DQS9 - Finished and in the mail!

After dragging my feet for at least a week, I forced myself to mail this doll quilt to its new owner today.  I think it's probably a good sign when you pour enough of yourself into a swap item that you don't want to let it go!  

If you're not familiar with the Doll Quilt Swap, all partners are secretly assigned so none of us knows who is sewing for us.  I'm anxious for my partner to receive her quilt because I think she'll like it!

When I gave you guys a sneak peek of this project, I was stressing about hiding my starting/stopping threads for the quilting.  You all had some AMAZING advice (thank you!) but in the end I decided to not stress about the backstitching showing and just go for it.  If you look closely you can probably see it in the picture, but I just decided it wasn't the end of the world.

My design was inspired by this gorgeous quilt on Flickr and I used solids because I know that my partner likes them.  I have to say that now I'm kind of hooked on solids too!  I used Kona Stone, Kona White, and 14 colors from my Kona Starter Pack.

I'm really happy with the way this quilt turned out.  Mr. PinSewPress likes it so much he asked me to make another one for us to keep.  When I can work up the motivation, I just might do that!  Someone on Flickr mentioned that this would make a great table topper with a vase in the middle, and I completely agree!  I think we just might "need" one of these for our kitchen table.

Here's hoping my package makes it to it's secret location safe and sound.  It's always a little nerve-wracking when your hard work is in-transit!

Next up . . . I finally finished the "man quilt!"  Pictures and a blog post coming soon!

Happy sewing,
Mary

The whole school of fish!

Remember when I was lamenting that I didn't have any super adorable goldfish in bags?

When I published that post back in July, I was mostly hoping someone would take pity on me and send me one teeny tiny goldfish.

However, I got much more than I expected!

When my blog friend Amy and I agreed to do a fun one-on-one swap, she said she wanted to make something for me based on one of my previous posts.

Just look at this amazing mini quilt she made for me!

I can't even tell you how much I adore this little quilt.  I just love Amy's version of the goldfish in bags!  The bags are linocut prints that Amy hand-carves on linoleum blocks from her own original designs.  The fish are hand painted with freezer paper stencils.  (If you'd like some of Amy's original goldfish in bags, she has some of her prints for sale in her shop.  And if you're curious about the linocut process, Amy did a great post about it here.)

I also adore the colors on this mini, all the great Make Life prints (one of my very favorite fabric lines!) and the great mix of hand quilting and machine quilting.  This mini is hanging in my sewing room and I love looking at it every time I go in there!

Amy also sent me this great handmade card, also with a linocut print.  This one is just perfect for a beach girl like myself!

(I haven't finished my end of the swap yet . . . but I'll be done by the end of the month!)

My goldfish luck didn't end there . . . almost as if they had coordinated it, I got this package in the mail on the very same day - a surprise from Mr. Pin.Sew.Press!

We have a policy of not getting each other birthday or Christmas presents.  Instead we like to give each other little surprises throughout the year.

Let me tell you, this was a huge surprise!  I had actually made peace with the fact that I'd never own these little guys, and I can't believe my husband went to the trouble of tracking these down! 

I'm happy to report that all my new fish are getting along nicely.

Thank you so much Amy and Mr. Pin.Sew.Press. for making my day!  I promise to take good care of my new pets :-)

Happy sewing,

Mary

P.S. - I think Blogger hates me . . . I can't get rid of all those extra spaces in the middle!  What's the deal?

Procrastination Sewing

Does anyone else out there engage in procrastination sewing?

I have a bunch of other things I should be working on . . . the man quilt, my DQS9 quilt, a tissue box cover . . . but last night I just HAD to make this little case for my iPod.

I recently signed up for the The Biggest Loser 5k, and this is my motivation to take my iPod to the gym and go running.  Running is definitely NOT one of my favorite fitness activities.  If only sewing burned more calories . . .   :-)

I just love this adorable Kokka cheater print.

Oh, and that buttonhole?  My first ever!  And it was nowhere near as hard as I expected.

For the binding and lining I used this fun green polka dot print from the adorable Rainy Days and Mondays line.

EDITED: I somehow completely forgot to mention that I made this with the Pink Penguin Super Simple Camera Case tutorial.  Be sure to check out Ayumi's great tutorial!

I'm linking up to Amylouwho's Sew & Tell Friday.  Have a great weekend!

Mary

WIP - Doll Quilt Swap

After much agonizing, I finally came up with a design I like for my first round of the Doll Quilt Swap.  I can't even tell you how much time I've spent scouring my partner's Flickr favorites and blog, but I think my "research" has paid off.  I'm pretty sure this is right up her ally.

Here's sneak peek of the progress I'm making.  I've had so much fun making my first all-solids quilt.  I used Kona Stone and Kona White as well as 14 colors from my Kona Starter Pack.  This little quilt is about 22" square, but I'd love to make a larger version of this someday, maybe as a baby quilt or a throw.

I still have to quilt the center, but one thing that's holding me back is that I need to learn how to hide my starting/stopping threads.  I usually just backstitch at the start and finish of my quilting lines, but on this project that doesn't look too good with the white thread showing against the stone colored fabric.  Any advice or links to a tutorial would be greatly appreciated!  I frequently hear bloggers talking about "pulling their threads through" or "hiding their threads" but I have no idea how to do this.  I still have so much to learn!


Happy sewing!
Mary

When blogland and the real world collide

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Robin of Fonville Farm . . . in real life!  As many of you know, it's a rare occasion when we actually get to meet our Flickr and blog friends in the real world.  This was definitely a special treat!  

Robin and I both participated in the Potholder Pass rounds 1 and 2, and we met online when I contributed to a quilt that a group of us made for her when she suffered an unexpected loss.  (For the full story about Robin's quilt, click here.)

Mr. Pin.Sew.Press. was kind enough to take a picture of us with Robin's gorgeous quilt.  See those nine mini pinwheels in the center?  They were made by me!  The other blocks were made by lovely and generous quilters from the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and Norway.  The quilt was assembled, bound, and quilted by the wonderful and talented Amy of During Quiet Time.

Robin, it was a pleasure meeting you and I hope our paths cross again someday!

Happy sewing,
Mary

Pin.Sew.Press. meets Gee's Bend Quilts

So I bet you didn't know that I spend my free time hand quilting Gee's Bend quilts, did you?

Okay, well not exactly. But our local art museum is hosting a Gee's Bend quilt exhibit until October, and part of the exhibit is a fun quilting bee.

To be honest I don't know the first thing about hand quilting, but it was fun to take a stab at it (ha ha ha.)

Here's my sad attempt at quilting a little heart.

And here's me trying to do a cheesy pose with a needle and thread, but of course you can't see it in the picture!

I wish I could have taken pictures of the quilts on exhibit, but unfortunately there was no photography allowed.  Bummer!  You'll just have to check it out for yourself.

And in totally un-sewing related news (but the same day), I also got a haircut!  I just couldn't leave off with that last picture of me with my shaggy hair :-)

Happy sewing!
Mary