QBE Block - 1

So yea, I signed up for the Quilt Block Exchange on Flikr, and I'm making 4 blocks for the month of January.

I've got 2 cut and ready to sew (that's on for tomorrow) and 1 done, and one I have no idea what to do with.

Wendy - Brights and White <- DONE! Mary - 12.5" blocks for the center of preemie quilts <- cut and ready to go Raesha - 12.5" blue and white <-cut and ready to go Jennifer - 10.5" red/aqua and white. <- my problem child block! Here's Wendy's Block:

And, I've uploaded some of my digital designs onto Spoonflower. I'm going to upload 5 or 6 more tomorrow, then order my swatches and then put them up for sale. What do ya'll think of them? Good? Bad? Terrible? Let me know! They were all done in Paint Shop Pro/PhotoShop/Poser or Daz3D.

These are what I've uploaded so far:

Eating While Mommy Quilts

And here's a quick photo of Bean eating while Mommy quilts.



And mommy is officially crazy - I joined DQS8! :) Yay!

All righty then...

And here it is, already Wednesday, and I haven't posted since Sunday. I know. Bad blogger!

But.. I do have things to show for my lack of posting.

First - Teresa received her fall mini quilt and she likes it! YAY!

Second - I made my mini for the 6-12" mini swap on Flikr, and mailed it out all in 2 days. This one wasn't my original quilt that I had in mind, but due to me being silly with the rotary cutter and cutting fabric without checking to see if a miniature block was under said fabric, we had block amputation. And then I had to make a new one because I had run out of one fabric and I want things uniform.

This is the sneak peek I posted:


But this is the whole quilt:


And Tina got it today! YAY! I only mailed it on Monday. It's times like these I'm proud of the USPS.

I got invited by Kimmie to join in a new Quilting Bee. This makes my 4th Bee. :) I'm so excited to have been invited - there are awesome quilters here.
Kimmie has the month of January - and her theme was Black, White and a little bit of Red. Then she posted some inspiration on her Flikr account and I had such a similar fabric to one of the photos for inspiration. And FYI the black fabric with the white swirls was the one that I had that was similar. So naturally I got to sewing and made her block.

I popped it into the mail yesterday.

And for another mini doll quilt swap for Carla. She doesn't like pink at all.. so I think this'll do her some good. No pink at all.


It's just the top right now, but tonight I'm planning on backing and quilting it. Then into the mail it goes on Saturday.

And.. hold on for this one..

I learned how to paper piece.
I went from this:


To:


This is the signature block I sent along with my Birdie Charm pack for the Charming Robin. The next time I see it, there will be 11 names on it, and the charm pack will be almost gone, if not completely gone. :)

Goodbye 2009... Hello 2010!

Wow, this seems totally surreal to write - Hello 2010!!

May all of your new year wishes and resolutions come true.

Once, a while ago, my father told me that his resolution every year was to become a better person than he was last year. So Daddy, this one's for you: it's my resolution too, I will be a better person than I was last year.

I miss you Daddy. I can't believe that in May it'll be 3 years since you've left us.

And my other (hopefully stuck to resolutions):
~ Complete 4 baby quilts for Co-Workers
~ Complete my Coffee Quilt
~ Quilt the Red and White monstrosity.. (we'll see on this one)
~ Participate in at least 6 mini swaps
~ Get to 25 states for my personal mini challenge! :)
~ Make 15 mini quilts for the AAQI and my $1000 challenge
~ open up my own little store to sell mini quilt kits and mini quilts
~ Lose 25 pounds or more.

And on Monday - 6 mini quilts are getting mailed out!! So if you've been on my list of mini swappers (personal swaps) be on the lookout!

I promised Pictures!

And here they are!

My new baby:


And what I've made on it:
Well, I finally quilted the fall mini quilt swap. This'll be mailed with 4 other swaps this coming week, either tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on when I can get out of the house for a bit after Christmas clean-up.



Close up of the quilting:

Finally quilted. I chose to use the new machine and do a leaf motif in the white parts of the quilt, and then do swirly lines on the diagonal through the yellowy/orange squares.

I am totally thrilled with how this one came out. I only hope my partner is as thrilled as I am.

I have just enough of the gold/yellow to make myself one.. this one hurts to part with.. it really does.

This one I did hand applique for the leaf and some new decorative stitching around it. It's for Raesha on Flikr, but I'm still waiting on her address to send it to her.


And the back:

This is the back of the mini for Raesha. I just loved the center fabric and it was gold and brown and just "fall-like" to me.

And I kept playing more with the new machine. I signed up for the January STUD quilt swap with the theme of Rainbows:


I actually made my mini's top.. can you guess what I did with these fabrics?? :D

More pictures of Christmas coming soon - gotta get the photos off of my mom's camera and then I'll pick some good ones to post here!

Snow Day = Sewing Fun

After helping the hubby shovel over 20 inches of snow (we took turns taking care of the bean) I got some quality sewing time in.

For Aunt Pitty Pats swap:
I've made 6 of these:


And 6 of these:


So now all 24 of my 9 patch blocks are done.
Here they are in all their glory:


I've also cut out all the light bulbs for the "Christmas Lights" blocks, and I'm in the process of appliqueing all the penguins. Those that I did have done I ripped apart because I thought they looked like crap.

And I've got 2 more mini's in the works.

School is closed tomorrow!! YAY!! So that means I can get more sewing time in before the holidays.. and who knows, maybe even more presents (and I still have to wrap a ton of gifts!)

And more

Thanksgiving has been here and passed.. and I'm still no where near more ready for Christmas. Mom and I went out shopping on Black Friday, and did most of the shopping then (I was in Kohl's three times!!!) and got most of my gifts. Now they're all hidden all over the house (so Bean doesn't find them, or the hubby) and I have to get them wrapped. Now all I need is more time! :)

Here's more of what I've been working on (instead of wrapping!!)

For Dee, only a little sneak peak: Yours is in the mail on Monday. I finished part 2! :)


This was the mini quilt that I sent to Maya for the Four Seasons Holiday Quilt Swap. She did receive it (so now I can post it!), but was away for Thanksgiving so it took her a little bit to respond.



This is the beautiful Mini I received in the swap from the extremely talented Sara:



Would you believe she said this was her first time doing embroidery?? It's too perfect, and already hanging up on our walls.

This was one I was late on, it was for STUD October to Kathy: (She did receive it in November, I just got around to uploading it.



And...
I conquered Triangles!!
I'm still nervous about making them, but I'm no longer scared.

Show N Tell

Here are the other things that I've been working on lately.

This mini is going to a lovely lady in a personal swap:



It actually has been bound already, just need to label it.

Here's a close up of the hand quilting:


And this real mini quilt will be going in the package as well:


For Scale:


For Aunt Pitty Pat's Christmas Swap:
I'm in 2 groups, so I need to make 24 9-Patch blocks.
Here are 12 for Group 2.


This shows a truer color:


4 Seasons Holiday Quilt Swap:
This is it unbound, I just need to upload one of it that was bound.


Idea for the Inspired by the Fall swap:


I didn't sew anything for it yet - just playing with some placement.

Some of what I've been working on

Showing off some of the mini quilts I was alluding to yesterday.

For Dena: She should be getting this one any day now:
For the My Favorite Quilters 6" and under swap:



And the back:


For Jess:
The October (I was a little late finishing) STUD quilt:




And the back of it: (Hand Quilted)


For Kathy J:
October STUD Anything Goes - we both chose to do Halloween:
Hand Quilted:


For Ruthie:
6"-12" Swap Group - Theme - Hawaiian. This is a bit larger than the 12", its 16" and all hand quilted. In the center I quilted a dolphin, then there is a star, a swirl, seaweed and a shell. I chose bright colors because to me Hawaii was all about brightness and fun.

I'm so proud of this one I pieced another top and will eventually quilt the other one or me.



True brightness:


Stitching close-ups (some are in black and white so you can see the contrast):












And the Back of the quilt: