Mini quilt exchange

Earlier this summer I participated in the Schnitzel and Boo mini quilt swap. It was organized by Kristi over at Schnitzel & Boo. I heard about it on Instagram and thought I had to participate in a swap where I could stalk my partner to find out her likes and dislikes. It was also fun to make a quilt and make lots of new friends. 600 people participated in this swap!! It was amazing! I got to see what a lot of people were working on by checking out the hashtags on Instagram and trying to guess which was mine. There were so many beautiful quilts, I wanted them all!

Anyhow, I got a great partner called Debbie. She lives in Oaklahoma but is from Alaska and loves her coffee. She even works in a coffee shop part time. She also loves bright colours.

When I got all the info about my partner, I had just finished this quilt top.

I was looking for inspiration and saw this hanging on my design wall and thought it would be perfect. So I looked through my stash and scraps for some fun bright fabrics and used that same cup pattern from Lori Holt's book Quilty Fun. I also thought it would be fun to add a little embroidery to the quilt so I machine embroidered her initial on one of the cups. Here is the quilt top loaded on the longarm.

I put both quilts on the longarm at the same time. I quilted mine first so as to practice before doing Debbie's. I hadn't used the long arm for months so I was a little rusty! It felt good to get back at it. I quilted some loops in the background and then used 3 different designs in the cups.

Here is mine:

I also made Debbie a mug rug with leftovers from her mini. I included an embroidered zipper pouch and a lanyard in her package too.

Here is a photo of the back and the label I embroidered.

All packed up and ready to go.

I am happy to say that she loved it and found the perfect spot to hang it in her craft room and I now have a new friend!

I will show you the wonderful mini I received in my next post!! I strongly recommend you participate in swaps if you get the chance. They are so much fun and it is a great way to meet some great quilty people from around the world!

 

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A little break...

Well, it wasn't planned but I have enjoyed a little bit of time away from the blog. With school ending and the kids being home for the summer, things first got crazy, but for the past couple of weeks we have been enjoying some together time.

We have been doing some sewing and quilting. Today I thought I would share with you a few projects my daughter and I made as gifts.

My youngest's teacher saw the infinity scarves I made last year and had put in a request for one earlier in the year. So here is the scarf I made her. I used the pattern from Anna Maria Horner's website but I changed the measurements making it a little shorter. She loved it! Sorry about the quality of the photo. I remembered to take it just before wrapping it up at 9:00 the night before gifting it!

My eldest daughter wanted to make a pencil case for her teacher. She loves using the computer to make embroidery designs. She pretty much has the hang of using the computer program now so I am slowly teaching her how to use the embroidery machine. She also sewed the pouch together as well. Her first time sewing on a zipper! Her teacher was so happy and told her she would be using it for years to come!

The weekend after school was out, my eldest daughter went to her friend's birthday. Since this friend is in her gymnast group, she decided to make her a drawstring bag for her grips. Of course she had to design something to embroider onto the bag. She really wanted to use the watermelon fabric but we figured the embroidery wouldn't show up as well on that fabric so she picked the lime coloured oval elements fabric for the embroidered side. We used this tutorial from S.O.T.A.K. Handmade for the bag. I am looking forward to making more of these drawstring bags! This is a fantastic tutorial!

 

I also made these 2 little key fobs for my friends/co-workers.

I will be back soon to share some mini quilts!

 

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WIP Wednesday - 05/28/2014

I have finished the applique on block number 2 from my BOM.

Here are the first 2 blocks together.

I still need to add the embroidery stitches but I think I am going to do that when I have a few more blocks done.

And I started block number 3.

I am linking up to The Needle and Thread Network for WIP Wednesday! Go check out some other works in progress.

 

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WIP Wednesday - 05/21/2014

Just a little update on my BOM.

Only 5 more pieces to appliqué and then I'm on to the next block!

Linking up to The Needle and Thread Network

 

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Blogger's Quilt Festival - spring 2014 (Stars)

I love when it's Blogger's Quilt Festival time! I can go to a quilt show but stay in my pj's with a cup of tea!

This year I am entering my latest bed quilt, my Friendship Stars.

This quilt was 5 years in the making!

The pattern is from Quilt Sampler from fall/winter 2008.

It took so long to make because I needed breaks when it came to piecing the stars in the border and then adding the borders to the top.

My mom quilted it on her longarm machine. I asked her specifically for the feathers in the cream parts. I wanted it to look like they were weaving in and out. She had creative licence with the rest.

This quilt was definitely worth the wait.

I love the final product and it looks fantastic on our bed!

 

 

Be sure to go check out other quilts in the festival!

 

 

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