Playing Catch Up

In between all the school events, soccer games, PTA meetings (what was I thinking?) I've gotten way behind on posting some of the great swaps I've received. Prepare for a post full of quilty photo goodness.


These two fantastic quilts and the book I was too cheap to buy for myself came from Denise. We were paired for two different swaps in the same month and I could not have asked for a better partner. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better....


Check out the flip side of Denise's little quilt! That's right people, its reversible! Not to worry...both sides are on rotation because we wouldn't want to miss out on the cuteness of it all.
You can look here and here to see what I made for Denise.


How do you like my new (seriously it matches my kitchen/dining room) tablerunner from Kelly? Kelly made this for me in the Mini Quilt in a Bag Swap in record time with an imminent moving date scheduled for way sooner than she had anticipated.


The obligatory action shot of the tablerunner. Did I mention that people are no longer allowed to eat at this table. Yes, we all just stand around admiring the beauty. :0)

And lastly, this sweet little Gee's Bend inspired mini from Susan. Along with it came some fantastic treats. Amelia has already claimed the white sprinkle fabric for a princess skirt and I'm pretty sure the embroidery kit is spoken for (by her sister) as well.

The plans for the week are to play a little catch up on some of my swappy commitments. I haven't missed a due date yet and I don't intend to.
In the line up are:
Finish the Mini quilt in a bag swap
6-12" block swap
Alphabet Mania Mini Quilt Swap --I have the letter V to work with...any ideas?
Oh, and I'm told my quilt for Doll Quilt Swap 6 is on its way so check back for some action shots of work in progress and if the post office cooperates, some doll quilt pics. Its going to be another busy week!

Busy Work for Busy Days

Perfect for taking along to the soccer practice playground,

or sitting on the deck overseeing after school play,

or even after they're all in bed and the house is quiet,

but mostly to keep me occupied while they excavate the yard. (Please note the very fashionable purse, a must have for all digging expeditions.) The plan, as I've heard is to dig to the earth's core by mid summer '09. Theories are running rampant regarding whether or not lava will emerge from the crater.


And much like the tree house spirit that was last summer's guardian, I just have to smile and hang around.

Just Hanging Around

One last finish for the Spring to Finish Challenge over at Tall Grass Prairie Studio. Just under the wire with this cute little mini that I'm calling 'Just Hanging Around'. Clever huh.


This poor thing has been taking up space in a drawer since last summer. I had intended to make a little bag out of it but.....yea... that didn't happen. Earlier this week I saw Jacquie's cute clothesline minis and decided my clothesline was destined to be a little quilt too.



The dresses and embroidery were already done. I just added some really fun (you should try it) sketchy stitching, some batting, backing, binding and a tiny bit more embroidery and look at that! Another finish! Thanks for the inspiration Jacquie!

Spring to Finish

Well, since my pile of half done, to do and wip seems to grow each week from all those fantastic ideas floating around on all your blogs, I've joined in on the Spring to Finish project by Tallgrass Prairie Studio(yes, this is one of the fantastic idea inducing blogs). I love the idea of actually finishing all these little projects that seem to linger on my cutting mat.


Oh, and the added bonus to the finishing is that on April 30th I'll be able to leave a comment on Jacquie's post and be entered to win some fun prizes. Yep that's one entry per project. Alright, so here's my list of wip's that are on the table or completed since I signed up for this little adventure:


First up---Doll Quilt Swap 6~Done!! Labeled and everything, ready to go! :)

One Spring Garden Listmaker for a swap for some super cool woolsocks~
Done and done!

One lavender linen skirt with embellishments for Miss A(who has been
pestering me forever). Done!

One embroidered appliqued tea towel. Done!

One recycled overall ruffle dress (again for Miss A).

One clothesline mini quilt.

One snail tote.

One really late birthday gift for a friend. Oy.

One more embroidered tea towel.

So by my count that's four finishes and five more to go. You can laugh at me now. I know there's no way to finish the last five before Thursday but at least its a start at some finishes! :)
What's in your pile?

Inspiring

Inspiring, originally uploaded by spinster sister.1. Fence, 2. Art to use - pincushion, 3. Bird on a Nest Brooch, 4. Textile collage, 5. lonely heart, 6. fly bird cushion, 7. IMG_7293, 8. Cotton Friend - Inside, 9. IMG_8313, 10. alphabet blocks, 11. handstitched necklace - front, 12. "I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center." Kurt Vonnegut, 13. Front of Doll Quilt Swap #6, 14. Section of a mini quilt, 15. skitch - waiting for lambie, 16. My lovely Kaffe Fassett quilt top
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Holiday weekend plans,
company coming, nest cookies being made, family dinner with marshmallow peep smores made over a bonfire, bits of green reappearing, all the littles singing at Sunday morning service (some who may be afraid of embarrassing themselves), baskets filled, eggs dyed. Time to hang around and play together.
Happy Easter, happy Spring!

Seasonal Allergy Sufferers Look Away!

Ragweed is in the house!
That's what I call her anyway...my quilt for Denise for the Mini Quilt in a Bag Swap. You'll see why in a minute, really, I promise.


Denise sent me a Moda charm pack ( I think it was Fig and Plum?) to use for her quilt and I sent her one to use for mine. Which by the way, I'd love to show you because I know its going to be really amazing. Unfortunately the mailman is not cooperating this week and my package hasn't arrived yet. Darn it!

So Denise sent me this charm pack which of course was really pretty but, not colors I usually work with. Yep, that is why I do these swaps, to try things I wouldn't normally come up with on my own. And then, there was the oh holy cow, what am I going to do with this? Hey friend in Virginia, these are your kind of colors...what would you do?

Ideas were suggested, considered, chewed on and dare I say dreamed about. As my pal will not hesitate to tell you, every time I start one of these little projects there's a sketch, an inkling, a fair idea of where it will all end up. And for each of these projects, there is the moment when my friend will check out the pics she's finally pestered me into uploading to flickr and say, "I like it, but that looks nothing like what I thought you were going to do."

Yep, that's what friends are for.

And so, finally after all those inklings and dreams about colors and fabrics, we have ourselves a little Ragweed. Nowhere in the original plan was the sketch stitching that I tried for the first time, or the free motion quilting that I've finally figured out, or even that patchy border.

So, yeah, I think the whole swapping thing is working for me. Stretching what I'm comfortable making, leading me to try new techniques, meeting some really cool and talented people, and giving my friend something to make fun of me for. Because really without throwing her a bone like this once in a while, there really is nothing to pick on me about. Nothing. :)

Down the Bunny Trail

This started out as just one bunny, really it did. Just a simple little Easter decoration, just for fun. As is the case with bunnies though, they seem to be multiplying rapidly...I could make a couple for my favorite kids in Virginia and surprise them. No big deal, right?

Before the first bunny was finished, he was named and claimed by one of my own. The others rapidly followed his lead, and so I had requests for four bunnies just from my own peeps, including one with vampire fangs cause you know, that would make him cool enough for the twelve year old to want one.

Sitting on the porch finishing up bunny number three and the neighbor kids arrive...whatcha makin Jill? Can ya make one for me? and me? and me? Umm sure, why not?
Add to the list the two more requests from some little friends at church and we are up to eleven. Eleven little bunnies, yes little, and yes each of mine has lost their bunny at least three hundred times in the last two days. Each time, a tragedy that makes us all stop what we are doing and go on a bunny hunt.
So far all the runaway bunnies have been recovered and returned safely to their owner. If your feeling the need to make some tiny runaway bunnies of your own, you can get your free pattern here from My Little Mochi. Just a word of advice though, you may want to add a little ribbon hanger or pet id chip as my husband has suggested. Just in case the inevitable happens. :)