Modern She Made Swap ~ I Received My Gift!

Check out what Kara, my secret partner from the Modern She Made swap, sent me...



The package contained this gorgeous pillow cover made with Kate Spain's Good Fortune fabric which fits an 18 inch pillow. The greens and blues look so lovely in my living room!



The cathedral window pin cushion is also made with these same fabrics (and I love that button!), along with the quilted note cards. Kara included a wonderful selection of Good Fortune charms as well!



She even pieced charms into the back of the pillow cover! Isn't that fabric just so pretty and colorful? I love it!

Thanks so much, Kara, for making my swap gift just as much fun to receive as it was to send! I still have not heard if the person I sent to has received her package yet, but as soon as I do, I'll show pictures of what I sent her without the blur!

Happy Stitching!

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Another Rainbow Charm Swap? ~ I Couldn't Resist!

Warning: Bad influence alert! Stop reading now unless you enjoy being tempted into a fun rainbow charm swap!

Well, I guess if you're still reading, then you must want to at least know about another rainbow charm swap going on over on Flickr. Click HERE to read all about it! I signed up for two spots, and as of this writing, it looked like there might be only a few spots left.

If you're wondering why in the world anyone would want to get into a swap like this, you can check out a few of the items I have made recently with fabric from charm swaps by clicking HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Come on! You know you want to!

Happy Stitching!

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Swap Charms Plus Quilt ~ So Colorful!

This is why I love charm swaps...


...just look at all those fabulous colors!



Allison over at Cluck Cluck Sew has some of the most fun quilt patterns out there, and this Plus Quilt pattern is one of hers.


Don't you think it is the perfect kind of quilt for all those yummy charm squares that have been swapped around recently? I sure do!



I decided to do the baby quilt size first, so I picked out five charms each of eight different colors. I only needed 39, so the extra which happened to work out being a yellow, will be pieced into the back of the quilt.

I also purchased Allison's Pow Wow and Tea Party quilt patterns and am looking forward to using up some of my stash on those soon too!

Happy Stitching!

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Summer Crocheting

After finishing that super huge crocheted afghan, thankfully while the weather was still cool and comfortable, I jumped right into my summer crocheting! Since all my crocheted cotton dish/wash cloths sold out right before Christmas, I needed to stock up on more for my Etsy shop and for the craft fairs I'll be doing this fall. I had already stocked up on cotton yarn, and the weather has been warming up around here, and most importantly I was ready for small projects that would provide near-instant gratification! Here's what I've done so far...


My first dozen!


These cloths are all made using the same stitch and design. The only difference between them is the yarn color used.


They finish at about 9 inches square and are wonderful to use in the kitchen or in the shower. As soon as I have a chance to take some good pictures, I'll be listing them over in my Etsy shop. But if you are interested in having some for yourself, just email me and let me know how many and if you have a color preference. They are $4 each plus actual shipping cost. I have lots of different colors to choose from, and I'll be making them in random order, unless requested. I also have plain white for anyone who wants a real spa look and feel to their cloths!

I also have been working on something that I think is very exciting, but I can't show or tell about it yet. Oooooh, it's hard to keep good secrets, but I think this one is better kept until the whole thing can be revealed. Here's one little hint...it has to do with crocheted Basket Weave stitch!

Do you have any summer projects to work on in the warm weather?

Happy Stitching!

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Modern She Made Swap ~ Finished!

Keeping secrets is so hard! I'll be glad when I can show pictures of my work without having to blur out sections! But it sure has been fun making the swap gifts for this Modern She Made swap, and I am happy to announce that the making is complete! Here are a few shots of the finished product...


This is the sewing machine cover which you have seen in bits and pieces. It looks a little funny on my sewing machine because the dimensions of the machine that my secret partner provided seem to indicate that her machine is much taller than mine, or perhaps it sits up on the table instead of being lowered down into a cabinet like mine is.


Here you can see it from the side, and you can see where my machine is lowered down into my cabinet too. If it were sitting up on the tabletop, I think the cover would fit it better. Here, you can also see the tie coming around from the back, going through a loop on the front, and then being tied in a bow on the front with the tie from the other side. Usually machine covers have a set of ties on each side, but I thought it might be easier to tie once and be done with it, so I did it this way.


This is just a close-up of the loop on the front with the tie from the back coming through it.


The green dot fabric used for the binding is also the backing fabric.


And here is one of the little extra gifts I'll be sending along with the cover. It's a biscornu made with two pezzy charms and a pretty yellow charm made into a flower for the middle. If you'd like to see a tutorial for making an easy biscornu pin cushion, click HERE. They are fun to make and can be decorated lots of different ways to dress them up!

Happy Stitching!

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Modern She Made Swap Gift ~ almost finished!

Making this swap gift for my secret partner in the Modern She Made swap has been such a fun process, and it's almost finished! Here are my latest pictures, with a little blurring in just the right places to conceal the identity of my secret partner!



The two pieces shown previously are now joined by the two strips of green dots and the two strips of green prairie points and the white strip where her name is hand embroidered. I used DMC perle cotton in two shades of green and copied her blog name using the same font she uses, just to make it extra personal! Of course you can't see that here, but once she receives it, I'll show you the completed project and the embroidery!


The quilting on the pieced sections is simple straight line quilting done on my little old Singer domestic machine.


Since these pictures were taken, I have made the ties out of the same green dot fabric which will go on either side of this sewing machine cover to tie it closed, and the binding also made with the green dot fabric.

Once I finish this little gift, I plan to make one or two other small items to send along with it. I'll take pictures of the whole package before I mail it so you can see it all after she does! Oh my, good secrets are so hard to keep!


Happy Stitching!

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Summer Sewing Contest ~ Fun!

You'd never know by our weather that summer is just around the corner! But I found this fun little contest over at Ellison Lane Quilts that reminded me of the warm weather, relaxed schedule, fun and sun that we will be enjoying in just a few weeks! Click on the button and read all about it. It sounds like something that is right up my alley!




Now I just need to finish up my project for the Modern She Made swap so I can get going on a fun summer inspired project! But first let me turn on the heat in here and a few lights, because it's sure not feeling very summery here today!


Happy Stitching!

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