Wonky Houses Done

Here are my finished wonky houses.

I will choose one at random to keep and send the rest to Jane.

Here is a smattering of the labels.

And a question of nutrition.

Is muesli still healthy if it's topped with Froot Loops?

Wonky Houses Update

In between work and the normal domestic dramas that seem to pop up regularly, I have managed to nearly finish my wonky houses for Jane's Wonky House Block Swap. I need to get them in the mail by the end of the week to allow for international posting time.

The windows and doors are spray-basted and I will raw-edge applique them down.

To me, they are very cheerful and fun to work on.

Check out Jane's Flickr group to see what everyone else has done.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1844300@N23/

(Blogger's being funny again today.)

Postage Stamp Quilt Challenge

Mary over at The Curious Quilter is hosting the Postage Stamp Quilt 2012 Charm Swap & Challenge. Mary has planned out a fun year of monthly posts, swaps, giveaways, and a simple (year-long) challenge - all dealing with postage stamp quilts (hence the name). Start sorting those scraps and keep on eye on Mary's blog for details.

PS I'm still on my break. This is a scheduled post - lol.

SSCS 2010 What I Sent Away

This is what I sent to Floss in Canada. This little ornament was fun to make although I did find it a little challenging as I have not worked with hexagons before. I really like how it turned out.

Here is the gorgeous table runner I made for Floss, even if I do say so myself. But before you all reckon I am too clever, I did follow a pattern diligently. This pattern is from the book Skinny Quilts and Tablerunners. The pattern is By The Sea by Karen Eckmeier.

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Floss is an Australian married to a Canadian. In looking through her blog to choose a theme for her, I discovered she misses the beaches of Oz and takes every opportunity to get her feet wet when any kind of beach appears, even in winter (yikes!). So this quilt is for Floss to have a bit of the beach with her wherever she goes.

The quilt is long and narrow (i.e. skinny quilt - lol) so it was hard to photograph.

Here it is again in sections.

Note the starry fabric...

Remember those sneak peaks? Bet you never thought of a beach scene when you saw the lace and beads then the starry fabric. Lol.

Yes, really real seashells sewn in with a bit of tulle.

A little embellishment with wool to add texture and interest.

And not seen in the photo above, I added a few lace seagulls before posting it away.

Here is the quilt again in the bright sunshine.

All those shadows create an interesting effect.

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So another successful SSCS with Chookyblue.

Hope you all had a great Christmas! And here's Cheers to the New Year!

SSCS Received

I participated in Chookyblue's Secret Santa Christmas Swap and Tuesday I received my gift. We are allowed to open the ornament right away and I received two hand made ornaments! These are received from Laura of 3 Doodles and a Dog.

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The heart is made of hand-painted paper and is just wonderfully charming.

Laura did a tutorial on how to make it here.

This little angel is just too perfect. Regular readers of my blog know I just love angels on my tree and I try to get an angel ornament every year. Nothing special enough has come my way this year but now I have this most wonderful angel to add. Thank you so much Laura. It is just right.
Same angel with flash.
My present is safely tucked under my tree until Christmas.
And no peeking!

Posy Applique Needle Case Swap

What a delightful surprise in my letterbox when I arrived home from work today. This beautifully wrapped package and lovely card.

It is my needle case made for me by Ailsa at Not Enough Time To Craft.
Here is a little closer look at her lovely embroidered touches.

And the inside...
Thank you so much Ailsa. I just love it and

look forward to having it in my sewing basket.

Nine Patch Progress

In between work, taxi mum, sight-seeing (see previous post) and the other normal daily activities that get in the way, I have been making a little progress on my nine-patches for Julie's swap. I wanted to work with brown and pink and fell in love with the delicate flowers in this reproduction brown print. My LQS did not have enough of either pink to do them all the same. But I was able to get enough to do half and half. As each swappee receives two nine patches from each swapper I thought it would be ok to have two different pinks instead of two the same.
Strip piecing certainly makes the process smooth and straight-forward. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the other ladies will send! There's been a few sent in already and they look fabulous so far.

Even if you are not in the swap - go and visit Julie's blog - she's a very inspirational lady!

PS: My fabrics are Judie Rothermel from Marcus Brothers. The brown and dark pink are the Charleston V collection and the light pink is the Rocky Mountain Museum collection.

Needle Case Swap

I participated in the Applique Posy Needle Case Swap run by Quilting Blogger and One Piece at a Time. My recipient, Maria Clara of Loving to Patchwork (Spain) has received my needle case so I can now show you what I sent. To make your own, you can see a tutorial here.

The inside...

I hope Maria Clara like the needle case I made for her.

I had a lot of fun making it for her and thinking about what quilting is like in Spain...

I added in a fat quarter of unique Aboriginal art quilting fabric.

What swaps have you done lately?