It's That Time of Year....


Busy with Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, organizing, cleaning, life in general...

That includes quilts, doll clothes, planning, shopping, and trying to keep the house in halfway decent order.

The kids are off from school this week.  Lots of appointments.  The car battery died yesterday.  We hosted the FLL team practice last night.  The office and sewing areas look like a tornado went through.  I can't keep the deer from destroying my landscaping.  I hope my turkey thaws out by tomorrow.  It's been in the fridge since Saturday.

Really need to make some new doll clothes patterns.  

It's a battle between what I want to do, need to do, and absolutely have to do.

Happy holidays!

Update, a few hours later:  went to make lunch.  Guess what?  Turkey is thawed and leaking everywhere!  Spent a few hours cleaning the fridge and lots of apples.  Cleaned the turkey package too and put it in a pan.  In hindsight, it should have started out in a pan.  :/

Update, the next day:  got a cold.  Boo.



My CUAQ Quilt

Two weeks ago I shared what I'd sent out for the #CUAQminiquilt swap.  This swap has not been run as well as some of the others I've participated in.  I honestly wasn't sure I'd even receive something back, so I made what I felt was a nice quilt and included a few small extras with it.  Monday I received the best package ever in return.  And it was from the same person I'd sent mine to.  Everything I received was so nice.  I love the mini, and really, the extras were so awesome and just over the top.  I feel a little embarrassed that I didn't send more, but like I said, I honestly wasn't sure I'd receive anything at all.  And then to have it be my partner!  She might be getting a few more things in the mail soon.  :)

We've been having gloomy, rainy weather the last few days, so I haven't been able to get very nice pictures.  I think even my lousy pictures will show how awesome this is though.
Here is everything I received. 
Here's the mini.  Can't go wrong with some Bonnie & Camille Daysail fabric!  The background is actually white, not the weird color my photo turned out.  I adore this quilt!
Part of the extras--SIX fat quarters, a BIG spool of Aurifil, Wonder Clips, a Prairie mini charm pack, mini Olfa mat, cut little scissors in hot pink (my favorite color), and a Cut Up & Quilt ruler. {Cut Up & Quilt was the host of the swap.} This ruler will always remind me that there is good in the world, because although I didn't have faith that I would receive a swap package, I did and it was so wonderful and really generous.
More extras--walnut shells for pincushions and a pincushion pattern by one of my favorite pattern authors. 
A YARD of fun Iowa fabric!  Why can't Indiana do anything cool like this?
What a perfect package.  I am just so thankful. 


Funny Things #19

Aren't we all sometimes?  :)

A Couple Birthday Swap Gifts

I'm participating in a birthday swap for the next year.  I am the last one to receive next summer.  Anyway, here are the first two gifts I made.

The recipient of the first gift likes coffee, caramel, planners, and hexies.  I filled a reusable Starbucks cup with some locally made caramels, made a little mug rug, a coffee-themed hoop art--my first hoop art attempt, and added in some planner goodies.


I apparently forgot to take a picture of the mug rug separately, so the below shot is the best one I have. 
The second gift went all the way to Australia.  She likes pastels like pink and mint.  Although I LOVE pink, I didn't have much fabric in her style.  I found this Riley Blake fabric and made a Goody Goody Binding Kit and filled it with hand-stitching notions. 
I included pink and green wonder clips, some thread, scissors, betweens, tape measure, seam ripper, pencil, and also one of the wooden irons my husband made.  You can see those on my Instagram feed.  I also included a mechanical pencil because I love mechanical pencils (is that weird?), some washi tape, and some charm squares in pastels.
Lately I can't seem to settle down to making anything unless it has a firm deadline.  I made both of the above gifts in September.  I'm working on some Christmas gifts, and I seem to be spending a lot of time perusing Pinterest and Etsy.  Hopefully I can kick it into gear soon.

#CUAQ Mini Quilt Swap

I mailed this off to my partner this week.  I haven't received one in return yet.  For this swap, you could make whatever you wanted but use your partner's colors/tastes.  I had very little to go on since my partner only has one picture on Instagram and it's of a person.  She indicated that she liked orange and turquoise, so I made a Mini Swoon by Thimbleblossoms

I decided to go with a simple grid quilting pattern for this one.

I used a fun print for the back!
Here are the extras I included, along with some Junior Mints, which I forgot to add to the photo.