My ARRR8 Quilt top has come home!!!

Can you believe this started out like this:

I made this center for my round robin group thinking that I would need to add a border or two at the end for it to fit our Queen sized bed.....but, as you can see from the first photo, it is so big I don't have space on my floor to display it! I'm super excited and in love with the evolution of this quilt. My only dilemma now....to make the backing. I don't have enough fabric to finish it quite yet. I am going to see, I may be able to use all that I have left over from the front to piece a fabulous scrappy back. That might be the right thing to do. I will update on the progress for sure.

Now, to add to this special mail day, one of the lovely ladies in the group (Susan)  made these burpies for me and sent them with the quilt top....she was the last to add to it. They are so perfect and I can't wait to use them. 

They were wrapped up so cute.....she made me two of them and here is a picture! 

Tomorrow I will show you the other surprise this group made for me! You aren't going to want to miss this one believe me! :)

My Quilt top is home!!

 I don't know if you remember seeing a few posts regarding this quilt top, but it is finally home! This group was a round robin, well more of a "Bee Free Bee's" round robin. We had complete creative liberty to add what we wanted to for each round that came our way. This is what arrived in my mail box today!!! I love it! 

Originally I wanted to make it a baby quilt, cause I was thinking I would get a girl this time, but since I am having my fourth (and last) boy, I am going to quilt it and display in my studio! Isn't it so cheerful and divine? It is just so fresh I love staring at it! Each round has a unique touch to it and it has made this all the more fun.

When the signups came up again, I had to, sadly, turn the next round down because I will be having my baby right when we start, and I didn't think that would be fair to make someone wait right off the bat for their top. I didn't want to delay anything. So, I am going to do round 3 for sure! It's a the Flickr group Around the Bend and Across the Pond !! I highly recommend joining and doing this because you not only get a fabulous quilt, but you will make life long friends too!

I'm going to add a border around this and then quilt it up. Since I've been taking Angela Walters Free Motion quilting class online, I am going to use some of those techniques to fill it in.....can't wait to show you! Stay tuned for this finished project. 

Till then.....create on!

my FLiQS2 finished

my FLiQS2 finished, a photo by The Desert Quilter (aka..HardyPartyof5) on Flickr.

Okay, so I made this cute little mini for someone in the Fab Little Quilt Swap over on Flickr.com and it turned out so cute!

I hand quilted the chevrons....my first time ever...and I think it turned out okay. I hope she likes it! :)

Like the Doll Quilt Swap, our partners are secret, so I cannot say who she is in this post just in case she reads my blog.

I am so lucky!

I just have to say that i think i am the luckiest person ever! My sweet DQS10 partner made two and couldn't decide which one to send me....so she ended up sending me both! Look at this adorable little quiltie.  I just love this! The birdie nest is SO stinkin cute and I just love her echo quilting! Thank you Wendy!

Look how sweet this is! The little birdies are chirping and the mamma is flying in!

Cute label!

And of course it's now on the wall!

I love it! SO MUCH!

my DQS10 JUST arrived today!!!!

i have been seriously STALKING my mailbox deliveries everyday in hopes of finally opening it up to see any sort of package inside! today.....i finally got my wish! my DQS10 was sitting inside wrapped up in some blue tissue paper nestled inside a priority envelope! i couldn't even wait until i went inside the house, i sat in the car and ripped it open! i squeeled outloud and my 5 year old said "You're happy right mommy!" oh yes!!!! that is an understatement! i absolutely LOVE this Doll Quilt and it is now hanging on the wall! (picture below) i received it from Wendy Ford and it is just lovely! to top it off....i just bought some scraps of this same fabric from my LQS last week because i loved the colors! how awesome is that?! i LOVE happy mail!

the cute label on the back

the wall of quilts! they inspire me!

what a happy day!

day three project

this little bin was my first attempt. i'm not too sure if i like it enough to send to my partner.  i may just have to make her another one.  i also want to add a pillow in her package.  this was my project for the day...now, back to biology. what did you do today?

Urban Home Goods Swap

I discovered this really cool flickr group called { Urban } HOME Goods - a modern swap where we make useful items for the home or person with modern fabrics.  These two pictures are some of the fabrics I'm throwing around and thinking of using.....wonder what my partner thinks of these?

Scraps glorious scraps!

I received a treat in the mail the other day!  Greta had an excess of scraps that she just couldn't bare to look at anymore and asked if anyone wanted some!  The first three peeps to respond got a big bag of scraps sent to them!  How cool is that! Look at all these lovely "fresh" scraps! Thank you Greta!

Doll Quilt Swap 10 progress

I have to say that I just LOVE how this little lovely is turning out. I will be honest, I didn't think I could ever do anything like this and I am finding that it really isn't that hard.  I have always loved art and this is really just another way to express art.  I love these scenes and I think I am now addicted to making them, I am going to have to do more. 

I have everything in place and I used that fabric adhesive for the first time.  That stuff rocks! I have everything pretty much "glued" down until I get it quilted. I have to really think about how I'm going to quilt it, but I think it's going to be awesome! Stay tuned for more progress....

DQS10 Here I come!!

Wahoo!!! I'm just a little excited!  Can you tell?  I made it in this round!  The Doll Quilt Swap 10 is going to be so much fun!  I was in round 9 and had such a great time stalking all the quilts, fabric and partners in question that I am super charged to do it again! 

Here is my mosaic of inspiration....

I keep thinking scrappy and straight lines.....I may change, but this is where I'm starting.....

My DQS9 Quilt arrived!!!

I'm the luckiest person ever!!!!  Look at this beautiful doll quilt I received from Sheree!  The coolest part about these lovely fabrics she used.....I gave her my opinion and she went with the ones I loved rather than her original idea!  How cool is that?  I mean, I actually commented on the fabric that she used.  For those of you who are thinking...."um, okay?"  The whole point behind the Doll Quilt Swap (DQS9) 9 because that is how many the group has done....you don't know who has YOU!  It's a surprise till it arrives in the mail!  So, not only did I get this gorgeous quilt, but I got the cutest tote bag to match...for when I'm buying all my fun fabrics and some FQ's of fabric!  I am just loving it!  I already have a place on the wall it is going to hang....right over our dresser!  Lots of white wallage going on there and that needs to be remedied quickly!  I just love it!  Thanks Sheree...... :)  Oh, and check out her fabric store! 

                                            Here is the front :

Here is the back!  Check out her fabulous quilting!

Isn't it the most lovely doll quilt you've seen?  I just LOVE IT!

I received the MOST awesome mini swap ever!!!

I can't believe how fabulous this mini is!!!!  I feel like such an inadequate looser....mine I sent my partner is NO WHERE near this caliber and I am afraid that she will hate it.  Maybe I shouldn't do anymore of these, because this is SOOOO awesome!  I am in a group over at Flickr and it is called Mini QT Swap.  We do swaps every 2 months and get assigned partners.  We also pick which category we want to do and the rest is history.  So, the themes to choose from were "Book" or "Anything Goes".  We did book....and this is what I got!  My favorite book of all time is The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas.  Check out this fantastic mini:

I mean, this is amazing!  Mine is SO lame....I need to improve my creating skills with fabric for sure.  Isn't this fabulous??!!

Doll Quilt Swap 9 Finished

I finally finished my DQS9 quilt....plus one actually.  I originally had this design that I really wanted to do.  I found it on Moda Bake Shop and it is so cute!

But I have to say that this is my favorite picture of this quilt: (can't resist that smile)

Here is the quilting up close:

I had left over fabric so I got ambitious and made this one:

Here is the quilting up close on this beauty:

The back of both look like this:

Now I just have to decide which one to give to my partner!  Decisions decisions.....Maybe I'll just have a giveaway for the other one.... :)