Keep it simple

Here's my latest finished swap mini. My partner said she loved paper piecing for it's intricacy, which fit perfectly with the pattern I'd had my eye on for a while - the New York Beauty. I found this lovely one made by In Color Order as part of a quilt along.

I think the swap's name - Simply Mini Swap - unconsciously influenced me. Really it meant that we were only sending a mini to our partner and no extras, unlike most swaps where that become a big part of the package. For my mini, I decided to use a simple design and colour scheme. It's so tempting to get crazy and pull a big stack o' fabrics, so very tempting. But because the New York Beauty pattern is so striking, I really wanted that to be the focus and so I stuck with a three-colour scheme - purple, red and turquoise.

I really love how it turned out. My partner said she likes a bit of whimsy, so I couldn't resist including a smattering of that super cute C+S panda print. It adds a nice dimension to the mini as well. I had a bit of a fail on the outside arc when I tried using a low-volume print that was just too busy. Then I found this light mottled grey with a bit of sparkle that worked much better. It was a bit tricky getting the four blocks together and lining things up, but I think I did pretty well. Luckily I had the perfect fabric for the binding - purple mirror ball dot that I just picked up on my L.A. trip.

I've also been plugging away on making Polaroid blocks for my #polaroidgreetingswap. These are so much fun to make, and go really quickly with chain piecing.

First I made a batch for everyone in my group of 20, with a couple extra to send two to my international #pgsbuddies.

Then I made a whole bunch more for my swap mamas to thank them for helping out, and some extras for a few people in the swap. A young girl joined her first ever swap and is doing a great job and is so appreciative of the blocks she's getting in the mail, so I wanted to encourage her in the craft. And then a few more for friends who joined.

I'm even trying my hand at making the cards. I remembered I had a pack of vintage paper scraps and dug into those to make these collage cards. I like a little arts and crafts time that leave my fingers sticky from the glue stick!