A few extras

Deadlines for two swaps are coming up fast and I have been busy trying to finish the minis and a few fun extras. This weekend I got the binding half on both minis, so soon I will need to sit down with a needle and thread and get stitching.

For my rainbow mini swap I made this cute zippered pouch. My partner really likes Heather Ross fabric, so I fussy cut this busy little bee lady for the focus. I put the same churn dash block with the bee in the middle on the back of her mini. I tried a new way of finishing the bottom and really like how it turned out. Although I should have planned better and not had all those bulky seams come together. Two sewing needles were snapped in the process. I finished it will a metal zipper pull stamped handmade that I recently found on Etsy. I love all the details on this pouch and kinda wish I could keep it!

For my cat-themed swap, I whipped up this tea towel with my favourite Cotton + Steel tiger kitties. I mitered the corners and added a twill tape loop in one corner to hang it, if she likes. Again, this will be tough to let go. I love those odd little creatures.

Both my swap partners have the sweetest little daughters, and I wanted to make something sweet just for them to include in the package. What could be better than two drawstring pouches? I figured I couldn't go wrong with anything Frozen themed, and the animal parade fabric I picked up last fall in Spain. I bought a few fun little things to tuck inside for the girls.

And I'm still busy sewing for the quilting bee and looking after my group. I made these two extra Tic Tac Toe Blocks. Love this colour scheme and the low-volume background.

This month's queen bee chose a paper pieced pattern, so I made a practice block. Definitely a must this time since I've never done paper piecing before! But it went OK, thanks to much cheerleading from IG friends. I'll post my first ever paper-pieced block later, along with the one I'm making for the queen bee. I already have the fabric picked out and cut, I just need the time. I feel like that's my constant refrain!

All mine!

Finally I finished a quilted pillow just for me! I had this awesome paint-by-numbers fabric from Moda for quite some time. It's one of those prints languishing in your stash that you keep pulling out and then putting back. The large design of the deer and bird fabric made me hesitant to cut it into bits. Then I spotted this pillow pattern and it was perfect to preserve those deer.

The quilting is quite dense, but I left the centre square mostly alone. Two different thread colours were used and I just had fun with the straight-line quilting. I love the back just as much with the bird fabric and faux wood. And more of the crazy bright orange from the binding. (Truth be told, I had to add the cuff because that was the largest bit of the bird fabric I had left after fussy-cutting flowers from it for the front. But, shh, it's our secret!)

The pillow looks great on my deep brown couch. Now to make my Hazel into a pillow to join it!

Hello Hazel!

It's so tough for me to resist a fun quilt-along that pops up, even when I already have way too many projects on the go. The lovely and talented Gnome Angel is hosting this quilt-along in February featuring the adorable Hazel Hedgehog pattern by Elizabeth Hartman. I have a couple of her patterns that I haven't yet made, so this quilt-along was a good push to finally try one. And oh was it fast and fun to put together!

And how stinking cute is this?

Mine is made all in Cotton + Steel fabric. (I have more of the arrow print in the mail, which is the only reason I wasn't freaking out about cutting into it. Crazy fabric-hoarder behaviour, I know.) I love how it looks like she's got a twinkle in her eye and a wet nose with the silver dots on the blue fabric.

I definitely want to make more Hazels, which come in different sizes from teeny to giant. I plan on making this one, which is 20" square, into a pillow. And keep it for myself! If you want to see all the amazing Hazels people are making in the quilt-along, check out #hazelqal on IG. Some are wearing retro glasses!

Just keep sewing

I've been busy as a bee in the sewing room, juggling a bunch of different projects. That includes making my very first quilting bee block! (Get it, busy as a bee?) The first Queen Bee for our group picked the Tic Tac Toe block, and asked for purple corners and a dark paisley-type print for the middle cross. Oh boy, did I have trouble finding the right fabrics. But then good luck intervened! I sent her a bunch of options for the middle and the one she liked best proved to be difficult to get at a reasonable price online and not in any local shops. Then what did I spot in the scrap bundle I got in a recent swap, but that very fabric! And just enough! I ended up picking up the purple and white-on-white from my LQS. I think it turned out very nice and I will mail it today. I did manage to write my name and hometown in the signature block legibly.

As the group leader, I suggested we could all make a signature block the Queen Bee can put on the back of her quilt. How cute is this little churn dash block? Plus I used salvaged HST from the main block for the corners, so it came together fast once I got the math down. I also suggested we could send a few charm squares of leftover or co-ordinating fabric. I may have gotten carried away when I started cutting, as I ended up with a considerable pile. Then I also made her a fabric basket. I tucked everything in there with a card to mail.

I've also been working steadily on my mini for the rainbow swap, which is quite time consuming for something relatively small. Look at all those wonderful colours!

Just cutting out the fabric took quite some time, and then I had 128 wee HST to trim before I could start piecing. Oh, the piecing. Each block takes quite a lot of sewing and ironing with 25 1.5" pieces. But now I've got 12 done, and only four to go! I hope it turns out nicely. I'm at the point where I'm having doubts about my plan, but I'm in the homestretch and must forge ahead.

Not so sweet

My latest swap was super fun, although a real challenge. Called #bitchesgetstitcheswap, it was a profanity themed swap. The field was pretty wide open. Pretty much make anything crafty with your partner's favourite swear word. Where to start?! People made crazy awesome, inspired things! Although not specifically a sewing or quilting swap, that's where lots of people went and of course it's my comfort zone too. Here's a fun picture I posted during the swap. My team was #foulmouthedmakers. So much effing fun!

Luckily me and my partner both have the same go-to for cursing: the f-bomb. And oh boy did I drop a lot in the course of making my item! So many problems and so many changed plans! Right away I knew I wanted to use pretty fabric to make hexies to spell out the word, cuz that's just fun to spell a bad word with pretty fabric.

The original plan was a zippered pouch with two letters on each side so she could use it without offending anyone. Well, dummy me, I thought about the height of the letters but not how wide they would be. When I started laying out the 50-plus hexies, the problem became immediately apparent. Insert f-bomb. Oh and that was after I discovered a massive tea spill I had in my work bag leaked into the pouch with my hexies in progress and I found a bunch of soggy, wavy hexies with a minty aroma. And so many other problems popped up, but I forged ahead with my mini quilt plan and I love how it turned out. No swearing there! How fecking awesome is this, if I do say so myself!

I top-stitched the hexies down with a light blue thread, and then echo quilted around the letters. It doesn't look like a lot of quilting, but it took a while. I really like the effect, though. And that hot pink is awesome. I was originally going to put it on a grey and then have pink and orange borders on the top and bottom, but this looks so much better. I cannot wait for my partner to get it. I really hope she loves it as much as I do, otherwise I want it back! I love that the swear word is subtle, so I hope she feels OK to have it out somewhere. She can always turn it and then the word disappears and it's just pretty hexies.

Here's the great package I got from my partner all the way up in Alaska. There was so much happy swearing when I began pulling out all these treasures. How fan-freaking-tastic is all this?!

The WTF basket is my favourite. And all those fun goodies! A wee Vincent van Gogh keychain, sans one ear! A little comedy book from someone who shares my love of vodka! Oh and in the fabric bundle is a bit of the fabric that is just what I need for my first quilting bee block. How perfect!

In the meantime, I signed up for two more swaps, putting the total in progress now at four. But oh I have so many great ideas and can't wait to get started on those!

Lucky me!

Yesterday my #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap package arrived in the mail. And I couldn't be more excited as I opened it! So many wonderful presents inside from the talented and generous Jodie of Persimmon + Pear! She obviously put so much thought into the quilts she made - yes quilts! - and all the extras. It was all so me!

Here's everything that was in the giant box. So many goodies! A mini quilt, mug rug, patchwork zippered pouch and a whole bunch of treats tucked inside. Wow, wow, WOW!

How awesome is this mini with those colourful little houses. You just can't go wrong with a Thimble Blossoms pattern! She fussycut cute details, like the wee bunny in one doorway as well as a flower. And she made it with so many of my favourite fabrics and designers. Then there's that awesome mug rug with a kitty portrait that looks just like one of my Siamese cats!

Trying to get a photo of Ariel with the mug rug proved tricky, especially with the bow around her neck. But you can see the uncanny resemblance.

I feel so incredibly lucky and spoiled with this special package. Thanks so much Jodie!

Here's the mini I sent to my partner, which has not yet arrived at its new home:

This swap was a bit of a challenge. She said she liked earth tones first for fabric likes, along with blue. She didn't have a favourite fabric designer and very little posted on IG. Hmm. I knew I wanted to make the Fireworks pattern by Canoe Ridge Creations, so the design was settled. But what about the fabric? Earth tones is not really in my wheelhouse - or stash. But then I found four prints in lovely soft earthy hues and predominantly blue that I've been holding onto forever. I kept pulling them out, but never thought I had a project worthy of it. At last! By coincidence I recently bought this brown/grey polka dot that went perfectly.

As always, I was drawn to dense straight-line quilting. I was gonna keep it minimal, but I just can't help myself. I start with a few lines and just keep going - for hours and spools later.

The quilting really shows up well on the back, even though the thread colour blends into the fabric.

Here's the entire back, with little pockets to hang it if she wants and a label.

The labels are tough for me. My writing is not normally legible, so writing on fabric neatly takes me forever! This Cotton + Steel print sure was handy for keeping things straight. As I was stitching it on though, I wondered why the heck I made such a huge label! Live and learn, ladies.

I can't wait for it to arrive. I sure hope she likes it! She made many nice comments on the fabric and quilting and label as I posted sneak peeks. In the package I also included three fat quarters, a jumbo bag of Smarties (she's in the States, so no Smarties there!) and a card for the donation I made to the local humane society, as the swap host Schnitzel and Boo urged us to do.

And finally a gratuitous detail shot:

My first bee!

Another quilting adventure for me! I recently joined my first quilting bee and, jumping right in, I'm also a group leader. We're just getting started on the year-long bee, but already it's so much fun! It's being organized by the lovely and talented Gnome Angel and Blossom Heart Quilts. Even if you're not a part of the bee, you can still join in the fun and make the blocks. Two block tutorials will be shared every month on Blossom Heart Quilt's blog - one known, and one a mystery by a popular designer or quilter.

The first January block is Tic Tac Toe - and that's the the first Queen Bee for my swarm chose. I made a practice block because I was amazed to find I just didn't have anything in my stash, no matter how much I shuffled through there, to suit the Queen Bee's fabric choices. How is that even possible?! So I used my cherished bundle of Leah Duncan's Meadow, with a grand plan that may or may not come to fruition, to make every block. Cuz you know, I don't have enough quilting projects!

It's a simple block that goes together easily, with a little attention paid to those pesky points. I love how it turned out and now I'm eager to make one for February's Queen Bee.

I'm having fun as a group leader and even have my own IG hashtag - #beehiveswarmjohanna. I made a cute logo as well, with the most adorable - and perfect for a quilting bee - Heather Ross print.

I just started a Facebook group for my swarm and we're having lots of fun on there getting to know each other and sharing our passion for quilting and fabric. So you should think about joining the fun, too, by making at least a few of the blocks. Don't forget the bee's hashtag when you post on IG - #thebeehivequilts!