Drumroll, Please!

I know y'all are just dying, wondering who won the fabulous Charming Travelers giveaway.  Let me first tell you that this charm pack is chock FULL of fabricy goodness.  I snagged about 20 of Diane's charms, so there is still plenty of yumminess from the giveaway creator herself (I'm talking Hope Valley goodness included, people!).  I reloaded the pack with some of my favorites...you'll just have to wait and see what the stack beholds.  So, 56 delicious, drool-worthy squares are going to....

Kim of One Krafty Kitty Mama, who said "How exciting! I would love the chance to pet these charms!!! LOL".  (as a side note: I had 33 comments, one of which was a duplicate and one was left by a quilting buddy who is out of the country, so that left us with 31 entrants).

So, Kim...I'm going to send you an email and once you send me your address, this sweet stack-o-goodies will be on their way to you!

Thank you to all of those who entered.  Check out Kim's blog soon for another chance to win.  And keep tabs on Diane's blog to follow it around the country!

The One About Moving...

Some of you may have heard...not sure if I mentioned it on here at all...that we were waiting to hear if the man of the house got a promotion.  Well, the GREAT news is that he did!  Hip-hip-hooray for my honey!  The tough part of the deal is that we have to move.  I've moved a lot over the years...I've lived on both coasts, in the mountains, in the south, in cities and suburbs, on Army posts, in apartments and in our lovely little home here in New Hampshire.  So, the idea of moving isn't so bad, especially since we've always known that this is part of the deal with Paul's job.  BUT, we've never moved with school-aged children before.  We've never moved after living somewhere for 6 years.  I think it'll be a hard but awesome experience for all of us.  We'll be moving to the Northern Virginia area - Paul will be working in McLean, which is right outside of DC.  How cool will it be to live so close to DC?  So cool!  Paul has to report in a month...the rest of us will head down after school gets out and our house sells...so, sometime this summer.  Lots will be happening around here!

One thing that I won't be doing much of in the next few months is swapping.  Oh how I will miss it so!  I just finished up a couple of good ones and have a couple of small ones left on my plate.  It has taken all of my self-control and some pleading to friends to help me NOT sign up for any right now.  There are a few great ones that I'm bummed I can't do this time around:  the Modern She Made swap, the Potholder Pass, the Tabletop Swap, and the Fab Little Pincushion Swap, just to name a few.

Luckily I've been involved in some pretty great swaps lately.  Here are a couple I finished up -

The Scrappy Mug Rug Swap.  I love making minis...they're so quick and fun!  It's great to try out new blocks and ideas and techniques on a small scale so you don't spend too much time (and fabric!) on something that may not turn out fab.  My partner for the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap was the crazy-fun Kristen of Gock's Frocks.  She likes bright and scrappy, just like me, so it wasn't hard to be inspired for her mug rug.  Do you like it?  I tried some organic, wavy quilting and I just love how it turned out!

I received an amazing mug rug, too...I'll share it with you tomorrow...once I finally take pictures of it.

I also took part in the Doll Quilt Swap.  It's one of those swaps that can be a little intimidating (at least for me) because of the amazing talent in the group.  Not that my other swaps weren't full of awesomely-talented ladies and gentlemen, but there was just something about the last round or two of the Doll Quilt Swap that made me a little nervous to join.  I just sent this puppy out this morning, so mum's the word on its recipient:

This swap comes complete with some rules...I can be a rule-follower when I want to be, so I was game!  We had to make a quilt using at least 6 blocks, one of which had to be a log cabin, flying geese, churn dash/shoofly, drunkards path, or N.Y. beauty.  PLUS, we had to use a non-white solid.  So, after taking it all in and checking out my partner's mosaic and doing some stalking, I decided to do hexagon log cabin blocks, a la Lee of Freshly Pieced.  I made a pin cushion a couple of months back using her Hexing Around block and I just wanted to do it again...they're way fun to make!  I put them in a staggered setting on a spring green background.  I wasn't sure about the color at first (I mean, hello, white goes with everything!) but now I just love it...I think with the quilting and the orange binding the whole thing just works.  I sure hope my partner loves it as much as I do!

The last thing I sent off is a secret.  As soon as the recipient gets it, I'll fill you in...it's a good one!

So, between my swaps, bee blocks, other sewing, and moving, I've got lots going on!  I'll keep you posted on everything - it's a whirlwind around here!!  Thank you to everyone who has signed up for my Charming Travelers giveaway.  If you haven't, check it out HERE.



The Charming Travelers have arrived!

People...it's here....it's HERE!!   The Charming Travelers package arrived at my door yesterday and I couldn't be more excited!  I know you guys are all thinking "you didn't mention anything about a package...what are you so excited about, Deb?"  Y'all are going to LOVE this! 

If you've been reading many blogs or been on flickr much lately, there's no doubt you've seen charm swaps popping up all over the place.  If you've been lucky enough to get a spot in one, you may even be swapping your little heart out already.  But - what if we took a charm pack, sent it around the country, let people choose the charms they wanted, had them replace the charms they chose with new charms, asked them to post about it and host a giveaway on their blog, and then have them send the new stack to the next winner?  How fun would that be?  The most fun, right?  I don't know about you, but I have a thing for charms.  When I started sewing it was probably one of the first things I fell hard for.  So many different fabrics in one 5" stack.  It's heavenly, don't you think?  I digress... 

I can't take even a smidge of credit for this.  I've mentioned it before...I'm not all that creative.  I'm always thinking "man, I wish I thought of that!"  The great thing is, I'm getting to know some of the amazing people that DO think of this stuff!!  The fabulous Diane of from blank pages came up with this fantastic idea of a traveling charm pack.  Click on the picture to get the whole lowdown -


In a nutshell, Diane had a giveaway last week (well, she had a LOT of giveaways...she was doing a lot of celebrating!) - one of them was for the traveling charm pack.  And, yours truly won it...I know, that in itself is reason to celebrate!  It's a prize with a twist.  You get the whole stack of charms, BUT  you have to make a few promises if ya want it (don't worry, these are promises you can keep!) -

• you must be an active blogger (so you can post about it and host your own giveaway!)
• you must reside in the US
• before sending the charm pack off to the next winner, you must be sure there are 56 - 5" x 5" squares of fabric in the stack - please no yucky fabrics
• to help keep the map updated, you must fill out the quick and easy form to let Diane know where you are!
• if the charm pack arrives full of unwanted charms, let Diane know and we'll clear it out and fill it back up with some more beautiful fabrics! 

So, you get the stack, pull out the ones you want, fill it up with gorgeous new charms to equal 56, post about it on your blog, have a giveaway, choose a winner, and send it on its merry way to your winner.  Then the whole thing starts all over again.  Diane's keeping track of its whereabouts and we can all follow it on her fab map - I wonder where it's going to end up next!

If this sounds like fun and YOU'D like a chance to win the charm pack, just leave me a comment...any comment will do.  One entry per person.  Mr. Random will choose a winner on Friday.  In the meantime, I'll be stacking and restacking and choosing and petting and swooning over the charms...there are some really good ones in there!  Good luck!

You Should Really Go Someday...

No big quilty news here today.  I have been sewing up some swap/bee blocks, but I haven't had a chance to take any pictures.  Six down, though, and 6 to go, so not too shabby!

Today is my wedding anniversary.  Paul and I got married on Turtle Island in Fiji 11 years ago.  It's one of those magical places that seems like it's only real in a brochure.  But, trust me, it's just as marvelous in real life.  I hope we can go back some day.  We've always said for our 20th...so, we'll see.  Here's what it was like -

Fabulous, right??  Yes, indeedy, it was!  Today my littlest guy and I had lunch with the man of the house - the food was delicious, but it was a little pricey at $11 for a club sandwich.  We're not huge "celebrators" so the rest of the day will be low-key.  I have a yumm-o dinner planned and I just baked a cheesecake for dessert.  Tomorrow night we have a sitter and we're going to a hockey game.  Can't wait for a date with my man!

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!  I'll be back to share my my sewing tidbits next week!

I May Have Pulled A Muscle...

...doing happy dances over the fantastic swap packages I received! 

The best things about swapping, I think, are meeting new quilty friends and getting to make something fabulous for someone else.  But, the bonus is that you get something in return!!  And boy did I luck out!

So I sent off two swaps recently...the For The Love of Solids swap and The Pillow Talk {Swap}.  My partners for those swaps received and loved their packages (or, at least they said they loved them, so they're super-sweet either way!). 

My FTLOS swap parter was the uber-cute Hope, of Going Sew Crazy.  She's had a lot going on lately so she wasn't able to post a lot during the swap...so that was really challenging, but I also felt like it gave me free reign (within her preferences, of course!).  I had a fabulous time making her pillow once I got going and got all of those pieces cut!  My swap package came over the weekend and I was crazy-excited to see that my secret partner was my very good bud, Whitney.  How awesome is that?  Even though we don't "know" know each other, we seem to have a ton in common, so of course she nailed it.  This is what was in my box:

So many lovely goodies!  I love the pillow cover.  I really need to run out and get a couple of pillow forms...this poor cover is sitting on my sewing table for the moment, but it can't wait to be upstairs on my couch!!  Isn't it just lovely??  Then Whitney goes and adds in some fabulous extras.  She made me penny fabric weights...I mentioned that I'd been meaning to make some but hadn't gotten around to it.  So, she did it for me!  What a great gal!  And the colored pencils?  Another great addition...I'd said that I'd been using the boys' crayons to color my sketches...that maybe I should get something for my very own.  Bam, now I have some!  She knew I wasn't going to get around to it.  She knew I was going to keep using those crayons.  Then there was a great sketch book, scraps, a cutie elephant, and Jelly Bellys!!  Paul and I toured the Jelly Belly factory years and years ago when we lived in California, so I always smile when I see them.  Anyway, all in all, a FANTASTIC package from a fab chiquita!

And then there was The Pillow Talk {Swap}.  My partner was the wicked talented FABRIC DESIGNER Mo Bedell!  Yeah, no pressure there.  I mean, this girl CREATES for a living...how the swap mamas thought I should make something for her still baffles me.  I pretty much consider myself NOT creative...maybe I should reconsider that??  Luckily Mo loved the pillow I made her so it's all good.  And, I got really lucky with my partner, Sue.  She made me an absolutely fab pillow...I love it!  Don't you?

Bright and cheery and scrappy...just my style!  Check out the free-motion quilting.  I'm so jealous of Sue's skills!  I really need to find some time to figure it out.  She also included an awesome zipper pouch and cute granny square mug rug (no way I'm setting a cup of coffee on that thing...it's hanging up on my wall with my other awesome minis).  Sue really got it right...the colors are just perfect for me and I just love everything about it.  I'll have to get a pic of the back when I get a pillow form (shame on me for not having any on hand!!)...she did an awesome job on the back, too!

So, there you have it...two fab swap packages all in a week's time.  Am I lukcy or what?  I'd say lucky for sure!!  I have two more swap wrapping up shortly - the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap and the Doll Quilt Swap.  I finished up my mug rug and I'll show that to you soon.  My doll quilt is still in my head, but it looks gorgeous in there!!  I'll be knocking that out after I work on some bee blocks this week.

I must find some stitching time today...it's so hard with a three year old who desires a constant playmate and the gorgeous weather!!

PSA: Charm-Tastic Color Swap

This is just a quickie little Public Sewing Announcement:

Who doesn't want a mailbox full of rainbow-y charm square goodness?  Exactly...NO ONE!  That's why you should pop on over here and join the Charm-Tastic Color Swap, hosted by the lovely Sew Sane Jane.  I already did, so you know at least one person if you do!  You also need to fill out a quickie form on her blog, so go here and scroll to the bottom and do that, too.  All of the swap details are in the blog post and in the flickr group.

I just finished up a charm swap hosted by Kati at From the Blue Chair.  It was fantastic - I got so many different fabrics that I could just squeal!  Fabrics that I'd been eyeing...fabrics that I should have been eyeing...and now I have charms in all of the colors of the rainbow - perfect for small projects and block swaps.  I am a sucker for charm squares anyway, so getting such a bright, happy, rainbow of charms is just even better.

So, go sign up...hurry, though...sign-ups end the 25th or whenever the slots fill up, whichever comes first.  Happy swapping!

Whatcha Been Doin'?

I haven't been churning out a zillion projects lately, but I have finished a couple of biggies.  Well, not biggie in size, really, but big as in important...like they had to be really good!  Remember how I was all sign-up-happy back in January?  Swappy things are starting to be due!!  I've sent out 3 swaps lately, two of which were pretty intensive.  Let's have a show-and-tell, shall we?

First was a swap for the Bee a {modern} Swapper bee.  It's such a cool bee.  It's a typical online bee every other month...and during the other months we have the option to swap a small item.  Fun, right?  I'm all about a good swap.  We did pincushions in February and let me tell you, I had so much fun with it.  I think I might churn out a bunch of pincushions if I can find some time.  They're cute, functional, and so quick!  I made mine for the fabulous Heather...she loves Kate Spain, linen, and owls, so here's what I came up with:



I know...terrible picture.  What are ya gonna do?  I'm just sucky at taking pics...you should know that by now!  I was trying to get decent light in my house at night...I put the pincushion on a piece of paper and then put it under my lamp on my dresser.  I think a light box would be better, right?  Sigh....a project for another day.  Anyhow, I LOVE this Hexing Around The Block block from Lee.  I have another trick up my sleeve with this block, but you'll have to come back for that!  I made it with Kate Spain's Good Fortune, a cute owl print that I got in a scrap pack from Starlit Nest on etsy (Alison is awesome...stop by her shop!), and backed it with Essex linen.  Oh, and I filled it with crushed walnuts.  I love that it gives the pincushion some weight.  I happen to love this little cutie and luckily Heather likes it, too!

Next up was the For The Love of Solids Swap.  This swap entails making a project entirely from solids based on your partner's colors.  This one was tricky for me - partly because the pinks were a little out of my comfort zone and because my partner wasn't very chatty (which is OK...not complaining...just sayin'!).  I ended up loving it in the end, but I wasn't sure about the design when I sketched it.  So, it kind of sat...then when I realized I needed to cut over 300 pieces for the top it kind of sat some more.  But, when my hubs was out of town I buckled down and knocked this out: 

I made it into a pillow cover, which can double as a mini quilt if my partner decides she'd rather not have it hanging out on her couch.  It was inspired by Lee's Scrappy Rainbow Placemats (love Lee!).  Do you like it?  I do!  I used Essex linen for the background...linen seems to be popular these days.  I love it!

Oh, and the assignment was to make a "big" item and include either a store-bought or handmade small item.  I decided to make another pin cushion.  Remember, they're totally fun!



Then the last swap project I wrapped up the other day was for The Pillow Talk {Swap}.  I'd been eyeing this swap for a few rounds and finally had the nerve to sign up.  There are a lot of superb folks in this swap, which can be a little intimidating.  I worked until almost the deadline on this one because it wasn't until my third try that I came up with something that I love.  My partner said she likes lots of color...good thing, 'cuz so do I!  What do you think?

I happen to love it and I may just revisit this design to make one for myself.  My only regret is that I don't have a pillow form big enough to show you what this looks like as a pillow.  Oh well, maybe my partner will post a picture of what it looks like.  I'll reveal my partners for the last two swaps when I'm sure they've gotten my packages.  I backed this one in Essex linen (I'm on a linen kick!) and leftover blocks from the front, but I didn't get a good snap of it, so just trust me that it's cute!  I also finished this one off a little differently.  I didn't want to add binding because the pillow is already busy.  And, I didn't want exposed seams on the inside.  So, I made a French seam instead.  Basically I sewed around the whole thing with wrong sides together, then trimmed the seam allowance, turned it all inside out and sewed about a 1/3 inch seam.  Then I turned it right-side-out and all of the seams are hidden!  Not sure if I explained that well, but trust me, it works!

Next on my list are some bee/swap blocks and then two more swaps due in the next few weeks.  Oh, and a baby quilt for my Mom's boss.  It's cut and ready to piece...just gotta get 'er done.  I'm excited to get started on all of it!  But first, I'm putting together a tutorial for the Margaret's Daisies I made (the potholders).  I made another one and snapped pics all along the way.  Now to organize it all into a tutorial for you!  I'll hold off posting it until I get word that the little gift I made with it arrived safely at its new home.  Yipee for surprises!!