Swappy Awesomeness

Hi everyone!  First off, thanks to those of you who followed me over on Bloglovin', and welcome to my new readers.  I have been busy sewing, hence the lack of blogging.  I will try to aim for at least one post a month.

I want to share with you the awesome stuff I've received from my recent swaps.  My first ever swap was with Jessie of Inside The Paper Box.  There is so much I love about this mini, the tiny little squares, the different shades of color and how they flow into each other, but most of all the quilting.  My picture doesn't do it justice.  Over to the right hand side are the loveliest flowers.  It's so perfect and I'm honored to have it hanging in my sewing room.  Thanks again Jessie for being such a great swap buddy!  You can see what I made for her here.

After getting my feet wet with the private swap, I was lucky enough to join the X-Factor Pillow swap on Flickr.  This beauty was voted number one and I got it!  There are no words to express how happy I was to get this one.  It came all the way from Germany and was made by Johanna.  Her work on flickr is amazing!  Even though its a pillow, I have it hanging in my sewing room so my 2 boys can't destroy it.  This one truly brings me joy every time I see it.

The back is pretty too!

I'm in 2 more swaps going on right now and then I think I will take a break for a bit.  I'm participating in round 5 of the X Factor swap and also the Fab Little Quilt Swap on Flickr.  I can't reveal the pillow I made for XFactor yet but here is a mockup of my plan for the FliQS.



I need to get cutting for this one.  I think it's gonna be pretty cool.  Thank you for reading!

Happy sewing,
Melissa

Pickledish Mini

I am so excited to finally share with you the mini I made for a swap with Jessie of Inside The Paper Box.  Advance warning:  there are A LOT of pics in this post. 

I've been wanting to participate in some swaps on Flickr, but they all require prior swap experience and I had none.  I posted a message on instagram and Jessie so kindly volunteered to do a private swap with me to help build up my swappy street cred.  We posted inspiration collages and went from there.  I was so happy to see that one of her picks was Aneela's Pickledish block.  I've had this block bookmarked for a long time but never a reason or the time to actually make it.  And so here was my chance!  Jessie's only direction was that she liked scrappy. 

 

I have a very modest stash so everything I pulled was a favorite.

The first few arcs were a bit tricky but then I got the hang of it.

I included all of my favorite text prints for the cornerstones.

Planning the layout.

Pinning is crucial with these, but sewing the curves was no problem at all.  I found it very relaxing.

Before I started any quilting, I sketched the block out and planned how I wanted each space to look.  My quilting was definitely inspired by Angela Walters.  I turned to both of her books and her Craftsy class for guidance.  I had planned to include swirls and circles in the background, but my skills aren't up to par yet.  I kept with the pebbles which was fun and not too difficult for my first time trying them.

The only lines I actually marked were for the center quilting.

At first I was having major tension issues and getting these weird knotty spots on the back.  Then I posted a pic on instagram asking for tips.  Within minutes I had some great suggestions and after a quick cleaning, needle change, and putting my feed dogs UP, it was smooth sailing!  I love instagram!

Machine stitched binding.

A view of the back.

I really had a great time making this mini.  I hope it is enjoyed in its new home.  Thanks to Jessie for the opportunity.  And thank you for reading!  :^)

Melissa

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.