Make Mine Modern Swap Received

I'm working on putting the binding on my Far Far Away II Kitchen Windows bed quilt this week, so I will hopefully have photos to show you soon. I'm trying to see what I can get done this week as it's my last week at home before returning to work in the office on Monday. Wish me luck!

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I received my package from Heather in the Make Mine Modern Swap a couple weeks ago. And can I just say that Heather way outdid herself! Here's a rundown of what she sent me.

Four bright and fun fabric baskets:



A little sign with one of my new favorite sayings:



Some Central Park fat quarters that I am SO excited to use with the two charm packs I already have:



An adorable Ruby Star Rising clock (you can find the tutorial on her blog to make your own):



A pack of sewing machine thank you cards (LOVE these!):



A cute little pincushion:



And here's everything all together.



Thank you so much, Heather! I love the package you put together for me.

Urban Home Goods Swap Received

I should have posted about the goodies I received in the Urban Home Goods Swap a while ago as I received my package back in March. Jamie, stitch_girl, was my partner in round 4 of the Pillow Talk Swap. When I saw the photos she posted in the Flickr group of this bag and pincushion, I thought there was no way they were mine. But, what are the odds?! They wound up at my door.

She made me this gorgeous market bag and this adorable pear pincushion, complete with some fun pins.



She used fabric from both the Far Far Away and Far Far Away 2 lines by Heather Ross. Love it! Her choice of fabric for the straps was perfect too. Once I saw how well the Modern Meadow and Far Far Away 2 colors went together, I ordered some to use as the binding on my Far Far Away 2 Kitchen Windows quilt.

Here's sleeping beauty as the pocket on one side of the bag.



And the frog prince on the other pocket.



Jamie and I seriously must have been on the same wave length because as she was making this bag and using this exact little guy for the pocket, I was using him in the mini quilt I made for my Make Mine Modern Swap partner.



Here's a closeup of the pear pincushion that I absolutely adore! Jamie did such a good job on the construction. And look at the hand-stitching of the veins on the leaf!



Even her stitching on the stem is perfect. And I love these leaf pins. I want to go buy more of them because they're so nice and sturdy.



Thanks again, Jamie! You really did a great job putting this package together for me. I totally love everything about it!

Sewing Update

So, I've been more of a slacker with this blog than I thought I'd be after getting over the sick part of being pregnant. I've been sewing, but I just haven't made the time to take pictures of anything. I want to blame it on the cruddy weather we had up through Sunday (thanks, Mother Nature, for sending me not only rain on my birthday last week, but snow too!), but I know it's just my laziness winning out.

I finished the quilt top and backing for my Far Far Away 2 Kitchen Windows bed quilt. After much anxiety, I decided to send it out for quilting. I've never been willing to spend money on long-arm quilting since I figured I have the means to quilt myself, but this quilt is huge (between a king and a queen) and I knew I'd kill my back if I tried to baste it and quilt it myself. (A bad back plus no support due to an ever-expanding belly equals a lot of back pain.) So, I searched around and found a lady near my inlaws who is quilting it for me for a pretty good price. I should get it back next week. Once I get it bound and washed up, I'll post pictures of it.

While that quilt has been at the quilter's, I started item #3 on my 2011 quilty to-do list: my Goldfish quilt.



I had already fussy cut 20 goldfish out, and then I added a little bit of white around each fish. Then I used 3" strips of orange and blue fabrics to create each block. The sashing is Kona stone. I plan to add an additional border of the orange and blue stripes fabric from Heather Ross' Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries line to make it big enough for a lap quilt.





Several people have asked if I was making this quilt for our baby. That wasn't initially what I had in mind, but I have some more fish that I can use to make a baby-size version of this quilt...if I can keep some sewing momentum going through the summer.