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!

Urban Home Goods Swap

I finished the package for my partner in the Urban Home Goods Swap. I haven't been feeling 100% for the last few weeks so I had to just sit down and force myself to finish this project.

My partner mentioned that she likes Hope Valley, so I used that as the main fabric for this sewing machine cover. I have to admit, though, that I'm not a huge fan of it myself. Something about the colors just don't do it for me. I think that's why I struggled to finish it.

I used the orange and purple fabrics to make a semi-reversible cover for her machine.



The back and ties use the same fabric. I straight-line quilted the cover in random lines. I don't think I basted it as well as I could have because I had a couple problems with tucking here and there.



Overall, I'm pleased with how it came together.



When I showed it to my mom, she loved it, which gave me the idea to make one for her for her birthday.



Along with this, I sent my partner some Hope Valley charm squares in the green/yellow and gray colorways as well as some vintage thread spools. I hope she likes the package.

Linking up to:

WIP Wednesday #12

Hi all! Are you surprised to hear from me? I feel like it's been forever since I posted anything of substance on this blog. Truth is, I haven't made a ton of progress on many projects lately, just little bits here and there. But, I do want to show you what I've been working on, and since these are all in progress, I figured I'd link up to Lee's WIP Wednesday for the first time.


Ongoing projects

First off, I quilted the quilt for my cousin-in-law's soon to be little bundle of baby joy. (They opted to not find out the gender, but this Make Life fabric lends itself well to boys and girls.)



I started off by quilting horizontally and vertically through the one-inch sashing strips, then I quilted diagonally in both directions through each square. I didn't mark the quilt, so the lines don't perfectly intersect in some places, but that's just fine by me. I think the overall look is fun. I have some leftover Make Life binding from my Life Is What You Make It quilt, so I just have to make a bit more binding and then this quilt will be ready for that last step.



I also got my Far Far Away 2 Kitchen Windows quilt top pieced except for the outside border. I haven't gotten around to taking a picture of the entire thing, but I will soon (or at least after these blustery, bitter cold days are behind us).



The binding fabric I ordered finally came yesterday so I'll be able to work on finishing the quilt soon. I went with Kona sage (misleading name in my opinion as it looks more blue than green), and I love how it looks with the colors in the quilt, especially up against the Kona stone, which I used as the sashing. I just need to piece the outer border for the top and then piece the backing. I plan on using some of the Kona sage to sash the three extra kitchen windows for a bit of contrast on the back. It'll be nice to see how this one washes up when it's complete. I really like the weight of the FFA2 fabrics, which gives the entire quilt a heavier feel that I love.



New projects

The last project I want to show you is what I started for my partner in round 3 of the Urban Home Goods Swap. She mentioned liking Hope Valley as well as being happy about a new sewing machine cover. I've never made one before and thought it'd be a fun item to tackle. So, I called around to see if any local shops had some Hope Valley left, and it just so happened that one of them had some charms at 30% off, plus additional yardage. Score! I brought it home and went to work.

I used the Fat Cats Easy Dresden ruler on the charms and then pieced them like so. I had to offset the seams though so they would line up properly. Here's one end of the cover with a bit of hand-stitching inside the striped piece.



And here's the other in case my partner wants to turn it around. I'm thinking I'll make it reversible too so she can put the side facing her with the colors that match her mood - bright and cheery with the purples and oranges, or subdued and somber with the blues and grays. I have another little item that will go along with this cover, but I want to keep that part a secret.



To follow along with Lee's WIP Wednesday format, here are the rest of my stats.

Finished quilt tops (currently in limbo as I don't have plans to work on them anytime soon): 2

Patching Up Quilt Top

Jellyroll Sampler Quilt-Along Quilt Top

In progress with lower priority (for some reason): 3

Dresden plate pillow

HST Blush quilt

All Star 2 bed quilt

It's a little bit of a downer seeing how many projects I've started before finishing others. I usually like starting new projects while I have others in the works, but for some reason, it's really bothering me right now. I want to have a big burst of energy (oh, and time too) to knock out as many projects as I can. We'll see how this month pans out as it's the last one I have before returning to work at the office. =( Wish me luck.

Two More Swaps

You can still leave a comment in my previous post for a chance to win some fabric. Click here to enter the draw.

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Call me crazy, but I signed up for two more swaps...that's a total of three within a three-month timeframe. I'm so excited for these though. I already showed you my inspiration mosaic and the goodies I made for my partner in the Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap.

Here are the inspiration mosaics I put together for the other two swaps.

Urban Home Goods Swap



The Urban Home Goods Swap consists of one main item that can be used in your home and covers a pretty broad range of items - pillows, bags, aprons, sewing machine covers, pretty much the entire gamut of anything possibly used in your home.

Make Mine Modern Swap, which was formerly Modern Swappers.



The Make Mine Modern Swap consists of one and a half yards of designer/quilt shop quality fabric, a handmade item, and an item to decorate your sewing room with.

These are the first two swaps that I've participated in that I've actually been pretty specific with the types of things I'd like to receive. I'd really like some sort of tote bag to use for transporting sewing projects here and there. I baste all my quilts at my mom's house or my inlaws' house, so it would be nice to have a big bag to carry everything.

For Make Mine Modern, I listed specific fabric in my Flickr profile that I don't have, but would like to own. I also included specific item requests in my mosaic (pin cushion, needle case, mail organizer, box pouch for storing sewing notions, and/or fabric storage cubbies).

In past swaps that I've done, it's been easier for me to make something when my partners were specific about what they wanted. I figured I'd try that out this time instead of being vague like I was in other swaps.

I've received my two partners for these other swaps and I have a pretty good idea of what I'll be making for each of them. I hope to get started on them either this weekend or next week. I'd really like to have these done well before I head back into the office.