Finally . . .

Sew & Tell Friday!

 

Finally, I can talk about this mini I made for my January Swap Til You Drop (STUD) partner--I had fun playing with snowball blocks and using up some pink someone had given me. I was really stumped on the quilting, though. I think a stipple or something would highlight the blocks better. Sometimes when I looked at it I could NOT find the snowballs at all. I know using more fabrics would help, and I thought maybe larger corners might (but I didn't like the snowball shape with bigger corners). All in all, I'd like to make more snowballs.

I also completed a pillow cover for a Valentine's Swap. (Ok, Mary, if don't want to see it now, stop reading.)  

You know, I LOVE these swaps: it's fun to virtually meet other people, as much fun to lurk around their postings to try to figure out what they might like; at the same time, it's hard to start--paralyzed by the desire for perfection. You want so badly for them to love your piece. For the Valentine swap, I felt my partner would welcome appreciate a wide range of ideas, so I felt a little freer to experiment. This is actually plan C--I liked the first two, but they weren't very Valentine-y! It's all an interesting process. And yes, this was supposed to be wonky (maybe even wonkier than it actually turned out).

I started with Jacquie's wonky heart tutorial. (She posted about her heart quilt today--very cool.) But of course, I didn't really follow directions--and I ended up with a heart that had too much emphasis on the red polk dots. I wanted "love" birds, so instead of putting them next to the heart (love + birds, get it?), I put them on top. Then I had to relearn how to do satin stitch on my machine. I think the top one looks a bit more like a starling, but I guess they find love, too. Anyhow, I basically like it, and I hope my partner does, too.

For more great Sew & Tell (provided you actually read all this!) go to Amy's.

Gratitudes

• Settled (but cold!) weather that doesn't require so much shoveling!
• A day off on Saturday.
• The movie Julie & Julia--I might have to watch it again. My mom made boeuf bourguignon, too!