Swap and Polka Dot Girls Done

It arrived!!! Mary from Quilt Hollow and I talked few months ago about having a "Little Quilt" swap. We gave plenty of time to get a small quilt finished and mailed in Nov. Mary received the little quilt I sent her last week and I got mine from her today, we both kept it a complete surprise what we would make. I'm so delighted with the little 9-patch quilt and I had no idea she was also going to send this gorgeous framed log cabin quilt as well, it's like a early Christmas. Mary Thank you so much for this wonderful gift, you have spoiled me...I love them both. Bloggers really know how to spoil each other well and have fun doing it along the way.

It's been a long 10 months of stitching each block one by one. Here it is finally Polka Dot Girls quit is all pieced. I can see why I like doing small stitching projects, this was a big commitment and I was determined to get this one done....woohoo. Don't forget to check the link in my side bar for other bloggers making PDG's quilt.

A close up of the quilt. Now to decide how this will get quilted. Any advise on quilting with stitchery blocks? Do you quilt right over them or just go around the stitching?

Wish Block and Swap Quilt

These two little guys were outside the dinning room window this morning. It was a bit funny watching them doing a balancing act on the fence, We don't usually see raccoons out during the daylight. They did eventually found a way down and ran off.

I did some piecing of the my first Wish block and I appliqued the hearts and stars as well. I like doing freezer paper and starch method for my applique. Not much else going on right now, I've been working on piecing the quilt for Polka Dot Girls, I've gotten to the borders and can't make up my mind which fabric I want to use....arrggg.

I just finished a Little Quilt swap with Quilt Hollow, she received the quilt I made her this week. I'm still waiting for the postman to bring mine, the mail here is a bit slower than usual because the inside workers are striking and that slows down the mail getting out. You'll be the first to see it when I get my package, I hope it won't be too long, I'm excited to see what she made for me. I've really enjoyed getting to know my partner better over the last few months. Mary is new to blogging so go over and say "Hi", she has a awesome blog and don't forget to enter her giveaway.

Take time to relax with needle and thread in hand.

Lori Smith BOM DONE!!

I wish this was a better picture, the colouring is not that great. Here is the my finished version of the Lori Smith pattern Peaceful Nights. If you are familiar with this pattern you will notice that my center block is different from the pattern. I wasn't happy with the center block in Lori's pattern and I had decided from the beginning that I would not make the center block anyway. I didn't have a plan for the blocks and was hoping as I was making them, something would come to me. At the same time I had done a block swap with another stitching group, the center is the block I started and then Donna made the LeMoyne star border around the center. I wasn't sure how I would finish the block swap until I had a light bulb moment...has that ever happened to you??? Why couldn't I put these two projects together into one. The fabrics and colours went together, I only needed to add the half square triangles to make the center block fit. That was a fun exercise in math...I needed to recruit the help of hubby for that one...he was so patient and helpful.

So there you have it another top completed and I'm so happy with how it all came together.

I'm so far behind in reading blogs, we spent 4 days relaxing at the lake. I'm feeling more tired today...you'd think I'd be well rested. I don't know why that happens, I guess too much resting is not a good thing.

Christmas Wish

I never get tired of pumpkins, this is one of those tiny pumpkins about the size of an apple. The girls at the quilt group I had tea with last week went out in their backyards and gathered the bits of greenery to fill the pumpkin. We did a block swap with this quilt group months ago and the tea was to reveal how we finished our quilts and to also find out who was our secret partner. I've finished my swap quilt and I'm very happy with how it turned out. Sorry I can't show a picture yet....you'll just have to check back next week to see the quilt.....

Something else I've started is a Christmas redwork quilt by Bronwyn Hayes (she's the same designer as Polka Dot Girls). The quilt patterns are in 3 separate issues of Homespun magazine, here is my first block all stitched. There's no way this will be done for this Christmas, but it'll be finished in plenty of time for NEXT year....LOL. I'm still undecided if I'll do the whole quilt as I've just finished stitching so many blocks for PDG's. I'm trying out a variegated Valdani Pearl cotton on this stitchery, it's working out pretty well so far.

EDIT: Thank you to Bettsy for pointing me to the pattern errors found in this quilt. Before starting check out the corrections page on this site and look for The Wish Quilt — Homespun Vol 9 Nos 7, 8, 9. I would recommend printing the corrections and keeping it with the magazine.

Here is the first issue of Homespun magazine, the patterns continue the next 2 issues. If you are interested in which issues have the patterns, I can dig it out for you.

Happy Stitching!