Pillow Talk Swap 4 Pillow Received

I was so happy when this package came in the mail on Saturday. Ecstatic, really. I was squealing and shrieking like a little girl. Seriously. My partner was Mari (ZewNice on Flickr). She's from Norway, so you know she has to be super cool. (Plus, my paternal grandmother's family is Norwegian, so I think having Mari as my partner was meant to be!)



Look at these fishies! I cannot tell you how much I love these fishies!



And look at these vans! Aren't they adorable?!



Along with the pillow, Mari sent me a few other goodies.



She made me this cute little zippered clutch/pouch that I'll be storing my needles, embroidery floss, and small crochet hooks in from now on.



When I peeked inside the clutch and saw that Mari had included some of the goldfish fabric, I started freaking out! See, I didn't care much about fabric back when this fabric was in print. I have looked for it now and then online, but the price tag always kept me from buying some of it myself. When I saw that Mari was kind enough to include some, I was thrilled! And, I've already planned out a quilt using these little guys. I can't wait to get started on it come January!



Thanks again, Mari. This was such a fun swap to participate in. Mari really nailed me with this pillow. I love love love it!

Finished Pillow Talk Swap Pillow Revealed

So I was planning on waiting until my partner received this pillow before posting the full image shots, but since a blizzard is on its way (who knows if I'll lose power) and the pillow is due to arrive on my partner's doorstep tomorrow, I figured I'd go ahead. Besides, I've never been that good at waiting patiently anyway.



The pillow came out pretty much exactly as I had sketched it. Although, I made a mistake that I didn't catch until the pillow was completely finished. Can you see it? (The butterfly block on the right side of the second row was supposed to be in the middle position on the bottom row where the elephant block is and vice versa. But since the people I asked couldn't pin point the mistake, I decided to just leave it as is.)

For the back, I stitched a baby elephant holding its mama's tail onto some linen/cotton blend fabric, which I also used as the sashing on the front. I initially planned on using a yellow kei honeycomb dot for the other half of the back, but then decided those yellow elephants needed to be there instead.



My sister drew this cute little elephant for me and then I printed it out, traced it onto my fabric and tried stichery/embroidery for the first time. A girl in my quilt guild pointed me to the Stitch School blog, which has really great instructions for different types of stitches. I'm not into some of the traditional embroidery styles, but it will be fun to try other stitches on other projects.



So there you have it. It was so much fun participating in this swap. I hope my partner loves the pillow as much as I do...I almost didn't want to part with it.

PTS4 Sneak Peeks

I stayed up late Friday night to finish my pillow for the Pillow Talk Swap (1 in the morning to be exact). I'm getting ready to ship it to my partner tomorrow. Here are a few sneak peeks for your viewing pleasure. I'll post full pillow shots once the pillow arrives on my partner's doorstep.







This last photo makes me smile. One day, the mister was shaving and decided to leave a mustache and crazy sideburns. I snapped a picture of him. For an early Christmas gift, he bought me a mug with this photo on it so I can enjoy it during this season of hot chocolate drinking. The other side of the mug says, "I'll be your hot cocoa lover." Hilarious. (And yes, I'm glad he only kept that look for one day.)

The pillow is making an appearance in the background.

Log Cabins for Pillow Talk Swap

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions on the fabric choices I had selected for the Pillow Talk Swap. The previous photo didn't show the fabrics accurately, so they appeared more neutral than anything else. I did add a couple blue fabrics for that pop of color, though.



I'm pretty sure I've decided on a design so I made three log cabin blocks today. They measure about four and a half inches. I love these bikes.



I hope it all comes together the way I imagine it. I have something fun planned for the back, but I've never done anything like it before, so I hope it turns out. Most importantly, I hope my partner likes it. I've decided that it's hard to get a feel for someone's tastes just by looking at pictures they favorite on Flickr. Ah well, I'm sure everything will turn out fine. I'm sure I'm just stressing about it for no reason.

PTS4 Fabric Audition

I'm auditioning a few fabric combos for my partner in round 4 of the Pillow Talk Swap. Here's one with oranges, yellows, greens, and a bit of linen. What do you think? Too drab?

Pillow Talk Swap

I've been wanting to branch out a bit and decided to join round 4 of the Pillow Talk Swap. Here's my inspiration mosaic. (I seriously had to set a time limit for myself on Flickr. I could look at quilts and pillows all day.)


1. Scrap Happy Quilt Top, 2. The Pillow Talk {swap} 3 Received!!!, 3. pillow talk swap finished, 4. DQS9 - Sneak Peak, 5. Angel Pillow on It's Way, 6. Modern Times Quilt folded on crib, 7. Your Parents Are Cool, 8. Finished Nine Patch Quilt, 9. Pacman, Red Letter Day Style, 10. Quilt for Mrs Z, 11. Double Wedding Ring - Finished Top (Modern Meadow & Hope Valley), 12. Sultry Squares, 13. Star Light Star Bright, 14. mod mosaic quilt, 15. Quilt Front Using "1974" Moda Fabric, 16. project improv quilt top, 17. Log Cabin Baby Boy Quilt - Orange - Detail, 18. modern quilt, 19. That 70's Girl, 20. Scrappy Happy

I'm so stinking excited for this! Although I have a ton to do before Christmas (gift-wise), I know this will take priority since I'm so excited to participate. I know there are others in the group who are pretty much professionals so it's a bit intimidating, but I know if I want to grow, I have to stretch myself.