Covert Robin - What I Got & What I Sent

Hi hi!  I hope April has been a good month for you :o)  It certainly has been quick for me!  A couple of months ago I signed up for the Covert Robin: A Mystery Gift Exchange over at imagine gnats.  you get the name and contact info of another person and have time to stalk them, figure out what gifty you're going to make them, then send it to them.  Someone else has your name as well, so you get to stalk your mail carrier too!

I'll start out with what I got.  Kim was the one who got my name and she stalked me (and the girls) well! 

She sent a box full of goodies that included a new tote with the cutest embroidery ever,

a stack of fat quarters (gonna use them in one of my table runner designs), a zippered pouch for my rotary cutting supplies (and a new blade!) and lastly - but probably most importantly to the girls, a little sack of treats for Annie & Oakleigh.

They're all too cute and very thoughtful - I loved this swap!

Next is what I sent.  The name I got was Heidi's.  She had just started her blog so I had a bit of an anxiety attack when I went to stalk her, but her blog told me all I needed!  First, it is pink.  Second, she mentions starting her own business.  Two things I can work with!  What new aspiring business owners have is a lot of stuff to carry around so, out came Amy Butler's Nappy Bag pattern that I absolutely LOVE.  I headed over to the LQS in Corvallis and found these yummy fabrics. 

Off to the races I went! 

When I made this bag for myself I didn't add all the pockets that there are in the pattern and ever since I have wished I did, so no pocket scrimping for this one (plus, she needs all the pockets she can get with a new business!). 

Off it went and I anxiously waited for Heidi to get back from her work travels and get her gift!

I had a blast doing the swap and meeting both Kim and Heidi - two more great bloggers!  Thanks ladies, for participating!

Here's what I am looking at, so I am off for a snuggle.

woof woof meow!

Tina & Gabi's Day and Night

Hi hi!  This post is long overdue…Tina and Gabi got their quilts a while ago, I’ve just been slow getting the pictures in a post and up on the blog.

Backstory:  I worked with Tina and when she was sent off for her job, I wanted to make her and her daughter matching quilts so that they would have a little piece of each other while Tina was gone.  Yeah, that didn’t happen before she got home.  At first it sat cut in strips.  Then it sat sewed into strips and cut into pieces.  Then it sat sewn in half the blocks.  Then it sat in all the blocks.  Then, they both got put together, on the Gammill and off to them all in the space of a few weeks.  It did all the previous sitting over about 14 months!

Pictures, pictures, pictures.  This is a pretty picture heavy post from here on out.  And, of course if I took pictures of the fabrics, I can’t find them.  So, we’ll start out with pictures of the blocks instead.  I used Eleanor Burns’ “Day and Night” pattern for both quilts.

 

Gabi's quilt has two colors, light pink and black.  Tina's has three: light pink, dark pink and black.



Here are the two blocks together.





Gabi's top with Tina's block in it.

Tina's top with Gabi's block in it.

 

 

The backing.  A pink flannel that screamed girlie girl on it.  Not sure about the "owl" on it though.

 

Tina's quilt loaded on the Gammill.

 

The quilting detail on Tina's quilt: loopy hearts.

 

More quilting detail on Tina's quilt with both blocks.

 

Gabi's quilting detail: loopier hearts.

 

More quilting detail on Gabi's quilt with both blocks.

 

Gabi's quilt finished!

 

Tina's quilt finished!

 

Oakleigh trying to help with the binding:  "You finished yet?!?!"

Annie in front of Tina's finished quilt:  "You're finished now Mom!"

woof woof meow!

April Showers Mug Rug - Orange & Black

Hi hi!  So, it is 20 minutes to 9, PST.  I had my pictures of my mug rug all taken last night and I took my mug rug to work this morning.  You think I could find the flamin' pictures this evening?  Took me an hour and I have no idea how they got onto my iPad...  Anyways.

Today is my day on the April Showers Mug Rug Hop!  Erin at Sew at Home Mummy is our lovely hostess and Mdm Samm is the one who started it all - Thanks to the both of you, you two rock!  Here is the list of other lovely bloggers who are sharing today with me:

 

Gina @ Sew Much and More

Sharon @ Vroomans Quilts

Theresa @ Bumbleberry Stitches

Jennet @ The Feathered Nest Studio

Patti @ A Yankee in Queen Liz's Court

Gene @ Gene Black - Alabama Artist

Susan @ Susan's Scrappy Domain

Bente @ I Like to Quiltblog

Deb @ Quilting & Other Craft Therapy

Megan @ AnnieOak Design  ßyou are here *wag*

 

Here's my little mug rug.

 

 

I like to take the trimmings from each of my projects and make a little one from them.  These are trimmings from a block that I tested for QuiltMaker.  I am an Oregon State Beaver, so the colors were perfect!  And, since I work at OSU in the Graduate School, the mug rug fits perfectly under my tea mug at work on my desk.

 

Not much to see here – as I said before, it took me an hour to find the durned pictures!  Now, make sure you show the rest of the bloggers some bloggy love and have fun in the April Showers!

 

Now, for some pitiful Annie.  This is what she looks like after she’s rolled in coyote poo and has to have a baff.

 

woof woof meow

MMMRR Round 2 Sneak Peek

Hi all!  Sorry for the long time between posts - things have been crazy here and my head hasn't been in the game (or on my shoulders sometimes) for the past few weeks.  I did find some time to get into my sewing room though and cranked out the borders for my Modern Mini Mystery Round Robin group.  I had fun doing them!  The first border was super stretchy so I needed something to stabilize it so I went with the strips to help keep it from changing shape everytime I looked at it.  I think the design mirrors the middle block a little and like I said, I had fun designing and sewing them up.

Now its off to the next person and I am awaiting the arrival of my next round.

Here's a little Sandy Annie love.

 

woof woof meow!

A little fun

Hi hi! 

Just had to post this when I saw it on Bea's blog this morning.

#1 caught me and I think I have to do all of them now!

 Check out B's newest recipes too - she's got soup and pizza dough.  Yummy warm recipes for the cool weather outside right now.

And, a little Bug love.

see kate sew Envelope Clutch

Hi hi!

I was reading up at Amy's Crafty Shenanigans today and she showed off her Calypso Envelope Clutch.  When she mentioned that it was a pattern from see kate sew, I clicked over and found Kate had a flikr group with photos from folks who've made up her pattern.

So, I needed a quick project that I could do - I am tired of chain piecing and this was a fun break.  I printed out the pattern and dug out a couple of fat quarters and enough fusible to fit the pattern (barely).  Here's my finished clutch without a button/closure.

 And the inside is a simple cream that matched the swirly asian print that I picked as my outer fabric.

Then, since I don't do button holes, yet, I decided I would try to do something different and used the scraps from my liner to whip up a little fabric flower.

What do you think?  I am thinking I should make a couple more - maybe in a coral and yellow, and put all three on the flap.  Then a magnetic closure.  What do you think?

Here's a little Lolly love.

woof woof meow

FNSI and Modern Mini Mystery Peek

Hi hi!

Last Friday Josh was in Portland so I signed up for FNSI at Handmade by Heidi and set to work!  I didn't get anything finished, but I did finish cutting a project, almost finished another (needed more fabric) and started designing my MMMRR border.

I finished cutting up Baby Jackson's fabric (and I am still drooling over it)

I started cutting up the fabric for the Costa Maya quilt, but ran out of one of the fabrics so I had to order more.  Luckily I found some, Children at Play by Sarah Jane came out in 2011 and the flannel was even harder to find.  But - Aspen Fabrics had a yard left and I snatched it up!

Then, I started designing the borders for my first round of the Modern Mini Mystery Round Robin going on with Quilts From My Crayon Box.  I finished it tonight, so here are some photos.

Just photos, I don't want to give too much away!

 

 

And, a little Doodle love:

woof woof meow!