Doll Quilt Swap 14

You know I love to sign up for swaps! And even though it's always a bit stressful to get it all done, I'm always glad I did. I find the deadline helps me to actually accomplish things I might not have made otherwise! The Doll Quilt Swap is one of my favorites and so I signed up for this round. Just a sweet little mini quilt that won't take too much time to make and receiving one that will (eventually) hang in my sewing room. :)

 For my wonderful partner, Katherine of Honeyhill Designs, I decided to make a pattern that I've been dying to make for myself! It is from Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet and I first spotted it at a quilt shop in Utah when I was attending Sewing Summit. Katherine loves sweet vintage fabrics and owns a little aqua Holly Hobby sewing machine so I thought this would work perfectly for her.

I just love all of the little details. This power cord is made from red rick rack embroidered with white thread.

I used an iron-on adhesive for the applique and then machine stitched all the edges. The little gray lines are satin-stitched and each of the pins in the pin cushion have little beads attached.

The small letters are embroidered and the large fabric SEW was hand-stitched with a blanket stitch. I also quilted it with a little loopy loop pattern.I'll admit it was more work than I thought it would be, but I love the way it turned out!

 For the back I used a sweet little floral from Pam Kitty Morning. Katherine said she was grooving on Red Pepper Quilts right now. Rita is using a lot of black and white with sweet vintage prints, so I decided to use the black and white dots and gingham. I like the way it frames the bright colors.

For the extra goodies I made a matching pincushion using a Heather Bailey pattern and a box of pins. Then I found a few Kate Spain goodies at Michaels. :)

Here's a close-up of the little pinny. I hope Katherine will enjoy it all. I'll have to admit I'm ready to make one for myself!

And now for the quilt that I received! Can I just say I literally gasped when I pulled it out of the package! Isn't it gorgeous!! It was made by Karri of Berries and she really took the time to make a quilt just for me. :) I love all of the fabrics she chose and the hexy pattern is awesome. 

Here is the beautiful pieced back. She even made hanging pockets!

And here are the extra goodies she included. Yummy fabric, thread, fusible web, and little handmade metal labels. So spoiled! I just love getting this happy mail, it makes it all worth it!
So another round down, I look forward to the next one. For now I am still working on my do. Good Stitches blocks and another round of the 4 x 5 Modern Bee. After the next round I should be able to make a quilt!

Name Pillows

I know, it's been a while. To be honest I've been debating whether or not to keep blogging. I have really enjoyed having a place to keep a record of the things I've made and share tutorials, etc. But being a busy mom of four makes it really hard to focus on blogging. I know other people are able to do it and maintain their families well too. But I know my family has to come first and I'm not trying to be some big-time blogger. Just a mom who likes to create and remember. :)

  So on that note I'd like to share a couple of things I made to give for Christmas. My dear friend Jane that used to be my neighbor now lives all over the world! Her husband works for the government and they spent the last two years in Brazil and now live in Riga, Latvia! How cool is that? I'll have to admit the hubs and I are pretty jealous, we would love to be living and traveling all over the world.
Jane has two beautiful daughters that were my daughters best friends. So we all miss each other to say the least! Awhile ago Jane had seen some name pillows that I had made and asked if I could make some for her daughters Chloe and Sophie-Claire. Of course! But of course I never got around to it. So this Christmas I was determined to make them and surprise them.

 Chloe's favorite colors are cool colors and Sophie-Claire's are warm colors. That made it really easy and fun. Since they share a room they match but are unique!

 I did a fusible web to attache the letters and then straight-stitched around the edges. I stipple quilted the white fabric and did a feather stitch around the edge.

On the back I used a nice, soft, coordinating minky fabirc and did white pom-pom balls all around (Jane's fav:). 
I also decided to send Jane my first quilt in years and years because the vibrancy and colors just reminded me of her and I wanted her to have something too.

I also decided to send Jane the first quilt I had made in years and years, by Flight of Fancy quilt. The vibrant, happy colors just remind me of her and I wanted her to have something special to remember us too.
It was really fun to ship this bright package off to Riga and sent a little happiness their way. I think they liked them. :)

On a fun note, my Quilted Valentine's Pillow was featured on Sew Mama Sew today! Check my other fun Valentine tutorials and printables on my right side bar.