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!

More and more mug rugs!

We just can't stop swapping at the Lakeland Modern Quilt Guild!  We recently turned in our mug rugs destined for the Italian Modern Quilt Guild.  Check out the one I whipped up:

Recognize this block?  I made it at Christy Fincher's class last month.  I just haven't had the time to incorporate it into a bigger project, so at 8 inches square, I thought it might make a fine mug rug.  I did some gentle curved quilting with my walking foot, which was new to me, but seemed to turn out just fine for a first attempt. 

I used Elmer's glue to baste the binding in place, which made finishing the binding by machine a breeze!  (Shout out to Adelle in my guild for turning me onto this method!) 

The cool thing about continually having swaps is that you receive stuff at the same time you turn stuff in for the next one.  Remember the mug rugs I made for the Brisbane Modern Quilt Guild?  Well, check out the ones I received in exchange:

This one was made with Cotton + Steel fabrics, and looks so cool!  This one is proudly displayed on my desk at work.  Check out Jess's blog here.

 
Check out the teeny tiny piecing on this mug rug!  It's super cute, and sits on my desk at home.  Thank you, Myriam!

All in all, what a successful swap!  Can't wait to see what I get from Italy!  Until next time, God bless!

Quilting Over the Rainbow: Mug Rug Swap #2

This is Mug Rug swap number two! 

The Lakeland Modern Quilt Guild is swapping mug rugs with the Brisbane Modern Quilt Guild.  For the less geographically inclined, that's in Australia!  Their guild outnumbers ours, so I committed to making more than one mug rug. 

First up:  hexies!

I started this particular mug rug before I knew that the Brisbane guild requested a "quilting over the rainbow" theme.  I ordered an Ashton Road charm pack from Connecting Threads to get started.  I find that 5 inch charms are the perfect size for English Paper Piecing, because each square is enough to cover 4 of the 1 inch hexies. 

Here's my little stack of 2.5 inch squares, ready to be basted. 

This time around, I used a new product: Simple Shapes by June Tailor. 

This is a pack of 1 inch hexagons (meaning each side is one inch long).  You thread baste your fabric onto the templates, which are heat-safe.  That's my favorite thing about these--they stood up to my iron without distorting or warping the least bit.  You can't say that about standard template plastic! 

Well, you stitch the hexies together in the usual manner.  This was my first time using Ivisafil thread--I looooove it!  It is a 100 weight polyester thread that is virtually invisible.  This gave me a lot of leeway when piecing, because the threads are only slightly visible on the front. 

For the most part, I enjoyed using these templates.  The only drawback I found with them is their thickness.  While I appreciated how sturdy (yet still flexible!) they were, the thickness was occasionally an obstacle.  I did not find this to be enough of an annoyance to discontinue using them.  I am still learning EPP, so I have yet to decide on my favorite.  I'll be sure to let you know when I do, though. 

I always say that hand piecing deserves hand quilting, so this little guy got the hand quilting treatment.  This was my first time using YLI hand quilting thread, and I enjoyed it.  It's bit difficult to find around here, so I probably won't go out of my way to find it, though.

I did some simple chunky echo quilting about a quarter inch from each seam.    I bound it (sorry, binding is not my forte!) and made a little hexie label that I appliqued onto the back.

I used my Pigma archival ink pen to write the label.

Next up: an actual rainbow-themed mug rug.  For this, I turned to EPP again.  I decided to go with 1 inch diamonds this time:

I cut out what felt like a zillion little diamonds and was very ambitious with the design.  This is what I ended up making:

Sometimes, you just run out of time!  This was my first time using diamonds as an EPP shape, so I was unfamiliar with the "dog ears" you get from those acute angles.  One thing I learned: NEVER clip those "dog ears!"  They're meant to be tucked underneath, not cut off, as I found out the hard way.

You might be able to tell from this photo how some of the points started to fray.  This is due to my error in clipping the "dog ears."  I started to applique the star onto a white background by hand, but ended up using a narrow zigzag stitch on my machine:

Now for the quilting: I was really, really crunched for time, so rather than binding this particular mug rug, I opted to turn it and topstitch around the edge.

I did a little echo quilting around the star (in this photo, I've used a Frixion pen to mark my lines) in white thread. 

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I forgot to take close-up photographs of the mug rugs before I turned them over to the guild president for delivery.  Here's Leandra showing off my mug rugs to the rest of the guild at our meeting:

  

So, to those who end up receiving these, I hope you're not too disappointed with them, and I thank you for an opportunity to improve my skills on these fun little mug rugs!  I'd love to hear from you.  Until next time, God Bless.