I've discovered....

the cure to perfectionism!

1.  A two month old baby who loves to be held (and a mama who loves to hold her).

2.  In set seams. Enough said.

In set seams...how hard can they be?

3. And a deadline. I'm working on it. I promise.

A hot pad/table topper for my SUTK partner

Spicing Up the Kitchen

Even though I'm not doing much cooking these days, I still couldn't resist joining the SUTK Round 2 over on flickr. Last night, Little S actually slept during the evening, so I made this little basket for my partner. I've always wanted to make one, and it was so fun, so easy and turned out so cute. If my partner doesn't comment on it in the flickr pool, I just might keep it for myself.

Made from this tutorial from Pink Penguin. I don't think the handles are really different lengths in 'real life.'

Next up, one more item for my partner!

Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap Received!

I received a beautiful package from my Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap partner, Amy, last week. (Amy blogs over at amylouwho). I've just started to follow her blog...check out her gorgeous bird quilt. It's lovely! Anyway, Amy made me a gorgeous Dresden Plate table topper to go with my retro red kitchen table.

I love, love, love dresden plates. Especially ones with red polka dots.

I love the way it looks on the table.



I have my dad's old chrome kitchen table - the table topper is perfect!



Amy also made a diaper pouch and some burp cloths for our new baby. I'm thrilled to have some new baby items. With this being baby #3, the poor little babe is going to have to get used to hand-me-downs.

Thanks Amy for the thoughtful baby items!

The backing fabric is perfect too.

Even the back looks amazing. My daughter loves the apples and pears.

Thank you so much, Amy. I love them! And thanks to Darci and Erin for organizing a wonderful swap. I love the kitchen theme and the short turn-around time for making and sending items. I'm definitely up for Round 2!

Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap

I just participated in a fabulous new swap over on flickr called Spicing Up the Kitchen. The swap is organized by Erin and Darci and there is an amazing pool of quilters participating. My partner received her goodies yesterday, so I can finally spill the beans about my projects.

Placemats, hotpads and magnets.

I was lucky to get Darci as my secret partner. It was a bit intimidating to have one of the Swap Mamas to sew for, but Darci is so sweet (we've swapped fabric a few times before this) I was more than happy to make something for her new kitchen.

The only problem was that Darci had pretty specific requests: I-Spy placemats for her two daughters and green. I was pretty sure that if I posted any of my progress photos to the flickr pool she'd know immediately that they were for her. Instead, Erin and I decided to lead her along for a bit. I posted a photo of bright rainbow colours and kitchen prints. Darci specifically said, No kitchen prints.



Okay, time to fess up...I'm not sewing with these fabrics anytime soon. But they are pretty, aren't they?

In truth, I pulled out some favourite fabrics and kept the design simple. I didn't want the images to be lost in a complicated design. And because I'm pregnant. My brain is mush.



I finally cut into my FFA2. Isn't sleeping beauty sweet?



Darci plans to decorate her kitchen with green, so I made her and her hubby each a green placemat to coordinate with the girls. It might be a bit of green overload (I'm wishing I used aqua for the binding) but I figure Mother Nature likes green overload too and she's a pretty good designer.

It turns out I have a pretty good green stash of fabrics - here are 35 different charms.

To complete the package, I made a couple of pot holders and some fridge magnets.

I added some aqua to these...it isn't easy being all green!

I love the fridge magnets - very easy to make and a great way to use some favourite fabrics.

These were so fun, quick and easy to make. I need some now for my kitchen!

I'm so happy that Darci received the placemats yesterday...I was beginning to look like a complete swap flake because I hadn't posted any sewing to the flickr pool. I was worried I was actually going to have to make something out of the fabrics I posted.

Set of four placemats for Darci.

Thanks Erin and Darci for a fun swap. I can't wait for round 2. And of course, to receive my goodies.