i - spy progress

Here's some fun pictures of the I-spy swap packages I've received so far.  This is so much fun to get the packages and look at the wonderful prints.... so I thought I'd share the joy!

Monica's blocks.  Love the crayons and vegetables!

Kim's blocks.  Can you see the cool zebras in the top right block?  Awesome.

Mimi's blocks.  Love those owls.  Have I told you how cool I think owls are?  Well I do.

My blocks.  Can you see the little orange traffic cones?  Very cute and tiny.

Careese's blocks.  I'm especially partial to the clothes in the middle.  And the coffee cups.

Linnea's blocks.  More owls!  And robots!  they are so cute.

Jodi's blocks.  More robots.  I'm crazy about robots too!  and sharks.  My daughter is thrilled about this one since we went to the aquarium last weekend.

Caroline's blocks  -- check out the Monopoly money!  And the buttons!

Linda's blocks.  Check out the fire truck!  And the kisses!

Ramie's blocks -- that's sushi on the top left-- so cute!  And I want yards and yards of that one with the apples and pear.. so cute.

Roses!

Boy, do I love my quilting bees.  Such wonderful opportunities to try out new things and make new friends!

This month in Scrap Happy, it's Alice's month.  She chose scrappy hexagonal roses with a green border.

So here's the first one.  Nice, normal.  

So.... I just can't leave well enough alone.  

On the next one, I got a little wild, thinking about a "Painting the roses red" kind of vibe.

This one I edged in a lighter green to contrast with the red.  I'm not crazy about it, but I think it will be just fine in a complete quilt.  It's a bit darker than it shows in this picture.

And then?  Then I took it one step farther....  convincing myself that since it's a 3rd block and I just have to make 2, so it's extra, I can do anything wild that I want and she won't have to use it if she hates it.

Yep, blue rose.  Think "The Glass Menagerie."

Guess what?  It's my favorite.  Shocking, I know.

Now, I've never worked with hexagons.  Is she going to have to hand stitch these together?  

I really don't know.  I'd love to use the rose idea and do a whole quilt of roses (probably blue ones), but I think my blocks would probably be square.  

I'm allergic to hand stitching.

Need 2 more for I-spy swap!

Friends,
I need 2 more participants for my I-Spy swap.  If interested, go to this link.  I know there are 20 comments listed, but some are duplicates. Just comment if you'd like to play!
W

UPDATE:  I-spy swap is now full.

Little projects

I've had a teeny bit of extra time to just learn and play, and so I've done some block lotto blocks this month.  I LOVE this month's sparkler patter.  

I hope I win.

And, by the way, Block Lotto is AWESOME!  You should check it out.

And this wonderful surprise came in my mail.  The pictures don't do it justice at all. 

The fabric is just lovely.  It's a honey bun in Moda's Blessings line, and then yardage as well.  

And a pattern!  

Many, many thanks to Carol!

I've been getting caught up on my sewing bee blocks as well.  Don't you just love the mushrooms in this set?  And the pattern was really cool.  I think that I must try some more of these sometime soon.

The request for this bee was "something with flying geese" and here's what I came up with.  

Can I tell you this?  I was very very nervous that their recipient wouldn't like them at all.  But she did.  Whew! 

I had a really good time putting them together.  

I just worry that my chaotic and haphazard improvisational style is not universally appealing.

These were for my improvisational bee, and I had a blast with them.  

The "naughty" and "nice" just HAD to be fussy cut into a block, don't you agree?

What a wonderful quilt this one is going to be when all the blocks come together.

Have a lovely weekend friends!

I-SPY a sway part DEUX!

After numerous requests,  I am reprising my I-SPY swap. 

{The crowd goes wild...} 

We did this last July, and it was lots of fun.  And I ended up with a fabulous quilt!
The details:

• The first 19 people to sign up here are in. Just leave a comment on this post, and make sure I have a way to contact you.
• Each person will send (20) 4" squares from each of 10 novelty fabrics to me by August 1.  I'll have some details on how to sort them, and I will also need for you to send a stamped envelope so I can mail your squares back to you.
• You will receive (200) 4" novelty squares (enough for 2 small I-SPY quilts or 1 large one) We're hoping to send packages out by August 15th, but that depends on how long it takes everything to come in. Live outside the U.S.? No problem! Just try to get your fabrics to us a little earlier.
• I have some patterns drawn up that I will post so that you could arrange the squares in order to get a certain sized quilt.

A few thoughts and guidelines on the fabrics...

• Please measure carefully and use a rotary cutter to cut your fabric
• Many fabric stores have a dedicated novelty fabric section. But generally these
  are fabrics with objects... animals, food, people, etc. It may help to think in terms of things you could use for the I-SPY game. (I spy the letter G, I spy a sushi roll, I spy a monkey eating a banana, etc....)
• In order to avoid duplicate patterns, go on a mission for some really obscure, hard to find prints that aren't available at the chain retailers.
• No team prints or licenses characters (SpongeBob, Dora, etc.) So for example, a print with basketballs would be great, but a Dallas Mavericks print is not. Or a print with ducks wearing hats is great, but Donald Duck is not.
• The object in the fabric should be distinguishable in a 3.5 x 3.5 square, which will be its finished size. Keep this in mind when choosing fabrics. Either go with smaller prints, or be ready to fussy-cut.
• You can get (20) 4" squares out of a 1/4 yard cut of fabric or out of a fat quarter. So you'll need to purchase at least 2 1/2 yards of fabric.

What is an I-SPY quilt? It's a quilt made with novelty fabrics. And it's a wonderful toy to play I-SPY with. Great for traveling with kids or rest time or when you need something to occupy little ones. How to play? Take turns spotting something in the quilt, maybe "I spy, with my little eye, a frog in a tutu!" And the first person to point out the tutu frog on the quilt goes next, and so on. Hours and hours of fun!

If you want to participate, leave a comment on this post!

If you are not one of the first 19 people to comment but would like to be an alternate,  please go ahead and comment.  I'll contact you if someone drops out.

UPDATE:  The swap is now full.

pretty things to go see....

Friends, you must go see all the lovely items made in the string to finish challenge.  

It's quite a fun tour!  

Go hit the tour

While you're there, make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom...  this project of mine has been featured!  

I'm so overwhelmed that anyone would feature anything I made....

Love to all of you on this 4th of July weekend!  

I'm hosting a family reunion.  

If I survive, I'll be back next week tackling more throw pillows.