Sock Swap!

I signed up to participate in the Sock Swap on Mary Lou Weidman's blog (actually her chatroom).  Mary Lou is a very talented quilter, author, and teacher who makes story quilts.  I missed out the the previous swaps (adorable bees and owls).  I needed to make 19 of these socks (I made 20) to send to the swap master who will then mix them up and redistribute them.  Mary Lou sent us all a plan and directions.  The socks had to be cheddar, turquoise, green, or red (I tried them all).  The background had to be cream on cream tonal prints.  The size could be any even number up to 14 (I tried them all!)  It was a fun block to play around with and I can't wait to see what the other quilters come up with.

Some of them are more "sock-like" than others.  Some of them look like rainboots!  I resewed that one funky one and it didn't want to match up so it may be the one I keep.
Have you ever participated in a block swap?  This was a one time deal so I thought it was a good one for getting my feet wet in the online Bee world.
I am linking up to The Girl Creative and Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds.  Jump over there and see what the other crafty people have been up to.

Baby quilt is finished just in time!

My daughter had her beautiful baby four weeks early!  Luckily I had just finished the baby quilt and took it to the hospital to welcome my new granddaughter, Saydee.

I made this improv butterfly quilt for my daughter to hang over the changing table.  Nice and bright, right?  I used the brown dots to match the curtains my daughter made for the room.  The back is interesting, too, in case they feel like changing the scenery.

This is the biggest quilt I have machine quilted.  My free motion quilting is coming along (in other words, I finally got the tension figured out!).  I figure a newborn won't look too closely!  I washed it and I love how soft and crinkley it is.

I used bright pink thread, too.  (Be bold!)

I am joining in on the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Click the link and you too can spend hours of fun with beautiful quilts!

I linked up to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory, also.  More fun finishes to check out!

My Brown Bag Fabric and Surprise

Here are the fabrics I am sending to my very patient partner in the Brown Bag Challenge.  They are all nice calicos but not what I am attracted to now (bright? dots? stripes? no?)  I should be in about fifty more of these to get rid of some of my stash.  I also made a little pincushion to include in the package (which I swear I am mailing tomorrow!)

Sunday Stash

These beautiful fat quarters are the brown bag fabrics from my partner!  I was thinking I would get some funky fabrics and look how lovely they are!  The piece on the right is the one fabric I think I will add into the quilt.  I have until March, I think!  It may take me that long!

This box of great fabrics also arrived this week.  I got one of those rulers that sharpen your rotary cutter blade as you cut and the fabric was very reasonable (so I got a bunch!)from My Notions Online.
I also stopped by my LQS to get some thread and picked out some various prints. 

Although I do not seem to be getting much done, I am making quite a mess in my sewing room/dining room.
I have several projects going on at once (of course).  The end of the month I am having a shower here (eek!) so I guess I will need to tidy up (a little!).

Modern improv quilt

Another small quilt project to practice my free motion quilting. I tried out some swirls using pink quilting thread. I like the charcoal grey Kona much better after quilting. My quilting leaves a lot to be desired but it is a lot of fun and my friend Susan doesn't mind. I love this kind of piecing, too. Lots of color, lots of fun!
The binding is large polka dots (it looks like stripes in this picture, though, doesn't it?).

I linked up to Lush Friday and Confessions of a Fabric Addict's TGIF! Head over to find more Friday finishes!

Bee Pillow

Here is a quick project I finished this week: a bee handprint pillow!The back is soft flannel covered in tiny bees.

Don't you love the pom poms?

Okay, so I have been trying to practice my free motion quilting by making some small projects. I found this block in my stash when I cleaned up a little. It is from four years ago, made by some of my Kindergarten students and not included in their quilt, I think, because it was the wrong number of bees. We remade the block for the quilt and I just could not throw it away. So now those kids are fourth graders. I quilted the block and made a cute pillow for my rocking chair at school.

I am linking to Quiltstory Fabric Finishes.  Go over and see all the sewing greatness!

Autism Speaks Donation

My friend Maggie asked if anyone would be willing to donate to a charity auction for Autism Speaks. I was happy to volunteer a quilt. I made it using a jelly roll and part of a layer cake. The back was harder to decide upon than the front. The auction is next weekend so I finished it just in time. I used wavy straight line machine quilting. I washed it and now it is all crinkly and lovely.

Jump over to Quiltstory and Trendy Treehouse to see more fabric finishes for the week!