Spring in the Mail

DQS10 Received!!, a photo by QuiltyBee on Flickr.

Look at the fabulous and beautiful and simply wonderful quilt I received from Elisa for DQS10. The details, created with applique and embroidery, are so thoughtful and interesting. I just love the colors and all the texture. And see that 3D flower?!

To add icing to an already delicious cake, Elisa sent 2 fantastic orange FQ--I am saving them for something for me--and what I finally figured out was a sachet, once I took it out of the wrapper! It will do wonders for my laundry room, and when it loses its scent, I think it would be fine as a pincushion, too.

Turns out Elisa received her DQS10 from Kristy, the person I sent mine to--a regular round robin :)

Joys

• Swaps, swaps, swaps--gotta love 'em
• Sunshine after a week of dreary (when I took this photo, ugh)
• Safety--we spent Saturday night with tornadoes going around us (our prayers with those in the path)

STUD Sneak Peek

Sneak Peek, a photo by QuiltyBee on Flickr.

Sorry for the lousy pic--it's snowing outside!

Anyhow, my swap partner says she likes half square triangles--so I'm combining these with an idea I've always wanted to try. Look how small! I don't think they will ALL be this tiny--had to finger press these babies first, and then no steam on the iron.

Maybe working on this little thing will help me feel like spring--we're supposed to get 3 inches of white stuff today :(

You know, as I kid I always admired postage stamp quilts--until I realized how small those blocks are. I could barely get these through the machine--the feed dogs thought they were just a piece of lint. How small have you worked?

Joys

• My Friday morning extra cup
• yellow & orange fabrics
• my hubby's back is improving (which means he can do more of his chores!)

Spring Flight

Spring Flight a photo by QuiltyBee on Flickr.

DQS10 Finished! I'm just loving the yellow and gray trend, so I fell off the StashPact and got a charm pack of Basic Gray (Origin's by Moda). And I always love HSTs, so here we are.

Sometimes I finish one of these minis, and I think--too simple, my partner will never like it. My hope is for a bit of classiness. And I really like to highlight the fabric. To jazz it up a bit, I tried some different quilting--a bit of wave and a bit of yellow. I like the effect.

For this little one, I decided to follow some online advice and press my seams open, but I have to say, it didn't really help me make things more flat, especially at the junctions. I like how pressing to one side helps me "lock" the seams. This way I sometimes had 4 layers instead of just 2.

This makes me think of all the geese flying overhead and how the grass is just beginning to green up in spots. Spring feels so good!

Sneak Peek #2

Sneak Peek #2 a photo by QuiltyBee on Flickr.

Wow, just a little pat on the back for myself here. . .nearly finished with my DQS10 quilt. All I need to do is stitch the binding to the back and collect a couple goodies to go with.

I think this is the earliest I've EVER completed any swap (or maybe anything). Nice!

Joys

• sunshine, glorious sunshine AND springtime warmth

• an extra cup of coffee in complete and total piece

• 2 boys who do their best in school most days, and they're cute, too

Dry Run Mini

Trying out Malka Dubrosky's pattern for
with all purples and grays. The big version will be my son's graduation quilt. I do like the way these go together. . .I'd thought about taking the berry color out, but DS likes it, so it stays. Tried quilting it with all gray, maybe going to a charcoal and then quilted a little scrap size with purple--awesome, so it will be quilted in purple.

The big quilt will have 8 inch blocks, so it will go together quickly. Yay!