Scrappy Hoop Swap

I finished my scrappy hoop for my partner. If you remember I made this one but then decided that it wasn't her. After much thought I decided something like this was her.



I embroidered the girl from this book. I then used this as inspiration to my tree which I just love and will be doing alot more of.



Then the back I hot glued to the hoop so that it had the finished look and add one of my labels that I made myself.



I will be mailing it out to my partner soon. I can't wait for her to get it. It is a hilarious story about who my partner is!

Then I received mine in the mail from Alexandra ( asquared ) I was so surprised to receive 3 hoops since the swap only asked you to make 1, but she thought of me and my 2 girls. Aren't they the best hoops?



I put them in the girls room above their bookshelf. I really need to get them a new one that is larger their books are overflowing and I just found out about these books and really want to buy them for their room.



I do have to say swaps can be really awesome when you do them. They are alot of work and most of the time it is worth it. You get great partners, like Alexandra, who make you amazing things. I have been fortunate to get some great partners. Sometimes it doesn't work out and that happens (to be honest) swaps can be a hit or miss but luckily I have always loved my stuff that I make for someone and the things that I have received have been perfect.

Nothing but blocks

I love making all of these blocks for all the quilting bees and swaps that I have gotten myself into. It is great to work with different fabrics and to think of new ways to express myself through sewing.

Saranya, from the Sew Connected 3, sent me gorgeous fabrics that are my favorite color combo - pink and green! I know Saranya lives in Thailand and I wanted to focus my blocks on that, especially since my husband lived in Thailand for awhile and loved the people. Elephants are Thailand's animal and I love them, so that was my inspiration.

I finally used my elephant fabric from Alexander Henry. It is one of my favorite prints and thought it was perfect for this block.



Then I embroidered elephants because, as you all know, I love to embroider. This block was inspired by this block.



Ric-rac framed the elephants nicely, I thought.





Another Sew Connected 3 block. Who would have thought that this block would be one of my favorites and that I REALLY do not want to part with it?!?!? I hope Donna aka Rocklilly likes it.



Remember this post? I made my block for Chen using the Brooke sheeting fabric she sent me for our swap. The owls are just soooooo cute.



These are my best corners yet!!! I don't know how I got the 4 corners of the squares to all line up. Whoo Hoo!

Stay tuned because soon I will be having a fabric Giveaway!!!!!!! (hint: there will be Lush involved)

Measurements Quilt + Swap update

I finished the Measurements quilt yesterday as I had to have it done so that my friend could take it with her when she travels on Thursday. She is being really nice and taking it on her trip since she is going where my Mom lives, so that I do not have to mail it to her. I did trim the border since most of you thought I should and it measures 72 x 52.



I knew when I saw the measuring tape fabric that this line would be perfect for my Mom. She always had a measuring tape around her neck when she was sewing, which was most of my life.



I decided to make my first label. I embroidered this one for my Mom and incorporated it into the back of the quilt. I was nervous to quilt over it, but it turned out great.





My daughter really wanted to get into the pictures and I LOVE this one, such a great pose.



A post would not be complete without a picture of the quilt folded. These are my favorites. I decided to make my binding 3.5 inches because I wanted more when I pulled it over to the front of the quilt to sew it down. It worked out great and I am going to do this from now on. I did the binding in white to bring out the white sashing.



Swap update:

The swap is closing tomorrow so make sure you sign up today!



There are some of you that have not emailed me your mailing address and I have tried getting a hold of you or there is no way to get a hold of you. PLEASE email me with your mailing address so that I can match you up with someone. Thanks.

My email address:

darcisews@gmail.com

For a friend.

I was in the embroidery mode and so as a surprise to my good friend, Erin, I embroidered her logo for her, from her amazing business, PlumPearApple Designs. It was so much fun to do.



Embroidery is easy, if you are thinking of doing it, do it. You will be surprised at how easy it is to do. My favorite thing to do is to watch a movie at night with my husband and embroider.



I can't wait to see what she does with it.



The fruit is my favorite, they look so great together.

Busy.

Embroidered Animals Quilt

I am so excited to finally show you my daughter's quilt that I completed. It measures 44 x 44, a little smaller than I wanted but you never know until you are done. I had such a fun time embroidering the animals, I love to embroider!



My mom showed me how to do bias strips for the binding and we combined all of the reds that I used in the quilt for the binding. I love it.



I am so glad that my mom helped me to hand sew the quilt it looks so professional, much better than it would have looked had I quilted it on the sewing machine.





This was the first time I used a quilting frame, it really helps but it is alot of work to get it set-up.

Inspiration

I have been wanting to make a quilt for my daughter for along time and have had many ideas, but it has never happened. Finally I was inspired by a quilt I found on a quilting blog. I am going to make it for one of her Christmas presents, she loves blankets. I called my mom to have her help me think of the best way to go about it, since I do not have a pattern just a picture. I am even going to attempt to "free hand" embroider. I haven't done that since Junior high, which was a long time ago. I am so excited to start and see how it all goes, especially the embroidery part. I am a little scared to draw what I want on the material, hopefully I won't suck. You will have to wait until I am done to see it but, here is just a peek:



I just love the red and turquoise combo.