a stolen/borrowed picture

In our ornament/decor swap last night, I got this cutie:

Made, and photographed, by Sarah. Isn't he the cutest? She also makes amazing cupcakes and candies. It is all her fault I fell off my low-carb wagon last night and ate 4 of her chocolate/caramel goodies! I hang my head in shame, but they were delicious! And yes, my husband got the 2 I brought home!

Roxanne picked the item I brought, this table runner:

A detail shot:

I hope she enjoys it!

I made a pouch for Janet, but do not have a picture. I made it using the QuiltCon colors and a recessed zipper. This was a great swap and I stepped outside my zone and learned how to sew a recessed zipper!

2 done

This week I have focused on finishing donation quilts for my guild (Triad Modern Quilt Guild).

This small one is made of 9-patches from our guild stash. I backed it with a piece of green fleece from friend and guild-mate Colleen. This is a very simple quilt, I sewed the fleece to the top (right-sides-together) then turned it, closed the opening, and using my walking foot, finished it with straight line quilting.

 36" square

This next quilt I made using the "jelly roll race" method. I cut 2 1/2" strips from a set of FQs from friend and guild-mate Sarah, then stitched them end-to-end, folding and stitching til it was quilt-shaped. I FMQed it in alternating blocks of straight lines.

I didn't like how it looked when I finished, but I do like the effect I see in the pictures.

53" by 56"

I backed it with scraps from my personal stash.

A group finish

This is on my completed page, but I did not do this alone!
I asked for patriotic colored blocks from my guild, the Triad Modern Quilt Guild. I love the variety of the blocks! I received 13, used scrap stash to create the background after I did a diagonal setting.

I used the 13th block on the back. I love the whimsy of it!

I used a hi-loft polyester batting and FMQ-ed it in a large stipple using blue variegated thread.

The quilt measures 57" by 73".

Still here...

Just a lot going on!

I have participated in 2 more swaps and received awesome gorgeous items:

A (much needed) sewing machine cover from the Modern She Made Swap:

why yes, it is a bit blurry/grainy.

Thank you roserblu! I love it! It made it to me from Australia!

A mini-quilt from our Triad Modern Quilt Guild Swap:

from my dear quilty-friend and super-mom rainbow robot

I adore this Swoon! I love the dark gray, and I LOVE orange (along with blue).

My friend Colleen coached me on joining Flickr swaps, so a thank you shout out to her for this new fun activity I am loving! She is our "swap-mama" in the Triad Modern Quilt Guild and does a phenomenal job.

I have been quilting (when I can) and have 3 in process. I am just a bit weird about showing them unfinished, so dear readers will just have to wait til they are complete.

I am also helping my husband and his siblings with the cleaning and sorting at my dear late MIL's house. This is a difficult, laborious, emotion-charged job. She had more clothes and shoes than you can imagine. We need to sell as much as possible to settle the estate, so if you know of an outlet for gently used ladies clothing (sizes run in the XL, 1X, 16-18 for clothing, shoes are size 8) shoot me an email. We would love to sell the lot of it, 'cause I do not look forward to the work involved in a yard sale.

And if you have read read this far, thank you! This is my 700th post.

4 mini tops ready to quilt

These 4 minis are ready to layer-baste-quilt. It has been fun to work out a concise design in a short time frame. I am thinking through how to approach trapunto. Should be fun! Not ALL of these will be swapped, 1 of these will, for sure, the other 3 may mine for a while longer. I am in 2 swaps, know one of my partners and haven't received the other partner assignment yet, so he/she may want something different. So, "partner" (wink) which do you think you will get?

Fabric highlights: Lark, by Amy Butler, Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt, Random FQs from a friend, Kona gray, coal and snow, Westminster Manatee. 
The top 2 are my faves so far. I just love the scrappy!
 

 

I took these 4 shots with my iphone, put them in a frame with "Pic Stitch" will allowed a light edit, then pulled into Instagram to share and blogged with my mobile blogger ap. All while chain piecing and pressing!

MY Pillow from TMQG Swap

Made by the lovely and talented Colleen of luckyduckdreams! She made a modern Dresden, on Kona Ash, using bright beauties from her stash.

I love the orange, the Amy Butler prints, the dots. And I really love the hand quilting! Thank you, Colleen!