Finished Swap Quilt

I haven't been doing much lately. I had influenza A and was quite sick for a bit. Now I am feeling better, but have the lingering cough and major fatigue. It seems that going to work is about all I can handle then I am totally wiped out. I hope that part doesn't last long.

I finished this quilt several weeks ago and have just been waiting for my partner to let me know that she received it so that I could share pictures.

Our theme for this round was Log Cabin, and I wanted to fit the theme but still give my partner something different. I think this turned out pretty cute, and I hope she likes it. I haven't received mine yet, but I will share when I do. I hope it comes soon, I can't wait to see it.

In other good news, that thing I hinted at in my last post is coming right along. Something that I never thought would ever happen for me, is happening. I still can't believe it, and I still keep waiting for someone to come up to me and say "We were just kidding... you can't really do this." I keep waiting for another shoe to drop, for another catastrophe, another burst bubble, someone to come along and pinch me and wake me from this dream.

But...we have handed over money, and now...

We have our names on a sweet little third of an acre of dirt. Right out side of my bedroom window is the Second Tee (I hope those five AM golfers are quiet, and have good aim, and don't break my windows!)

There are plenty of things I am NOT looking forward to...putting in landscaping being #1, but I am looking forward to being in control of my own destiny. Having a place all my own, where I can paint the walls if I want to! And oh boy and I looking forward to not having stark white walls!!!! We are still about a year out, but my goal is in sight, it's no longer some abstract thought, way off in the distance.

I will finally have a home! Oh happy day! And I am sorry to say it, but you will probably hear a lot about it for the next year or so =0P

Booooooooring!

Seriously! The WORST thing that can happen to a quilter with ADD! But, I am so excited about the little quilt I am making for my STUD (Swap til U Drop) partner, I think it's going to turn out so great, that I am willing to make 3 million (ok, slight exageration) little half square triangles!

I am making one for me at the same time, which is why there are three million of them, but I couldn't make one for her and NOT make one for me, I love it THAT much!

I am so excited, can't wait to show you more!

WHEW!!!

Two of the worst times for me are #1 The Beginning of the school year, and #2 the end of the school year!

The great news is, I AM DONE! All reports written, all files filed, all students celebrated! I have to go in on Monday and finish cleaning out my classroom (I'm homeless next year, and will be rotating from classroom to classroom which I am NOT looking forward to!) and after that, I am free for the summer!

I spent yesterday celebrating by doing a much needed tidying job on my disaster of a sewing room, then working on my STUD Swap quilt (P.s. STUD stands for Swap Til U Drop, get your mind out of the gutter!)

Our theme this round is Disney. I, of course, was VERY excited having just come back from two weeks at Disney World. Disney is special to me. I have always loved Disney so I was thrilled for this swap.

My partner said she LOVES!!! Pirates! Hmmmm what to do, what to do! I had an idea, but while browsing around the internet found a way to make it even better and the end result is a quilt that I am so proud of. It's one of those quilts that has just worked out every step of the way, no disasters, it just went smoothly, which is unusual for me!


Since this is not a blind swap (My partner knows who I am) I can only show sneak peeks until she gets to see her quilt in person. So here is my latest sneak peek. I am just so beyond thrilled with this quilt. It's one of those that just makes me giggle the whole time I'm working on it. I really hope she loves it as much as I do! I am all done save the binding (Which I still have to find fabric for!)

As a little extra addition to my partner's package, I made a mug rug for her little guy who is also a pirate fan, so I'm told.

My amazing and incredible Elephant quilt!

Ok, this is me feeling HORIBLY guilty! Poor Cindy is probably thinking I am so ungrateful! I wrote a post all about the incredible quilt I received in the STUD swap and I hit SAVE instead of PUBLISH! So while my blog post was there, it was never visible! I feel so bad!!!

So I am going to rave all about Cindy's quilt!

She had made a similar quilt for another swap, so when she asked me if I had any idea what I would like, I jokingly said "It's too bad you already gave that elephant quilt away, you could have just sent it to me and I would have died a happy woman." She told me that she actually hadn't sent it away, but her husband wouldn't let her part with it. However, maybe she could do something similar for me.


The Original Elephant Quilt

Then she emailed me and said she wouldn't be able to make one the same because she couldn't find the fabrics. I was totally bummed, but I knew she would still make me something great, so I wasn't worried.



She tricked me! I was so totally excited to open the package and find a little elephant similar to the other one she had made before. The fabrics were different but I love it so very very much! You really can't see all the detail in this little quilt! The elephant is sitting in a crowd of people and is spraying water (Little irridescent beads sewn on one at a time!). The circus tent is loose, you can put your fingers underneath it. The crowd of people is a fabric print that she has painstakingly cut around each person and then appliqued it on. His ear flaps and is wired so that you can pose it. His little braided tail is 3 dimensional as well...It's just amazing to see it in person!

And not only did she send me the elephant quilt, but a whole chuckload of other amaging things as well!

A spring for bag with a tiger applique (great to hold all my little sewing supplies!)
A pin Cushion with red beads sewn around the edge (With horses)
A Mug Rug (With hippos heeee!)
A little sewing kit
A box of animal crackers (my fave!)
and all the left over fabrics!!!

I don't know what happened, I got side tracked, I meant to take a picture of the fronts and backs of all of these so you could see how awesome they were on both sides and I don't know what happened to the picture of the fronts...



Anyway, I have thanked Cindy for this quilt, profusely, several times. I really want her to know how much I love my little elephant and how happy it makes me when I go down my stairs (about a million times a day) and there he sits, right about eye level, where I see him every time!

STUD Swap

Well, my partner Cindy has finally received her package so I can share with you now.

Cindy is the one who sent me the amazing Elephant quilt that I love so much, along with a mug rug, a bag, and a million other fun little things. Let me tell you, it's hard to compete with a package that awesome and I really felt the pressure to send her something worthy in return.



This quilt started out as the very first block in my "A Tisket A Tasket" quilt. I didn't have a bias tape maker so I used ric rac for the handle and it was a total bugger to sew on. After making this block I decided that there was NO WAY I was sewing 11 more months of ric rac handles, and I didn't want this to be the only basket with a ric rac handle, so I set it aside and made another January block. It's been hanging on my design wall ever since and I thought it was the perfect foundation for Cindy's little quilt with winter being right around the corner. And since she lives in the south, she probably doesn't get much chance for real snowmen, so I hope this brings a little winter nip to her home.



And since I am obsessed with mug rugs right now, I thought it would be fun to send along a little matching mug rug. I created this penguin using the companion print (on the back) as a guide. I think he turned out so cute, I used flannel for his earmuffs so they are soft and fuzzy =0)



I also wanted to send her something great to make up for all the goodies she sent me and made her an Abbey Bag. I made the one for me, and the one for her at the same time and it was really hard to give up because I loved hers even a little more than I loved my own, but I figgured she would rather have this one than the cherry one, so off it went.



I also threw in a few other little goodies, the requisite red lace that I send to all my swap partners, and a little christmas notepad and some fun magnets.

It was fun swapping with you Cindy, I hope you had as much fun as I did!

I love to spoil, and be spoiled

I joined another swap, crazy I know, especially with so much on my plate, but I just couldn't help myself!

And besides, they were small, so it was no big deal right?

I joined a mug rug swap!

My partner was scrap studio and I made her first mug run within five minutes of getting my partner assignment. She was just that easy!


Then my nerves took over, as they always do, and I started to panic, what if she didn't like it??? So I started stalking her, reading her blog, and checking out her flicker photostream, and favorites. And I discovered she collects Ampersands!! How cool is that? I love ampersands, they have such a fun shape, and I knew I had to make an ampersand rug for her as well. But I knew I couldn't even show a sneak preview, because the minute she saw it, she would know exactly who it was for. So I sat on it, kept it under tight wraps, and that was HARD for me! I like to share!


So here is my partner's final package (Picture taken by her because I totally spaced out on taking a picture of the finished mug rug UGH) I also decoupaged a chipboard ampersand for her to add to her collection, made a beaded scissor fob,a cute Christmas note pad, and sent some of my favorite red lace.

Luckily she loved it! Either that, or she's a REALLY good liar =0P

And because I love to be spoiled as much as the next guy...I totally have to brag about my awesome swap partner and the fantabulous package she sent to me! You can tell that she stalked me as much as I stalked Kelly, and that she totally got me, and made things just to make ME happy! How awesome is it when that happens? I feel like I have hit the swap partner jack pot lately!

Look at this buch of amazingness that I received!


I literally opened this package with my mouth hanging open!

When I saw the sneak previews, I commented "How nice of you to give me marshmallows to go with my hot chocolate!! Of course she had that darling little cherry tart blocked out on her picture because she said it was a dead give away as to the recipient, so I didn't get to drool all over that until it got here! And on the asterisk one I said "Pour moi sil vous plait" Which is French for "For me please" and guess what? It totally WAS for me! Who would have guessed? Certainly not me! I am beyond thrilled! And can you believe how dang cute that little matroyshka zipper pouch is? I have to carry it around in a death grip because everyone who sees it, wants to swipe it. And that cute cherry fabric, and cherry quilt pattern...it's all too much cuteness, I can't take it!

Are you jealous? I am so thrilled with how this swap turned out, and I am only half done! I signed up for TWO partners! And then I got all crazy and signed up for a private swap with another partner, so there is more to come, stay tuned!

There is some serious talent in those mug rug swappin' ladies, I'm tellin' ya!

STUD swap

You have already seen the quilt that I received in the STUD swap, but now I want to show you the quilt I made for my partner. I can show it now that she has received it.



Her favorite colors are orange, green, and blue. A color combo I also enjoy, so it was fun making this quilt for her. This pattern was a pain in the hiney though, there were many measurement errors in it and I had to wing it a little.

It turned out pretty good though, and I was proud of it when I was finished.


I hope it puts a smile on Kolleen's face whenever she sees it, and I hope she enjoys it for years to come.


Because I like to send little extra goodies, I made a cute little pincushion from the tutorial found here. The little gold thing is a pocket mirror with her initial on it. And a cute little pencil and some posty notes (you can never have too many posties if you ask me!)

STUD Swap received

This is my first time participating in the STUD swap. STUD stands for Swap Til U Drop.

You make a mini quilt and send it to your partner. My quilt came out a little bigger than planned, but I added some extra sashings because it just looked lopsided without them. I hope my partner loves her quilt. I think she will. But you just never know.

Here is a little looksie. I can't show you the whole thing until she receives it because it's supposed to be a surprise. Her favorite colors are orange, green, and blue. I thought that was going to be hard, but then I found the floral fabric and it all worked out perfect.



Meanwhile, my quilt came in the mail yesterday! Kolleen, my partner, looked through my favorites folder on Flickr and just happened to chose one of my alltime favorite quilts to use as her inspiration. Pair that up with cherry fabric and I'm a gonner!


I absolutely love this quilt! I love the wonky blocks, and I love the ric rac, and I forgot to take a picture dangit, but the fabric on the back is adorable too!

Thank you Kolleen! I adore it! And just as much as the quilt, I love the little fabric pieces, and the doily. I can't wait to make something fun with that fabric!

I am having a really rough go of life right now and my spirits are pretty down. MIL came to the rescue and took the boys and I out to lunch and to see Shrek yesterday. It was a nice escape from my reality, if even only for a few hours. Thanks MIL, you're the best!