell it, but I didn't want to actually give it to anyone. I did lower the price from what I originally priced it at, but it's still probably a little high. We'll see.) ;) Maybe I'll keep it and use it as a portfolio sample for Iowa (I secretly would love to teach sewing/quilting classes out there! I already have one request for art lessons! FUN!!) :)

From my last WiP post I did finish up my pillow I posted about.

I need to finish up my pillow like this for my MSMS partner. That's what I'm working on tonight until it's done! :) This pattern is so fun! I think I have the pattern for it figured out and hopefully I can get that posted in my Craftsy shop before we move!


I am just about done with the do.Good stitches quilt as well! All it needs now is the binding!! Yes!!! :) That will definitely be finished before we move!!


I was going to say that mostly we've been busy with moving stuff, but this actually seems like a lot of stuff. lol. :)

I hope you are having a wonderful week!!

I am of course linking up over at Freshly Pieced!

Thanks Lee for giving us something to look forward to during our mid-week meltdown. ;)

W.i.P. Wednesday {4/25/2012}

Ahhh! The month is almost over and I don't know if I've finished much of anything I've wanted to finish this month. Isn't that always how the story goes?! ;) lol.

I did finish all my bee blocks! Wahoo! You can see them all here. Plus this Granny Square I mailed of yesterday.

This was my first small granny square, and now I can see why they are so addicting. They are fun! :)

I also finished up my first official pattern! It's for my [4x5] Bee blocks.

You can read more about it here. :)

I have been playing around with ideas for the Modern She Made Swap. What do you think?

The colors are super muted here. I do want to use more natural and light grey colors, but maybe some more splashes of color. Or more grey than the natural color to fill inside the circles. I don't know... what do you think partner? Do you read my blog? lol. ;)

I originally thought of paper piecing all of these, but I think it will be easy enough to make up template pieces instead, and then just sew them together and not have to worry about the paper. Which I think will save a lot of time and fabric waste anyway. Basically I need a break from paper piecing right now. ;)

This is the main thing I'm working on right now. Plus my secret project. If you regularly read my blog, this is probably a boring recap of everything I've posted this week. ;) But I think it helps me to kind of touch base on where I'm really at... so ;p j/k. ;D 

linking up at Freshly Pieced. :)

Modern She Made Swap

I gave in and joined this swap! I love it. Here's my mosaic:

Can I print this out and hang it on my wall and stare at it forever???

add this in there too...

oh if only I could get ahold of this meadowsweet collection. I think this is my ultimate favorite right now!!!! The colors are PERFECT!

and of course about a million other items that I missed. And I'd be in heaven!

There are SO many talented people out there. I can't even fathom it!!

I think one thing I totally love about this swap, and was the ultimate deciding point for joining, is that I know SO many people in it! And have already met a lot more of great people! LOVE! I think knowing the other members is key to a great swap! Of course I have loved all the other swaps I've been in, and you have to start somewhere. I definitely didn't know anyone when I first started in swaps, but I think swaps are going to become something I won't ever be able to give up. ;) and that's ok. :D


The guidelines for this swap are that you can make whatever item your partner would like (pillow, wall hanging, placemats, etc.), but it HAS TO include a circle! Whether in the design or the quilting, or the shape.  There are some fantastic ideas going on already. Check them out in the flickr group here! So many talented people! (another great feature of a great swap!) (Ok, and maybe I love this swap because Lori started it. I may be just slightly biased. heehee.)


here's one idea for my project for my partner....

(the one on the left)? I'm thinking mostly natural fabrics and light grays, with pops of aquas, yellows and light greens. I'll add some random pebble quilting for some full circles. ;)

Either a pillow or a wall hanging.

or maybe I'll keep thinking.