FO: Quilted Box Bag for Laura

Awhile ago I made a box bag.  Well, actually I made two.  One for me, and one for Laura.  This is the bag I made for her!

She said she likes pinks (and bunnies, but I don't have any bunny fabric--boo!) I densely straight line quilted the entire thing and filled it up with all kinds of cute stationery supplies and chocolate!

Laura also sent me a bag: it's super cute and I just love it!  She used blue and green fabric, and free motion quilted hearts along the zipper edges.  She is so talented!  She filled it with all kinds of awesome treats!  I used it this past weekend on our camping trip (pictures to follow soon) and it was perfect for all of our toiletries.  

FO: Quilted Box Bag

You! Guys!

My lovely friend Laura saw some pictures I sent to Instagram, of some of my fun stationery-type supplies.  She suggested a swap, and I'm so glad she did!

With her tutelage, I made a fun quilted box bag for her.  But I haven't sent it yet, so you only get to see the one that I made for myself.  These are seriously addicting, and I need to make a million more!

This one is holding some notebooks and my colored pencils, which I bring with me for when inspiration strikes.

March

March was a really short month for me--Jes was out of town for two weeks, which left me with the kiddos and not a whole lot of time for much of anything else.  Here's hoping April is a bit kinder!

Blarney O'Callaghan visited, but alas, we didn't catch him!

Birthy Stuff

Haircut

Date Night

The Great Wheel, Seattle

Best Pod Skeleton, Ever

Spring Flowers from the Garden

Finished Handwarmers for a Friend

Renal Sleeve for my Dad

I've been losing weight!

Knitting

Sick--yep, that happened right as Jes left to go out of town.

Riding Bikes

I received an AWESOME purse from Chris!

I finally finished sewing my infinity scarf!

Recent Swaps

I have been on the receiving end of some awesome swaps lately!

First up, Doll Quilt Swap 10. I received the MOST AWESOME quilt from Quilting Barbie. I can't even describe how much I love it!!!





Barb even included hexie piecing papers and some of my beloved Katie Jump Rope Fabric. The little card she sent with is just the cutes thing ever! I love it all so much, thank you!!!

Next up is the Urban Home Goods Swap, which I was lucky enough to receive from Sarah at Pings and Needles.



She made placemats for both my boys, with the cutest little monsters holding suitcases with each of the boys' initials. So flipping cute! And a napkin and a potholder! I can't believe the awesome extras Sarah included!!! Fabric, ribbons, sweets, postcards...it is all so great!!! Thank you!!!

And of course I sent some (awesome?) packages myself...Doll Quilt Swap:







I haven't heard from my partner that she received yet...crossing my fingers that she loves it!

I blogged about my Urban Home Goods swap package here.

Finish #1 - Catching up on Bee Blocks

I finished all my pending blocks for the quilting bee I'm in! They're not the most exciting, but they're done!

Pillow Talk {Swap}

In addition to the latest doll quilt swap, I participated in the second round of the Pillow Talk {Swap}. This is the pillow I received:

Front:



Back:



I love it so much; it's perfect on our bed! Thank you Megan!

This is the pillow I sent (which has not been received yet, so hopefully soon!)

Front:



Back:

Doll Quilt Swap 8

Sent and received! Woohoo!

This is the quilt I received from TLC Stitches. I love the front, but I ADORE the back! (Yes, there is a binding on it, I just haven't had a chance to take pictures for myself. So I shamelessly stole my partner's pictures.)

Front:



Back:



And this is the quilt I sent to maripenquiltmom. She received it already, and says she loves it!

Front:



Back:

Favorite Finishes of 2009

1. E's Mama-Made Quilt, Back, 2. New Top! (Tiny House), 3. What are these??, 4. DQS7 Finished, 5. Spaceboy and Robot, 6. Autumn Card Sets, 7. E Modeling with his New Pillow, 8. 3 year-old dress, 9. Mini Quilt in a Bag Swap, 10. Eamon's Sweater, 11. Ballard Art in the Garden, 12. Reversible Patchwork Drawstring Bag, 13. Custom Order Notebooks, 14. Sewing Machine Cover, 1 and 14, 15. Strawberry Jam, 16. DQS6, Front, 17. My new purse!, 18. Fresh Spring Purse, Blue, 19. New Crayon Roll Styles!, 20. Quilt for Vetcw3, front, 21. Lace Ruffle Pouch, 22. Eamon's New Jammies, 23. Little Red Riding Hood Pincushion, 24. Mushroom Pouch, 25. Lap Quilt

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

DQS7 Sent

I finally, finally sent my doll quilt for Doll Quilt Swap 7. I had a bit of a hard time finishing it, but it's done and in the mail, along with some goodies for my very patient partner (who doesn't even know I'm her partner!) (It's a bit like a Secret Santa swap.)

Mini Quilt in a Bag Swap, Round 4

For this round, we sent each other a charm pack of fabric, and were challenged to make a mini quilt that we thought our partner would like. She sent me Swell by Urban Chicks; I sent her Wonderland from MoMo.



This is the front of the quilt I received from Adrienne. I love it! The larger squares are bordered with teeny, tiny squares. So cute!



And this is the back: I love the coordinating fabrics Adrienne chose--I may end up switching the front and the backs every once in awhile once I've placed it on my wall!



This is the front of the quilt I sent her: I appliqued circles, then made sketchy flowers using machine embroidery. They're not the best, but I'm proud of my first try!



And this is the back. I love how the flowers look on the pieced back!



And just because I had lots of fabric scraps left over, I made her a little patchwork drawstring bag. :O)

Placemat Swap

I recently participated in a placemat swap on Flickr. Originally, you were supposed to send one placemat, and you would receive one. Mary and I decided to send each other three! She sent one for Eamon, with a lovely picture of cars driving into a tunnel, trees, and a boy! It's so cool! The other two coordinate with E's, and feature a log cabin, and polka dots. Seriously, Mary has mad quilting skills! And, she sent me the most awesome surprise package, including a pincushion with a sweet little heart button, pretty pretty fabrics, buttons, and stickers for E. I can't believe how spoiled I am!



(I forgot to take a picture, so I'm posting one that Mary took!) These are the placemats I sent her. She has three kids, two girls and a boy, all different ages. So, while I wanted them to coordinate, I didn't want them to be matchy-matchy. So after agonizing over a design, I decided to include a range of fabrics, but arrange them in the same pattern for each. The only fabric that matches is the binding, which I think ties them all together. She has also included closeups of each of the placemats on her flickr stream, if you're interested.