Pillow Swap Completed!

All ready to be wrapped and sent out West for the Pillow Swap Round 2! To who??? Just have to wait and see!

:) Kerry

Distractions & Another Swap Opportunity

Well it's been a few weeks since I've entered my sewing room....too many distractions....

One being this energetic fellow:



We (me and hubby) have fortunately had some days off together, and were able to go on a few hikes with the enthusiastic pup.

See the black dot in the center of his tongue?? I'm assuming it's a birth mark of some sort....

He was leading us on the snowshoe trail.

Other distractions: Getting my wisdom teeth pulled! I know I'm a little old for it...but that's cause I just kept putting it off...
I'm all puffed up like a chipmunk and am not able to open my jaw very much...

But as I'm whining about my teeth, my cousin had his little boy! A big 8lb 13oz bouncing baby! And we all know what that means:
GET THAT BABY QUILT FINISHED ASAP!

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CALLING ALL PURPLE/CHARM LOVERS

My sister roped me into joining this purple charm chain swap.
Basically, it's like a chain letter...
No money involved only fabric...2 - 6" squares of purple fabric sent to 5 people (total of 10 squares)!
If the chain works...you will receive 72 6" squares to make a charm quilt...or whatever you would like to make.
I need 4 more participants...
Basically...I send squares to the person on the top of my list..cross her off the list...add my name to the bottom...and send fabric along with the list to 4 others...with instructions on how to continue!
If you would like to participate, I need you to email me your mailing address (which will be seen by all the members of the chain that the letter gets sent to) to kerrycase [at] gmail [dot] com...
Again, only if you want to, and I understand if you don't.

Mail Goodness!!!

I LOVE MAIL!!!! Like I really do! And what a way to cheer me up, than to received these beautiful pieces!

Daria in BC sent me these lovely potholders for our Potholder Pass swap. How cute eh? (from a Canadian to a Canadian..hehe)

I think spring when I see this one...totally something to look forward to after this long snowy winter. Did I also mention I love birds...how fitting!

And a lovely Dresden plate. I haven't tried one of these yet, but it's on my to do list!

And I also wanted to show off the backing she choose. Love both these prints!

THANK-YOU DARIA from BC!!!

She was also so kind to send me a soft flannel wintry FQ, a soothing mocha candle, and an Olympic Vancouver 2010 lanyard (I'm so stoked for these upcoming Olympics!! They start in a week don't ya know?). I think I'll use it for my name badge at work while the Olympics are on - then use them for my scissors maybe.

Highs and Lows

Potholder Pass swap project: quilted...check! Awesome!

Potholder Pass swap project: Binding and complete....check! Sweet!

Saying goodbye to my Jackson...not so sweet! Our poor little "fatty" wasn't so fat anymore. Losing almost a third of this body weight, and constantly struggling with his digestive system, me and hubby decided to not let him suffer anymore. He joined our little family almost 10 years ago, as our first pet together, in our very first apartment. He was with us through many ups and downs, always as snuggly as ever, even up until the end. We're going to miss him dearly.

Love you Buddy!

Progress...

Some progress on my Potholder Pass Swap - two fronts complete!!!

I haven't done alot of paper piecing and was thrilled to realize, it's really not that hard (for some reason though, I feel like I should bite my tongue and keep my mouth shut...I'm a little superstitous that way). You can find the pattern for this string/spiderweb block here. So now to quilt and bind them. I think I will follow this tutorial here...

On a second note, my choices for the pinwheel sampler quilt-a-long: Arcadia!

I have over 30 FQ's to choose from!!! This collection has been sitting in my stash for well over 6 months...so it's time...oh yes, it's time!

Pillow Talk Swap

Well it's been months since I last posted here. I guess maybe that's because I haven't really done much creating. Sometimes I go through stints where I don't even think to enter my sewing room. But now I'm out of the rut, and back to stitching. Good thing because I've already passed the deadline for the Pillow Talk Swap but here's the final result:

I was playing around with colour value and ended up with this arrangement. No fabric is used twice, so I got to snip into alot of my stash options. This broken bento box is similar to John's tutorial over at Quilt Dad, but I didn't "wonk it up". The back is envelope style with natural linen - a nice calming contrast to these big bold prints.

And in return I received this!!!!!

A beautiful string block pillow cover...with pillow form included!!!! Thanks to Kristen over at ThreeDancingMagPies, I received this gorgeous throw pillow to nicely complement my living room. She even included some lovely cuts of Summer in the City out of print fabrics!!!! I've been hoarding that collection for a while now, gathering enough to make a quilt...so definitely next on the project list.

This swap was alot of fun. And it was only round one. Perhaps another??? And this time I WILL BE ON TIME!

A little late...

Here are some pics of a purse I completed awhile back...another linen, patchwork infusion!

I decided to keep this one, finally finished the straps, and am currently using it. I used rivets for the first time - lots of fun, but a little scary & tricky. I guess the idea of cutting a hole in a newly completed bag is a little nerve-wracking - it's just like those damn grommets!

And here's something a little special: a while back I received an email from Elizabeth in the Netherlands. She was requesting scrap fabric pieces to make an international quilt for her soon to be niece/nephew. Quilters from all over the world sent her pieces. In return I received this lovely little package - some pretty prints, and a lovely bookmark. I can't wait to see how her quilt turns out - isn't that such a lovely idea???

Other random tidbits:

-MishMash StashBash is in full swing!!! It's my first time organizing anything like this, and so far I'm loving it.

-I've been swapping like crazy over at Designer fabric swappy-poo

-We're going on our first portage trip of the summer in Algonquin Park...time to get my paddling arm ready.