The End of 2 Swaps, I'm so sad! Back from vacation, too.

Sad that the swaps (and my vacation) are over, THRILLED with what I received!  :)  Vaca was great, lots of fun, new experiences, so many laughs and good times.  Back to reality, though, which lately hasn't been too bad!  See the photos!

This is the doll quilt that I sent to my friend, Dena Wayne in New Mexico, and she really liked it.  I call it "The Wheel of F#@&(*% Fortune" quilt, because I did a lot of cussing while trying to line up points and seams.  A LOT.  Dena understands the title, because she "gets" me.  That's why we get along so well, we are kindred sisters.  :)  The only reason I didn't abandon this project is because I knew Dena would love it and appreciate all the hours that went into it.  It was one of the most complicated piecing jobs I've done, but paper piecing it really helped me to get those seams to line up.  That and about a million pins!  :)

 And this is what I received, from my partner Silvana, aka Silort on Flickr.  I totally love it, the quilt is one I had been lusting after as I watched her make it, she showed a lot of progress shots and I really loved what she was making, not ever dreaming it could really be for me!  I knew she was in a different group than I was, but the sneaky swap mamas played a trick on me and it turns out, it WAS for me after all!  I got home from my vacation to find this waiting for me- look at all the fun extras she sent, too!  That book is wonderful and very inspiring.  The chocolates are delish and so creamy and rich and they made it here in the summer without melting at all, I have no idea how she accomplished THAT!  lol

These tiny suns are just amazing, as is the rainbow border that she pieced.  Those little squares are 1/4"!  Just amazing the amount of work and skill that went into this little beauty!  Thank you so much, Sil!  I will treasure this forever!  Don't you love how she quilted it?

The mug swap is over for me, too.  This is what I sent to my friend Edy, in New Mexico.  She sent me the longest, funniest thank you note and it was heartwarming to read, what a sweet lady!  I knew she loved red, birds, cats, nature and humor, so I tried to cram it all into one little mug rug and it actually worked!  :)
Her Haiku-
Puddles are okay
but your cup of tea beckoned.
Some privacy, please?

And this is what I received from my friend Jules, chickenjulie on Flickr.  At first I was a little befuddled- it's a great colorful string mug rug, love that, but what is that brown puddle on it?  Then I read the Haiku, which was our theme for this swap and it made a little sense, it was gravy.  

The Haiku-

Gravey on mug rug

is totally better than

Gravy on mug rug.

 

OK.  Still a little odd, but OK.  lol  

 THEN, I flipped it over to see what fabric she had used on the back and there was GRAVEY!  Our little chubby girl, Gravey!  NOW it all makes perfect sense!  

Bwahahaha, how clever is this?!  Gravey is depicted sitting on the mug rug itself, it's a picture in a picture, totally clever and cute and it has my baby on it and I love it to pieces!  She did her usual excellent job with choosing a design, great fabrics and wonderful workmanship.  Her binding is incredible and of course, the cat steals my heart!   And the extras she sent are great, too.  A little rainbow package of fabrics, a spool of turquoise thread and a package of chocolate covered sunflower seeds, yum!  Thank you so much, Jules! This is of course, going up on the wall to be treasured!  Gravey has finally made it, she's officially famous now.  

 And no post is complete, lately, without some shots of bitty blocks.  :)  This upcoming month's themes are insects/bug and kitchen gadgets.  I'm signed up for both.  I made Luna Moths for the insects.  This is my prototype and I don't plan to change a thing, I'm happy with this as it is.

And for kitchen gadgets, I'm doing citrus juicers ....

 .....and toasters with real pop-up toast made from card stock. 

 I've seen some photos of what the other ladies are making (paper pieced butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, silk beetles and blenders,  measuring spoons and mixers, etc)  and it's going to be a fun month, getting all the great little beauties in the mail.  I'm addicted to these bitties like some perverts are addicted to porn, so when my husband brings in the mail, he calls out "porn call!" if there are obvious envelopes with bitties inside.  If the day is a bust and there are no bitties, we sadly sing "Porn Free" to the tune of  "Born Free".  Yeah.  We're a little warped like that.  :)  He likes to look at them as I open them and we oooh and ahhh over them together.  It's fun!

I hope all of you survived the storm OK and are having some fun as summer dwindles down.