X-Factor Pillow Swap Received

Back in November, I shared the pillow I made for the X-Factor Pillow Swap on Flickr. After my wrist and elbow surgery in October, I was itching to make something, but couldn't yet use my rotary cutter or sewing machine. Instead, I did some English paper piecing that ended up being a good form of physical therapy.

The round ended the first of November and we all had the chance to vote for our favorite pillows. This was my first choice and I was so happy to see it arrive in my mailbox!

Tina from the UK (Cottilello on Flickr) made this amazing low-volume wavy pillow cover. The fabrics she used are so fun - clothespins, barcodes, cameras, text, needles and thread, scissors. I currently have the pillow sitting on my couch, but plan to put it in my sewing room if I ever get one of those.



This was a fun swap to participate in this year. It was low-key and not as time-consuming as some of the other swaps I've participated in. I could make a pillow that I wanted and *hopefully* it would be well enough received that I could get my first choice pillow in return. I'm hoping to participate in more rounds in the future.

My Pillow for the X Factor Pillow Swap

Quite a while ago, I joined the X Factor Pillow Swap on Flickr. With my goal to finish existing projects before starting anything new, I didn't join in on any of the rounds. But then I had surgery last month and I really wanted to sew something. Since I couldn't use my hand very well for my rotary cutter, I thought English paper piecing would be a good type of therapy. I also have been wanting to try a low volume project for a while now, something that is definitely out of my comfort zone, so round 7 of the X Factor swap was the perfect opportunity!

I looked through my stash and gathered a variety of low volume prints in rainbow colors. Then I pulled some whites, creams, and grays. I bought some diamond paper pieces from paperpieces.com a long time ago, but hadn't busted them out yet. I tried out several layouts, but ultimately settled on this one.



I tried to find a background fabric that was a little more low volume, but everything I auditioned just felt muddy. So, I used this yarn-dyed linen in black and while it's not quite "low" volume, I think it works as a fairly neutral background that allows the diamonds to stand out.

I quilted wavy lines vertically across the pillow with a white cotton thread.

I thought it'd be fun to place a dark print in with all the light fabrics. This text print from Madrona Road by Violet Craft is one of my favorite text prints of all time, so I just had to use it here. I also think it goes nicely with the background fabric.

For the back, I used this Heather Bailey light blue hop dot print and paired it with a light yellow (I can't recall the name of it now). I also used a strip of the yarn-dyed linen to cover the zipper and tie the back with the front.

The way this swap works is that you make a pillow and send a photo to the group admin. When all the pillows are posted, you vote on your favorites. If your pillow scores the most points, you get your first choice pillow. If not, then your second, third, fourth, etc. choice on down the line. I think it's a great swap idea because you can make a pillow any way you want (within the guidelines for that round of the swap) rather than making a pillow specifically for someone else in mind (although I love those types of swaps too).

This pillow is headed to its new home and I hope the recipient likes it. I really enjoyed doing something outside the norm for me.

Pillow stats:
Fits 20" x 20" pillow form
Diamond paper piecing
Low volume rainbow prints
Wavy line quilting
Hidden zipper closure

Holy WIP Wednesday Batman!

Hooray for Wednesdays! They give me a good kick in the pants to evaluate what I've been working on and make sure I'm on track to get the things done that I need to. This week, I feel like I've gotten a lot done. So let's get to it.

Granny Squares

I caught the Granny Squares bug (read more here).

I-Spy Swap

I cut up a couple I-Spy fat quarters into five-inch charms for a swap. I'll be getting back 48 unique charms I can use in an I-Spy quilt. It'll be fun to have another option for my kids to use on the couch so they don't fight over The Lorax quilt I'll be making soon.

Fabrics are:
Red Letter Day White Ducks on Pink in Feather by Lizzy House
Outfoxed Hedgehogs in Navy by Lizzy House
Metro Cafe Toasters Toast in Spring Blue by Monaluna
Going Coastal Crab Walk in Gray by Emily Herrick

Twin Quilts

My nephew and his wife had twins a couple months ago, actually about two months after I had my baby. (It sounds pretty crazy to say that I'm a great aunt, especially after just having a baby, but I'm only five years older than my nephew.) I've been meaning to make quilts for these adorable babies for a while now. They live in Chile so I think I've used the excuse of them not being close to put these quilts on the back burner. But, after seeing Jessica's super cute Baby Blocks quilt, I decided to finally get started and set to work cutting the fabric. In no time, I had two quilt tops done.

Sew Beautiful Bee Prep

April is my month in the Sew Beautiful Bee. I'm having the girls make Mod Mosaic blocks using Elizabeth Hartman's tutorial. I'll share more on this later this week as I get the fabric shipped out, but for now I'll share my test block.

So, there you have it folks. I feel like I put a good dent in my never-ending to-do list.

This Week's Stats:
Finished: 0
In Progress: 10+
New: 4

Pillow Talk Swap 7 Received

Look at this amazing pillow that came in the mail on Friday!



I was so happy to open the mail box and see a package sitting there for me. Val seriously hit the nail on the head with this one. In my mosaic, which served as inspiration for the swap, I had a lot of images of stars, strings, and rainbows. This pillow incorporates them all!



She made a purple star that didn't end up fitting in with the design, but she sent it along anyway. I'm so excited to use this block and make another pillow or wall hanging out of it.



She also included a bag full of scraps for me. There are some great fabrics in there and I can definitely put them to good use!



Thanks again, Val!

2011 Sewing: Year in Review

The year is nearly over and I can't believe how much I got done despite being pregnant for three-fourths of it! As I looked back over the year, I was surprised to see that nine of the fourteen quilts I made I finished in the last four months!



In addition to fourteen quilts, here are some of the other things I made:



These are the blocks I made for the girls in the Sew Beautiful Bee.



And here are the swap items I received during the year plus the blocks I made for both the 4x5 Bee and the La Beeda Loca Bee.



I looked over the list of goals I set for myself for 2011 as well and found that I met about half of them:

1. Cathedral Windows Quilt - Nope
2. Sew Beautiful Bee Quilt - Blocks received, but not pieced into a top yet
3. Goldfish Quilt - Done!
4. New quilt for my bed - Done, but not photographed yet
5. & 6. Quilts for two of my sisters - I finished one, but still need to work on the other
7. Quilt for my parents' bed - Halfway done on this one
8. Colorbrick Quilt - Nope
9. Car and Truck Quilt - Nope
10. Figgy Pudding Christmas Quilt - I bought the Swoon pattern and plan to make this quilt for next Christmas.
11. Finish quilt tops - Done!
12. Swaps - Done!

I'm still mulling over my sewing goals for 2012, so stay tuned!

Bee Blocks and Other Stuff

November is Lee's month in the Sew Beautiful Bee. I got her fabric on Halloween and since I hadn't yet mailed back Katie's block, I thought I should hurry and make Lee's so I only had to go to the post office once.

Lee asked for trees of any kind. I really like making these ones. I made my first tree when Cara asked for house blocks, so I thought a little forest for Lee would be good. She sent an assortment of green, yellow, orange, and brown fabric with Essex linen, which she wanted us to use for the background (LOVE it!). Can you tell that the brown fabric on the left side is a closeup of a tree trunk? That's what I was going for there, but I'm not sure I pulled it off.



A few of us in the SLC Modern Quilt Guild are in a little bee for our guild. Kati asked for string blocks for this month. This is my first time making these string blocks (gasp!), and I totally loved it. I was so tempted to forget my goal of not starting any new projects and cut up some fabric for new throw pillows for my couch.



Kati sent blue, green, yellow, orange, and gray fabric and asked that we not trim the tails or square up the blocks. These are 12.5 inches so Kati will have some nice sized finished blocks when she puts her quilt together.



I'm also participating in the second round of Kati's Color Wheel Charm Swap. This round is focusing on lights and darks of our assigned color. My color is orange.

Click the photos below (images courtesy Hawthorne Threads) for the make and model of these fabrics.





Looks like I've got a bunch of fabric to cut. I better get to it.

Also, see the post below for my Blogger's Quilt Festival entry.

Block for Kati and a Few Other Things

I feel like it's been ages since I've done anything sewing-related over the last several weeks. I think it's because I'm down to the wire with this pregnancy and I am SO feeling it. My body is asking me, "What in the heck did you sign me up for?!" But on Saturday, the SLCMQG got together for a Sewing Saturday. I tackled this quilt block for Kati in the Sew Beautiful Bee. She asked for wonky log cabins with improv piecing. I did my best to channel my inner wonk, so I hope it works with her design. One thing I struggled with was the improv piecing…meaning I only did it once in this block with that FMF print. (Sorry Kati!)



I also made a string X block in oranges and grays for Leigh, but forgot to snap a photo of it before handing it over to her that day.

In other fabric news, I signed up for Kati’s Color Wheel Charm Swap (which I’m so excited about). My assigned colors are green and green-yellow. Here are the fabrics I picked.

Sea Kelp in Green from Going Coastal by Emily Herrick for Michael Miller



Itty Bitty Chairs in Grass from Tufted Tweets by Laurie Wisbrun for Robert Kaufman


I have a few more items on my to-make-before-baby-comes list and I’m pretty sure they won’t all get done. My daughter’s bed quilt needs to take top priority now that the bunk beds we ordered are here and I’m sure I won’t be able to finish a quilt of that size after the baby’s born. I also need to finish my Kona Solids Challenge quilt by next Thursday (gah! How did time fly so fast?!) and cut my fabrics for my month in our quilt guild bee. In order to do all this though, I need my body to stop screaming at me and just relax enough so I can get something done. Please send encouraging thoughts my way!

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!

This and that

I tried my hand at paper foundation piecing for the first time a couple weeks ago. In our Sew Beautiful Bee, Elizabeth sent out these AMH fabrics and asked for spiderweb blocks. After two nights of sewing, I finished this puppy up. Talk about needing patience to tackle this block! I love how it turned out though.





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Tomorrow is going to be a big day! I'm heading to Portland with two of my sisters to check out this:


I can't tell you how excited I am. Not only do I get to have a little vacation with my sisters and pick Lizzy House's brain for three days, but I get to spend time with my best friend. It's sure to be an amazing weekend!

I hope all of you have a fantastic weekend too!

Fabric

So I mentioned yesterday that I picked up some new fabric at my LQS. I specifically went in looking for one of the purple prints from the Central Park line, but they didn't have any (sigh). But, I came away with some other great fabrics.



Next month is my month in the Sew Beautiful Bee, so I pulled some grays and yellows. I'm asking the girls in the group to make circle of geese blocks. I love this stack of fabric, but I think I need to add some blues and greens. Knowing me, I'll just get bored with a yellow and gray quilt and I don't want it to feel blah to me.



I'm also finishing up my projects for the last swap that I'm in. Note to self: Don't sign up for three swaps (that are running concurrently) when you've just found out you're pregnant. You won't be as motivated or excited about them as you should be. Swaps are supposed to be fun!

My parter in one of the groups was fairly specific in her fabric request, so in an attempt to not be totally obvious, I showed her this photo, with her choices tucked in here and there. We'll see if it fools her.

Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap Received

Before I show you the goodies I received in the Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap, I wanted to tell you that I think I'm back from my blogging break. It was nice to take time away from the obligations I'm constantly putting on myself. The biggest reason for taking a break was that I was so sick and couldn't stand to think about sewing. You see, the mister and I are expecting our third little bundle of joy. February was full of dry heaves and nausea, but now that I've entered my second trimester, I'm feeling much better (even if I do still gag at the drop of a hat - or the eating habits of my four-year-old). My sister borrowed my sewing machine for a week and a half and then it was off to the repair shop for a good cleaning and tune-up. I'm picking it up today and am excited to get back in some sewing action, especially since my to-do list is getting out of control, but more on that later. Now to show off the cute things Andrea (Knitty bitties) sent me.

Here are all the goodies, fresh from the package I opened on Friday.



A cute table runner featuring half-square triangle pinwheels.



A farm apron that thankfully fits around my belly. (Love those dots on the ties!)





Some adorable stationary cards, which I've already put to good use as a birthday card for my mom. Andrea included a matching cupcake stamp that I didn't get a solo picture of because my two-year-old daughter claimed the stamp the second I opened the package.



Thanks so much, Andrea! I love it all.