PLPSwap JACKPOT!

O.my.goodness... I'm seriously so giddy still 2 hours after opening this awesome package!

So, I get home and there is this mysterious box waiting for me. I've been stalking my Pillow Talk Swap like CRAZY and have it narrowed down to 2 pillows that I think COULD be for me - so I really thought it was one of those that I know shipped Monday.

... I rip the box open and what do I find? A jar of jalapeno jelly and a card. Intrigued and seeing a lot of box stuffing and no pillow cover, I read the card and realize it is from my Pretty Little Pouch Swap partner! She explained the interesting jelly appetizer with a good recipe for using it and I then excitedly pulled out the box stuffing and found this.... be still my heart!

Are you seeing the amazing stitching, super cute little fussy cuts, and that sweet clasp top? 

Yea, I know, it is A.MA.ZING!

It is seriously like somehow she climed into my head, pulled out lots of little bits of things I've liked on flikr but never had the guts to make, and put it all together in this one awesome pouch. Swooning... totally :)

THEN, I opened up the little cutie to check out the lining (which I love by the way!) and saw that cute pile of extras inside! Some SWEET fox fabric from Monaluna that I've actually had my eye on for months, and some really pretty embroidery brights. 

Overwhelmed with the perfection of this package, def. had no idea when I saw this on Flikr that it could possibly be for me... YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY :)

And to make things even better today - my partner received her package today and seems to be pretty excited about it too so I'm very happy about that! I was a little nervous after getting this sweet pouch and hoping she wouldn't be disappointed. 

1 swap down - 1 to go. My other partner needs to go to the post office and pick up her package - hope she likes her pillow cover and can't wait to see which one I will receive! Everyone has to mail by next Tuesday... the countdown is on :) 

Happy sewing and swapping everyone!

WIP Wednesday - Swap updates!

I may be posting this on Thursday morning but it was def. a very productive WIP Wednesday for me!

My swap items are now completed - happy dancing right here!

1. Pillow Talk Swap - Loulouthi in the sky with diamonds is her name ;-)



She is packaged up with a nice little bundle of scraps and will be on her way to her new home this evening!

2. Pretty (little) Pouch Swap



Front



Back - Kokka Linen

 Ok so let's talk about this pouch for a second... I love it, I think it turned out super cute, but my o my that space to the left of the car BUGS ME! I wanted to do a little puff of smoke but it just turned out bad bad bad :( What do you think... should I try again or just leave it be?

Applique and stitching are not my best skills, very elementary at best, so I'm hoping my partner appreciates the attempt and likes the pouch as much as I do... but that space.... o that space is going to haunt me!

Fortunately I still have 2 weeks until it needs to be mailed to think about what extras to add in and what, if anything, I'm going to do with that space.

3. My 4 x 5 Flikr Bee blocks have all arrived! Here are what my fabulous partners sent me:



I signed up for Quarter 4 in the 4 x 5 Bee as well as the 3 x 6 Bee - meaning that from Nov. 1st - Jan. 15th I will need to make 11 blocks.... but it also means I will receive 11 and have 16 total for an awesome quilt! :) Busy busy bee but since I am almost done with my all my other swaps I think I can handle it. 4 - 12.5 x 12.5 blocks a month is not so bad, even with a bit of Christmas sewing thrown in.

Hope everyone is having a productive week - sewing or otherwise! Enjoy the lovely Fall weather!!

Halloween Fun with Mom & A Swap Update

I had an awesome play-day with my mom making Halloween crafts yesterday. It is our favorite holiday and fall is our favorite time of year so we definitely had to get some seasonal crafting in before it was too late! We also like to exchange little holiday gifts, here are this year's:

This is the pillow I made for her - she has 6 cats so I always call her the crazy cat lady, which makes the pillow that much more fitting ;-)

Front - Ghastlies Witch and Alexander Henry Hocus Pocus cats

Close up of crazy cat border

Back - Alexander Henry Hocus Pocus

 Here are the super cute treat bags she gave me for myself and my husband - never too old for Halloween candy from your mommy! :) Pretty sure my husband only ate candy for breakfast this morning haha.

Green is my favorite color and I LOVE that little spider saying "eek!" - she knows me so well :) That little Ty ghostie is to die for adorable, he is definitely coming to work with me on monday to decorate my desk.

She planned some really awesome crafts for us this year. We decided to save a few for Thanksgiving crafting while my dad and my husband sleep on the couch after lunch but here is what we've made so far:

A super cute button decorated pupmkin to go with my ghostie on my desk at work:

And adorable little plush pumpkins to decorate with at home:

I think this may be my favorite but shhhh, don't tell the others!

I brought home fabric to make more of these cuties, hopefully I will have time to make other sizes but these 3 will def. be put to good use decorating our dining room hutch.

Craft time with mom is the best - she is so creative and knows basically everything there is to know about making anything, or can figure it out pretty easily from a picture if we can't find instructions. We always have a great time when we get together and play. Looking forward to Thanksgiving crafts and of COURSE there will be Christmas ones to share with you later on too!  :)

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And just because I don't want to write a 3rd blog posting for today - here is an update on my last 2 swaps for the year:

Front of my Pretty Little Pouch Swap pouch:

Front of my Pillow Talk Swap pillow:

I should be able to finish both this week and get them mailed out but I have until the 1st week of November so I am doing well with time.

Happy Crafting everyone!

Linking up with:  

Children's Charity Quilt Project Completed!

The Children's Charity Quilt Project for my church is now completed - well as far as my involvement goes anyway. The children in the branch of our church in my area earned 6 quilts, 4 of which I made. I was hoping to make more but I've been a busy busy bee this year. Their celebration is this Saturday to display all of the quilts earned by the kids and made by member of the churches throughout Delaware and then they will decide where to send them all - and of course there is a party for the kids too, can't forget that after all their hard work! We will be out of town but I handed over my quilts today and I'm sure they will go to good homes.

Before I show you these quilts, I would just like to mention that ALL of them were made by fabric donated to this project by awesome bloggers who I contacted or contacted me through my first blog post about it. Thank you all SO much again for your generosity - it takes a lot of trust to mail a package of fabric to a random stranger asking for help and we really appreciate it. All of the leftover fabric will be saved by our church and will be used for further service projects to help out groups and charities in our area. Once I relax a little after pushing to get all of these done, I will be working on a few of those myself and will share more picture of what your fabric donations have been made into. Thank you thank you THANK YOU all!

Here are the 4 quilts I made for the project:

Tinkerbell quilt - sent to a very deserving little girl in Canada

Owl School Quilt

Pretty in Pink Quilt

Old Fashioned Moda Quilt

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Eye candy, yum yum yum!

I'm making really good progress on those last 3 quilts - finished binding 2 on Tuesday and finished quilting the last one yesterday. Binding tonight and FINISHED!! ... after last night's fiasco with painter's tape not wanting to stay down and help me with my diagonal lines, I'm a little flustered and ready to be done done DONE with these quilts... but all in all I'm very happy to have been able to help out with this project and super hoping that the 4 quilts I made go to homes where they are needed. I will have pics this weekend once all are done.

I'm also hoping to get my Pillow Talk Swap pillow and Prettly little Pouch Swap pouch finished this weekend or early next week so stay tuned for those pics as well!

Since I have no pictures of projects to show, I thought I'd share some eye candy that has me completely giddy. First up is Peacock Lane which is on its way to my house hopefully by the middle of next week, yay! Could not resist a FQ bundle of this - especially 50% off today until the 17th at Fat Quarter Shop - coupon code "peacock":

Isn't this just absolutely yummy? I LOVE both colorways and I think they would look awesome together in a quilt or separately. No clue what I will do with them yet but I'm sure I will come up with something lovely. I also got a 1/2 yard of the elephant/peacock menagerie in both colors - that is by far my favorite print in this set.

Next up is something I've been super excited about since it was announced - Outfoxed by Lizzy House! The Intrepid Thread will hopefully be getting this in by the end of the month and I REALLY think I need a FQ bundle.

However, the purple colorway is by far my favorite - so maybe I will just get a FQ set of these?

And these 2 prints are my favorite from the whole bunch so I will def. be getting extra and making other fun things with them - love those foxes and hedgehogs!

So what do you think? Full FQ bundle and extra of those 2 - or just a FQ bundle of the purple colorway and extra of the 2 above? Decisions decisions....

This purchase is going to wipe out my fabric money for the rest of the year I have a feeling but maybe someone will be nice enough to get Pear Tree for me for christmas because I am oooooo so excited about this set too - especially the top section of blues:

And that my friends is the end of this long eye candy ramble. What lines are you most looking forward to this fall/winter? Anything good on your Christmas list? :)

Still alive!

Yeesh - it has been forever since I've posted anything here! Between a stomach bug, a head cold, training for a 1/2 marathon, finishing up my charity quilts, working full-time, and normal life... I haven't had much time for pictures or blogging. I have to get the binding on my last 3 charity quilts for our church project by this Sunday so hopefully by then I will have a better post and some pics! Until then, carry on and keep crafting! :)