BOM Part 7

It feels so good to actually be on track with something for once!  I'm all caught up with the Lakeland Modern Quilt Guild's block of the month program.  Here's July's installment:

One for the guild, made with Northcott fabrics, and

one for me, in my chosen color scheme.  By the way, if any of you know where I can get my hands on more of that Madeline by Blank Quilting print, please let me know!  I am dangerously low!

Here's the two blocks together:

 

And the moment you've been waiting for--a preview of my sampler quilt with all 7 blocks so far!

 



It's really going to be fabulous.  The only question is, do I add sashing?  I have plenty of that blue/black checked print.  Hmm...

Well, it won't be too long before I write again, so until then, God Bless!

Sewing for #babyschep

It's begun!  The first of many, many things I will sew for my little one.  First off, I simply cannot believe that I'm going to be a mom.  We had our 20 week ultrasound this past week, so here's a peek at my kid:

So what did I make for baby?  The oh-so-popular 1 Hour Basket.  The pattern is free from Hearts and Bees in the Craftsy shop.  Here's my first crack at it:

This particular one went to my mom's house.  She seemed truly excited about it, so bonus points for me, right?  I made the first one using home dec fabric from Ikea, American Made Brand solid for the lining, and Pellon Thermoloam Fusible Fleece for the interfacing.  Not so bad!  The only tricky part is making the gussets--I've always had trouble matching the seams up just so.


My second go-round was specifically designed for the nursery, which I've chosen to decorate in a neutral jungle theme.

Yes, I made three!

 I chose a neutral home dec fabric from Ikea.  The lining fabric was from a mystery sale table at Fabric Warehouse, so I can't tell you what it is.  If you recognize it, let me know!  This time, I used Pellon's new Flex-Foam, and boy, was it fantastic!  I even managed to match up all of my gusset seams!  Woot! 

I even added a little label:

Of course, I picked the messiest one to photograph!

I'm not sure why my baby needs to know this was made by mommy, but whatevs.  These were quick and fun to make--I'll probably make some more in the future.  Until then, God Bless!

2015 BOM: Parts 4, 5, and 6!

As y'all have heard me say quite a few times on this blog already, I've been behind on my work.  So much so, I did three (read 6) blocks of the month at a time.  I'll keep this short and sweet, so here they are!

April's BOM from SewMamaSew:

One for the guild...

...and one for me!

May's BOM from SewMamaSew:  This one involved paper piecing--not bad for my first try, huh?

One for the guild...

...and one for me!

June's BOM from Toefeather:(this one is my favorite so far!)

One for the guild...

...and one for me!

 I did one marathon sewing session to finish most of these up, because I was so far behind!  I bet y'all are curious about what my design wall looks like now...

And that, my friends, is half a year's worth of BOMs!  Hey, it's never too late to start!  Every pattern is on the guild's Pinterest page.  Check us out!

Until next time, God Bless!

My first Instagram swap!

So these ladies in my guild have been doing these super cool Instagram swaps for a while, so I decided to get in on the action.  By the way, check me out on Instagram!  I'll follow you back...

Anyhow, I just happened across the #IGNeedlebookswap.  Whaat?  I really needed a needlebook, so why not make one for someone else and receive one in exchange?  Brilliant!

Signing up was easy.  Anorina over at Samelia's Mum organized the swap, and the form was simple and easy to fill out.  I wanted to go international, so I opted in to swap with an international partner.  My assigned partner was from Brazil! 

Well, while the swap gave us plenty of time to stitch up our creations, I found out I was expecting my first child and spent the next month or so hugging the toilet bowl and/or languishing about in a perpetual state of exhaustion.  I managed to stitch together a needlebook the day it was due:

It's my understanding that little "extras" are customary to gift to your swap partner, so of course, I had to start with needles.  These are embroidery needles, since I noticed my partner does some embroidery.

My partner said she adores hexies, so I EPP'ed some hexies together from some scraps from my Millefiore quilt along.

I cut out some felt to match the size of the hexies, and finished it by machine, including some glittery ribbon as a tie-closure.  Not my best work, but I ended up running out of time. 

Due to the international nature of the swap, I decided to include a little gift unique to Florida, and what's more Florida than Disney??  They have these super cute international pins at Disney, so I found the Brazilian flag pin and included it in her package along with some colorful floss and a small spool of wool thread. 

My partner was very gracious when she received her package, and it really made me feel better about it all. 

Now for the receiving end:  I was completely blown away by what I received from Jennie at Porch Swing Quilts.  Well, just look at it!

It's not just a needlebook, it's a whole flippin' sewing kit!  There were some really fun goodies inside, too: a few pins/needles, seam ripper, measuring tape, and scissors.  Bonus--made with some of my favorite fabric--Geometric Bliss by Jeni Baker for Art Gallery Fabrics.  I hit the jackpot with this swap!  Next time, I'll try to be a bit more awesome for my partner. 

Do you swap?  Your feelings on it? 

I've got a lot more on the way--I'm just pacing myself.  No really!  Until next time, God Bless!

and the winner is...

Dody! 

 

I've sent you an email, Dody, so I can send off your brand-new fat quarter bundle of purple pretties!  Thanks to all of you who were oh-so-kind with your comments.  Happy making, and God Bless!