Lions, Tigers and Bears...Oh My!

Okay, just Bears today. Here is my block for Section 1 of Jane's Rainbow Quilt Swap:As you can see, I'm yellow. And for some reason I thought that it would be a good idea to make a Bear Patch Block. Hmmmm...there are lots of HSTs in this block. 16 to be exact. That's 144 HST for 9 blocks. Buy I'm not counting...yet.

I've got 2 blocks finished so just 7 more to go....

Dianah's Vacation Home

I finished my 2nd block for the bee inspired virtual quilting bee. Dianah sent beautiful, vibrant batiks and asked us to make her a vacation home. My fabric spoke to me. It said, "Make me ORANGE!" So I did.I wish I had an orange vacation home.

I wish I had a vacation home.

I'd settle for a vacation...

Bee Inspired - Rachel's Blocks

I finished my first blocks for the Bee Inspired Virtual Quilt Bee. Rachel asked for any block with pinwheels. I took the liberty to make two blocks with the gorgeous fabric that she sent.

The first was the Housewife block from the Quilter's Cache. I couldn't resist the title!

The second is a Double Pinwheel. I chose this one because they looked so pretty on Rachel's inspiration quilt. And I chose this version because it wasn't paper pieced.Next up for Bee Inspired: Vacation Home blocks!

This, That & the Other

I've been working on lots of different, little projects lately. Nothing new that is actually finished. I am terrible at finishing things...I joined the Rainbow Swap at Jane's Fabric. I chose yellow because I don't have very much in my stash and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to use a colour I don't use very often. I had a hard time choosing my block, but finally settled on the Bear Paw Patch. I bought my fabric this weekend. I can't wait to get started. But then, since Jane was putting out a last call for her 5th section, I decided to join again. This time I chose purple (I have lots in my stash) and the Ohio Star.

Yesterday, I finally sent off my blocks to Jacquie for Project Improv.

I'm also plugging away on my Doll Quilt Swap 6 for my partner. I received a beautiful purple butterfly FQ (oops I forgot to take a picture) in the mail last week from my Sew, Mama, Sew Swap and I think it will be the perfect backing for my quilt. I've changed things up since I first started and I'm much happier. I'll post a picture soon.

Finally, I had a quilt guild meeting yesterday. It probably isn't fair to bring a 10-month old baby to a quilt guild meeting (most of the ladies are grandmas with their grandchildren living far away) and my little guy stole the show! There wasn't much sewing for the hour that I was there! I volunteered to organize our charity quilt donation day for kids in care. In May we should be donating 20 quilts to local kids in foster care. I am really happy to be able to help out with this as it is the reason I joined the local group.

Weekend Projects

I've been working on a few things this weekend...

First, on the Bee Inspired front, I am still waiting (rather impatiently I must add) for my fabric. The joys of living in the middle of nowhere. One positive side effect of being one of the last to receive my fabric is that I get to see everyone's finished blocks before I even start mine. And they are beautiful! Rachel has picked gorgeous fabric and a block that is very versatile. Go check them out! In the spirit of Rachel's pinwheel quilt, here is a photo of the pinwheel quilt I made for my son before he was born last year:

Next, I have been working madly on my Doll Quilt Swap 6 quilt. Here's a peek. In fact I have an entire quilt top made, but now I am having second thoughts. Last night I created a second, practice quilt to work on my free-motion quilting. Here is my practice stippling:I also tried the "sketch" method outlined here. I love this method because it doesn't have to be perfect. Heck, even better, it isn't supposed to be perfect because it is meant to look like a sketch! That's my kind of quilting.This is a picture of the back: I'm pretty happy with the quilting. But I also like my mock-up way better than the actual Doll Quilt that I made so I think I may have to rethink my creation. Perhaps change the borders, or maybe the centre, or maybe start all over??? At least I have some time to dwell on it. Overall, I am so impressed with the creative and beautifully constructed quilts in the DQS pool that I'm feeling a wee bit insecure about my own talents. I think I just need to take a step back, relax, and pick it up again later in the week.

And because I am Canadian, this entry wouldn't really be complete without a comment on the weather. So here it is: It snowed here again this weekend. Almost 6 inches. I don't think winter will ever be over! My husband and are already dreaming of becoming 'Snow Birds.' I'm not even 30...doh!

DQS6

Yay, I'm participating in my first Doll Quilt Swap. I am very excited! I got a good start on my partner's quilt tonight. Thankfully she gave me great instructions and I 'stalked' her blog so I think (hope) that I'm on the right track.

That said, it seems that I might be what some might call a BAD partner. When we signed up I wrote "quilter's choice" for my preferences. In my defense, I am really happy to get a quilt, any quilt, in the mail. But I also understand that it is hard to make a quilt without any starting inspiration. In the spirit of helping my partner I'm answering the questionnaire from the Doll Quilt Flickr page...

Favourite colour(s)? Red, Blue, Pink. Hmmm...I also love orange, green and brown. (I'm not sure this questionnaire will be very helpful!)

Traditional/ fun/ modern/ arty? Okay, I'm already falling apart trying to answer these questions. I like them all! But I am trying to move myself into a more modern style.

Hobbies other than quilting? Hanging out with the kids, reading, gardening, jogging, curling (what did you expect, I am Canadian), playing with our new black lab puppy...

Quilt for the wall or for a child? This one is for the wall!

I also made this mosaic of some of my favorites on flickr...

Hope this helps partner! Can't wait to meet my quilt.

Fabric!

Holy Fabric, Batman! Is there any better mail?

First, I received the fabric I ordered from Pink Chalk Fabrics when they were having their Valentine's Day sale. Yum. I LOVE it. A nice mix, and the blue/green on the top will be the backing for my Wonky Log Cabin quilt. And it was ONLY $2.99 a yard. Beautiful!
Next, I received my 'wishing it was spring' Fat Quarter Swap fabric today too. And I got three, not two, but three great fat quarters from Sudi-Laura. I love the bright colours and can't wait to use them. Thank you! And last, but not least, I did pick up a wee bit of fabric when I was in Saskatoon over the weekend. I got some great American Jane fabric from the half-off bin, an Amy Butler layer cake and also some fabric for the bee inspired quilt bee. I'll show that off a bit later.
Now I just need to sew instead of reading about sewing on flickr and on sewing blogs!