The mini that didn't get sent...

The Doll Quilt Swap was a wonderful experience- I must show you the amazing mini I got from my dear swap Mama!  It was such a great surprise and totally me!! That's for the next post... But the mini that my partner was not too hot about (Try #1) is something that I LOVE and IS totally me!  So I had to finish it :).  It measures 20 1/2" across and is circular!  I was brave and went for it- and am very pleased with how it turned out!  I was so stressed about the binding coming out wacky, but it is absolutely perfect- hip hip hooray!

 The design came completely from my brain and I didn't have any idea how I would make it come to life, but I did, and surprised myself. :)  It makes me happy on days like that. So here it is all done and ready to hang.  I call it Crazy Love!  It was my crazy idea and I love that I got it to happen!  And what's not to love about a spiraling rainbow??!!  

 I hand embroidered the rainbow spiral in the center hexie, and then quilted a billion pebbles all over it! It took for-ev-eh, but I love the look and texture of it and how it just blends into the quilt.  Just to give an idea of size, the small squares are 3/4". It was so fun to piece and get all the text going the right way in each section.  I'd love to make tons of these in all sorts of colors and designs- that is now on the never ending list of projects :)  For right now, I just look at this one and smile!

Quarter inch by quarter inch...

Bit by bit and little by little, the crazy design in my head is coming to life.  I thought I had drawn it to "scale" and was hoping so hard it would all fit together once I had each section pieced.  Ahhh, that would have been WAY too easy :).  Here are some during piecing progress photos...

Three squares, then four squares done... those little squares are 3/4 inch each.  The whole mini will measure about 18" square once it's done.

Then the "main" square pieced, now to lay it out...

 Got the layout, now to piece the main squares to the color next to it...

 Then I got it all situated and go figure, I was a hair off on each section for them to fit perfectly :).  But, thank goodness text fabric is forgiving, so I was able to tweak and add, and it flows together pretty seamlessly ;).  Although there is a seam...

 Now I just have to figure out how to get these sewn together at exactly the right spots!  My brain has another crazy idea, and I may just go with it - shooting from the hip seems to be holding up ok ;).  I really love how it is turning out and will have a hard time saying goodbye to this one.  It's been a really neat process to participate in (DQS13, that is).  So, on to my crazy idea- cross you fingers it works!!

Layer Cake Rainbow Swap- hurry!! hurry!!

Hey, if you are like me, you love some rainbow! Fabric and nature that is :) Anyway, I have participated in several charm swaps, and am excited to be in a LAYER CAKE swap right now! What a great way to add some variety into that rainbow quilt! There are a few spot open, if you'd like to play along! Here's the blog where Bree and Julie are hosting the swap- very fun!!

http://distantpickles.blogspot.com/2012/01/fancy-some-cake.html

A Rainbow...

I was so excited to participate in my very first swap recently!! Miss Jennifer over at http://ellisonlane.blogspot.com/ hosted the second Rainbow Charm Swap (I barely missed the cut on the first one). But that was ok, because there were double the people in the second and I wound up with 112 charms- woot! woot!! I waited patiently for my charms to arrive. I had been assigned purple- I went with one of the new Lizzie House prints and a classic print too. Cutting the yards into charms was good until my ruler slipped (I *need* a non-slip 6x24 ruler!!) and I messed up the last 4 charms. So off to the computer I went to order more fabric. I had a good excuse to order a few other things, to help with shipping of course :) hehe!!

These came in the mail Monday- squeal!! I am so debating what to make with them. Trying to decide if I want to follow a pattern or just go with my own thing. Hmmmm.... Either way, I know it will be lovely! How could it not be with such a marvelous rainbow??!! So looking forward to more swaps!

Bottled Rainbows Finished- Finally! :)

I have had this almost done for so long now- just waiting on me to hand sew the front of the binding... I had gotten about 2/3 of the way around and last night, gave up. I stuck it under the machine and went to town. And you know what, I LOVE that it turned out great- and so much faster :)!! Yipee Skipee! I put the ash as the bobbin and the white as the top thread and sewed from the back- since that was the hand sewing side :). The sewing line actually was hidden by the concentric square quilting, so all is very happy here!

I stuck it in the wash and love the crinkles!! I used Ann Kelle Remix in bright as the backing and Alexander Henry as the binding- I particularly love how the binding has "crayon" lines in it too :). If you remember this quilt has an image in every block that has a specific meaning to my sweet family. You can look for a heart, a shoe, a sewing machine, a purse, a flower, a cupcake, a bike, a rainbow, mountains, a hammer, a car, a sunshine, a book, a ball, a music note (an eighth note to be exact), and a board game! So there you have it- another quilt done!!! WOOHOO!

127 Squares

About a week ago, I set about cutting like crazy- not for a quilt this time, but for a little girl's dress. I have made a few pieces of childrens' clothing, but recently saw this pattern (http://www.etsy.com/listing/62785240/tiered-patchwork-twirler-epattern-for) and know a little girl who loves to twirl! So off to cutting I went. The pattern is wonderful! I decided to try it on 9 prints from the Sunkissed, by Sweetwater fabrics. After 127 squares, I placed, sewed, gathered with elastic - will use clear elastic next time [tried to be consevative and use what I had on hand- it was too thick and I went through 5 needles :)- then went to Joanns and the lady I asked about thickness didn't even think it was possible to gather with elastic- oh dear!- I kindly told her it was and I only wanted to know about thickness, turns out it is much thinner, so I got 2 packs ;) ], and sewed and gathered row after row. Adding the top was the funnest part, and then trimming a bunch of threads finished it off! YAY! I just love how it turned out. Even though the elastic was too thick, I like how it gave it a more full look, without any underskirting :). I'm anxious to do a rainbow layer one next! So cute, and so love the girliness of it! I adored dresses like this when I was little, and still do ;)! Have a sunny day!

Any good girlie dress patterns you love?? Do tell!..