New friends, new blogs to visit, and new swaps

Swaps

Secretly Stitched in Greece is hosting an 82 European Fabric Swap. Groups of 8 will swap an eighth of fabric. More details can be found in the Flickr group. I'm excited to join a European group because we pay so much less for shipping over here! I always feel badly for those shipping from America because it can be pretty expensive. She has also arranged discounts with 2 different fabric shops!

The Modern Brick Swap hosted by Stitching@theGreenDesk is now taking signups. There is a predetermined color scheme and you send in (28) 5"x10" "bricks."  The colors this time are rich, saturated and very spicy!

Fabric Scrap Swap is in Round 5 and taking signups until July 18. Participants will swap at least 1 total yard worth of scraps greater than or equal to 2.5" and no handmade extras required. Time to get that Gumdrop or Ticker Tape quilt finished!

Super Swaps, a Flickr group,  has between 4 and 6 swaps per year. August participants will be swapping pouches (zippered or not) or fabric baskets. The deadline for signups is July 30th and the mailing cut-off is Sept 5.

Secret Tote Bag Swap (STBS) is currently taking signups for Round 5 until July 19. Round 5 has participants making the Noodlehead 241 Tote. I haven't made a 241 tote yet, but here's one of my faves.

Lynn H. is hosting a Facebook-based swap featuring LilysQuilts :  LynnBobSquarePants quilt block. You pick a partner and swap one block each month.

Linky Parties

Drowning in Fabric is hosting a new linky party called Saturday Swap. You can link up anything you've received or given lately. This sounds like fun!

Red Delicious Life is hosting Anything Goes Mondays linky party where anything goes. ;)

Nini & the Sea is hosting the Weekly Inspiration linky in which participants can link up anything!

Sew Fresh Quilts has a regular linky party on Wednesdays and that's where I found many of the new-to-me blogs mentioned here today!

Quilt Story hosts Fabric Tuesday each week. I was lucky enough to be featured today, so I hope you check it out!

New Blogs to Follow:

 In addition to the blogs listed above, I've also discovered:
Jennifer Jangles - lots of fun crafty tutes and great fabric lines
Sing While Crafting - loved her Schnitzel & Boo Swap
Quilting by Dawn - great projects

Supernova Friendship Block Swap

Hello! It took us awhile, but we got our bundle, divvied it on up and set about catching up with everyone in the Friendship Block swap. July 15 is the deadline for block 2, so we went ahead and made 2 blocks this month. I must say it was tough answering the "25 things you didn't know about me." I was very tempted to give bra sizes and other private info just to get finished. I haven't received my partner's yet and I can't wait!

Anyway, when I got my bundle and started planning the layout of the first block I realized the majority of the prints are freakin' directional. I saw it, but I guess didn't absorb it until I started sewing the block together. Riddle & Whimsy posted a shortcut tute to go along with Lee's tutorial and I set off. Long story short:  if you're using directional fabric, you can't use the shortcut.

A little of this

and a little of this
led to..

Supernova June blocks 

Supernova July blocks

All together now!

 Ms. E and I decided to make identical blocks every month, so we're always making 2 of the same blocks and sending one out and keeping the other.

I got Quiltography for my iPad the other day hoping to get an idea of how blocks would turn out ahead of time. You can upload specific fabrics and try them out which I thought was pretty cool. The only drawback is that the program makes the fabrics appear large so that a repeating theme or print may not be seen within a block, but one can definitely see the effect in general. For July, here is my Quiltography block:

and you can see the real block above.
FMT

Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap - What I Received!

Hi there! I have to say I had a pretty bad day yesterday. It started with an eyebrow "procedure" that always produces tears. This time I let myself be talked into "sugaring" which sounded sweet and painless. Have you had this done? It's like cold waxing - it hurts like a mutha!

Anyway, I then proceeded to Starbucks for a pick-me-up. I walked back over to my 5 month old car and put my coffee in the cup holder. After deciding to be a good girl and walk instead of drive to my next appointment, I went to grab my coffee and the cup sort of collapsed into the lid and I poured the entire thing into the passenger seat, floor and stick shift. I hope no one was in the parking garage with me cause I said a whole lot of loud, colorful things.

So, when I returned back home and cleaned out the car I was pleasantly surprised to see this waiting for me.

I wasn't expecting my Schnitzel & Boo package so soon! Melanie truly outdid herself and I am one happy camper!

The whole package

My marvelous, colorful mini

The combination of bright, colorful prints with low volume is exactly my taste and I just love it. I've already hung it right above my sewing area so I can always see it and smile.

Goodie bag!

I also was lucky enough to receive a silly mustache tote bag, a cool microwave basket (what a great idea for not burning fingers,) a tiny tape measure in a handy tin, a little notebook, a mini diamond ruler, some flower seeds to plant with my "sprout," a perfectly accurate HOT STUFF pin, a bit of Glimma (YES!!) and a taste sensation - peanut butter/chocolate Chex Mix. I'm not sure how my life has survived this long without them and I'm trying to ration myself. Do you like the way I tucked them into the tote bag, so you can't see they're open already?

Sneaky snaggle-toothed photo bomber

Thank you again Melanie for such a fantastic package and thanks again to Kristi @ Schnitzel & Boo for an awesome swap! I'm looking forward to round 3! 

FMT

Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap - What I Gave

Hello there! Chances are you heard (via IG) about Round 2 of the Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap, right? She had an amazing 600 participants this time! I was happy to learn that my partner and I have many similar tastes including Bonnie & Camille, so it was very easy to choose a color direction for my mini.. but very hard to choose a project! I went through a ton of ideas before settling on this one.

Bonnie & Camille - Scrumptious

The HSTs were straightforward but the triangle in square blocks were a little more challenging and I had to do a little paper piecing for the first time. Happily, there were many resources and it was fairly pain-free. Now I'm excited to do more PP and I'd been terrified of it for as long as I can remember!

Binding is FMF Fizzy Dot

The back with some wonky spiral quilting

My partner is obsessed with all things UK so I was happy to share some of the goodies I obtained on my trip to London last year for FQR. First up was an intended boxy pouch made from my FQR swag bag UK fabric.

Given that the "boxing" of the pouch would've taken away more of the little fabric I had, I decided to leave it as a flat pouch and it's the perfect size for an iPad!

the back

I had fun with the rest of the package, adding in a quilting magnet, UK fat quarter, the remainder of the Scrumptious charm pack, a notebook, a double-decker bus key-chain, some bicycle paperclips and a little chocolate. The Princess Diana postcard is my favorite addition. Isn't it silly? 

I'm happy to report that my partner Violet was thrilled with her package. :)
FMT
Linking up to Let's Bee Social

Quarter 3 Finish Along

Well Quarter 2 was quite a failure! I looked back through my list and realized I didn't finish anything! I've been sewing doll quilts, bee blocks and other things,  but hadn't worked on anything from my list.  So I'm scrapping that list and making one that is hopefully MUCH more realistic!


1. Finish this Flying Geese Improv Quilt. I need to gift it very soon, so I am motivated to figure out the quilting and get this one done.

2. Make 2 more pillows for my family room. As predicted, the first 2 spend a great deal of time in places other than the couch, but for the few brief moments a day when the family room is clean and orderly, they'll look great.

I'm thinking the next 2 pillows will have triangles and I'll use the same FQ bundle.

3. Finish this Garden Party gift quilt. The recipient of this quilt has a birthday in September so I'd really like to get this to her on time! It's currently about 59" square so I'm thinking of adding a scrappy border in a combination of coordinating solids and the remaining fat quarters to get it up to 65". Plus I'm hoping it'll make me hate that white border a little less. What was I thinking?

4. Make pillows for downstairs sofa. I got some cool fabrics from Ikea lined up already

5. Make an apron and stop having to change clothes or (more realistically) wear dirty clothes the rest of the day every time I cook or bake something. This one will be reversible for extra effectiveness. I made my husband one for practice so now I'm ready!

6. Noodlehead Divided Basket - this is another gift needed very soon. I have most of what will fill the basket so I just need to get it made. Thanks to FairlyMerry for her encouragement and tips. She's made some really pretty ones and I hear they're addicting!

Kokka canvas options for divided basket

  

7. This one is a pipe dream, but as my partner and I have plans to share our Supernova Friendship Quilts at the next Patchwork in the Peaks (Oct 2 - 5th,) and Quarter 3 ends on the 6th, it would be great to have them complete. Otherwise, we'll be sharing just our quilt tops.

Bee Biz

Hello! I am still here & kicking! I guess I have a lot to catch up on but I'll pace myself. I feel like I've been sewing nonstop and am trying to look back and see what I've actually accomplished.  Working my way back, I'll start with Stash Bee. This is my first time participating in this Bee and it's been really fun. Just in time for my birthday, July is my month!

It was so hard choosing a block! I've likened it to going to a good restaurant and having such a hard time making a decision, I promise myself I'll come back the next day to try my other choice. After much deliberation (and time running out,) I almost settled on the Capital T block  in honor of my last name but ultimately settled on this Wonky Pinwheel Block.  This one has been sitting in my Pinterest and waiting for quite awhile and I think it will look great in my family room. Natalie's tutorial is great & here's my run-through. I'm excited to see what my bee mates come up with! Here's mine:

I used mainly Simply Style by V & Co and a little bit of Silent Cinema (dusty blue) and Denyse Schmidt. I think it'll look great in my very drab family room!