I’ve been MIA a lot lately and it’s mostly due to having a small human by my side all the time and also because of the Doll Quilt Swap over on Flickr.  I read about the swap on the Fat Quarterly blog and I couldn’t resist joining.  Little did I know that it was an entire community of amazingly talented and hilariously witty quilters.

200 people joined the swap and so many amazing little quilts were created.  It was a secret swap, so no one knew which quilt would eventually be theirs and the suspense was half the fun!

I think for me the appeal to doing a swap like this was several reasons:

1. I got to push myself and try techniques I had never done before.

2. I was able to use some else’s “likes” for inspiration.  I also tend to take more care when making something for someone else, than for myself.

3. I don’t have a lot of time to quilt and I am also an instant gratification type of person.  Being able to make a small scale quilt was so satisfying, because I actually got to finish a project with a minimal amount of time spent and yet it was small enough that I could really take my time on it and make it perfect.

4. I just love making tiny things!

I created this quilt for my swap partner, Courtney:

Courtney said she likes “clothesline” quilts and she had several saved to her flickr favorites.  I had never seen one before and they are just the cutest things!

I also tried handquilting for the first time.

First time making a label.  I used a micron pen and traced lettering I had printed onto paper.  I then set it with my iron.  I really want to learn to embroider and do my labels that way.

The very same day I mailed my partner’s quilt out, I returned home to find a quilt waiting for me from my other partner!

Dolores created this wonderfully happy quilt for me:

Orange and lime green are my favorite colors and I am really loving them with the aqua.  It makes the quilt so fresh and modern.

The embroidery and handquilting in the center is simply precious and the farm is so perfect, since I recently moved to the Butter ‘n’ Eggs capital.

The label is so special, too!  Again, I MUST learn to embroider!!

Plus Dolores sent me SO many great extras:

Tons of fabric for Liam’s I-spy quilt, some extra “Meadow Sweet” fabric and a bookmark!

I had such a wonderful time and I am sad to see the swap coming to an end (especially since the next one probably won’t be until January).  I have already joined a couple of other smaller swaps, so stay tuned for more teeny-tiny quilts.

I’ve been working on Liam’s upcoming birthday party and wanted him to have a special shirt to wear on his big day. The party is Circus themed (minus the clowns), so I was thinking of doing something along those lines, but then this idea popped into my head.  For some reason I liked the idea of a comic book “POW!”, but instead the shirt would read, “ONE!”.   It’s just so very bold, in your face…so very Liam!  Now I am wishing I had done an entire comic book themed party, but there will be many years and many parties to come.

The shirt is from Target and I used felt and “Steam-a-Seam Lite” to make the letters. I laid it out in photoshop first and the font is called “SF Comic Script” from dafont.com.  If you haven’t checked out dafont, you MUST go there!  Hundreds of free fonts to play with and so easy to install.

Liam seemed to enjoy modeling his big boy birthday shirt along with his new big boy haircut.

He has also been walking for well over a month and getting this photo was an event in itself.  Most of the time I only seem to get him running away!

I can’t believe my tiny little baby is going to be one in 11 days!

I had an image of a fabric tag book for Liam swimming around in my head, so I had to make it so (or is that “sew”?).

I was able to utilize some of the stitches on my brand spankin’ new sewing machine. I have always thought all I needed was a straight stitch and a zig-zag, but I am loving all the fancy stitches!

Liam really seems to enjoy the book when he actually decides to sit still for a minute.  He LOVES all books, but he also tends to chew them apart, so he has to be supervised with paper or board books.  This gives him a chance to have a book he can play with and turn the pages all by himself.

I tried to use as many different textures as I could find in my fabric stash. I also put plastic baggie material inside the front and back cover for some noise.  Liam’s favorite things right now are ziplock sandwich bags.

Each page features a letter in his first name.  Luckily his name is only 4 letters, so there aren’t many pages to make!

“L” is for Ladybugs, Lobsters and…..

Locomotives!

“I” is for Ice Cream and Inch worm.

“A” is for Airplane, Apple, and Alien.

“M” is for Mouse, Monkey and Moon.

The End.

I know, I know, I’ve been a very bad blogger lately.  Summer seems to always pull me away from my blog, but I have been busy sewing and re-reading the “Outlander” series.  Not a small task, since there are seven 800 page books.

I’ve made a lot of Bee blocks:

Wonky Stars made with “Hope Valley”

Flying geese made from half square triangles

Lori asked for desserts on a cake stand for her month.  Yummy!

Zero calorie cupcakes.

Wonky Stars made from vintage sheets.

And I’m making progress on my doll quilt for DQS9:

It’s my first time hand quilting and I have a long way to go.

We’ve also been having a fun-filled summer with a family vacation to Lake Tahoe, the company picnic, swim lessons, wine tasting in Sonoma, and various visits from friends.

Lake Tahoe

Liam loved the lake and the teeny tiny waves were just right for a little guy.

Hangin’ with the bears at the Tahoe house.

Up next is a visit from my parents, JD’s birthday, and Liam’s first birthday (which I am starting to plan!)  I can’t believe my baby is going to be one!

I’ve been working on a little of this and a little of that lately:

Asterisk Blocks for Fresh Modern Bee:

A short stack of hexagons:

Practice Quilt for Doll Quilt Swap 9:

and a little something else:

Happy weekend, everyone!

Today is my birthday and my hubby gave me an AWESOME gift!

No, not roses….

No, not another baby (thank God)….

No, not more fabric…though I will ALWAYS take more fabric!

He got me a macro lens!!

Too bad I can’t actually get a good photo of the camera.  The fabulous camera strap is from Moxiewares.  My camera has totally been pimped!

Sadly, I have zero clue how to actually use the settings on my camera, so this will be coming in the mail soon:

Now, it’s time to go out for sushi and wine!

Remember my 3/4″ Hexagons that I started WAY back in October right after Liam was born?  I am giving up on them.  They are just too dang tiny and I feel like they don’t show enough of each print, especially when I am trying to fussy cut an image.  Hexagon’s have become huge in the Modern Quilting world in the last 6 months, so I can learn not only from my mistakes, but from everyone else experiences.

I’m working on the hexagons again because I needed something to handsew tonight at a “Stitch N Bitch” group I am going to.  It’s through the mother’s club here in Petaluma and meets at a wine bar, so I didn’t think my sewing machine would be welcome.  It’s open to all crafters, but most of the women, I am assuming, will be knitters.  I really want to connect with other creative types in my new town, so hopefully this will be a good start.

I decided to do 1.5″ hexes, because I figure I can cover more ground, plus I love that this size shows off more of the fabric.  It seems that 1″ are the most popular over in the Hexagon Piece-a-long on Flickr. If you use that size, you can use a 5″ charm pack and get 4 hex’s out of each charm.

1.5" Hex next to a 3/4" Hex

I love Melanie’s idea for making a fussy cut template.  Centering the images on my old hexes was a pain in the butt, so this is a sanity-saver with the new hexes.  I didn’t have any template plastic laying around, so I just cut a template from the same cardstock that I am using to make my hexagons (which, btw, is leftover from my wedding. Gotta love using what you have.)

Time to drink some wine and sew me some hexes!

I made this Union Jack block during Liam’s first naptime today (that’s 1 hour, 20 minutes on the dot) and I am in love with it!!  Lynne posted a great tutorial on her blog and you can check out other Union Jack projects in the Union Jack Flickr Group.  We’ll see what my Irish husband thinks of it.

I’m not sure if I’ll make more, or make this one into a pillow or wall hanging.  For now, it is just brighting up a dreary, cloudy day.

Now we are on naptime #2.  I was going to feed Liam and then take a nice stroll instead of putting him in his crib, but he fell asleep on his bottle! I am amazed, because he is such a sleep fighter.  Now we are laying on the couch snuggling, while I blog.

Gotta love baby snuggles!

Mister Milk Mouth

Today, I made my June blocks for the Vintage Sheet Quilting Bee.  Evelyn asked for wonky log cabins or courthouse squares, so I made her one of each.  I think courthouse square blocks are a bit faster, because I can sew, iron and cut 2 sides at a time.  I am big on pressing a seam before sewing over it, so I have to get up and go to my iron after sewing every single strip on log cabin blocks.

I hope you like the blocks, Evelyn!

Alison asked for Liberated Wedding Ring blocks this month for “Bee Happy”.  I’ve never seen this block before and I always love a new challenge.  She mailed beautiful fabrics in soft colors to make a quilt for her bed.  I think her choices will make for a very soothing night’s sleep.

I hope you like your blocks, Alison, and I can’t wait to see your finished quilt!

•••

Also, thank you for all the comments on here and flickr about the I-Spy Quilt. I’m going to piece it without sashing, once I have A LOT more blocks made.  I think I may make it queen or king-sized, so that Liam and I can sit on it outside on the grass.

If anyone has any cute modern squares to spare, I am not above begging.  Maybe a rogue gnome, or a unicorn that needs a new home. It is for a very good cause!