Catching Up

for all it being a busy month, not a lot of finishes to show for it!  I had several swaps that kept me busy - the 4x6ers postcards - which I've realized I never took a final picture of all of them before mailing!  So here's the one I kept for myself.

Potholder Pass 3 - that one is also in the mail - I do hope my partner likes it!

and then the Flickr group Mini QT swap, where I had 3.5" squares and a mini quilt.  The squares you saw before here (way down the post!), but the mini quilt is currently enroute to my partner so you can only see this tiny bit until she receives it.

I didn't do so well with my Spring to Finish challenge - only finished one of the 4 I had hoped to (see my sidebar).  But I am bound and determined that these three will be my next UFOs to be finished - if I can just stop signing up for more swaps, and starting new charity quilts (2 of which I hope to have done by Friday).

I had a wonderful visit with Laurraine from Patchwork Pottery this morning.  Laurraine is a new neighbour who I met through blogging and she is amazing!  Please go check out her website and Flickr page!!!  I love this blogging - I'm getting to meet so many neat, creative and talented folks!

and finally, the kitchen reno is progressing - we now have our sink in place although we haven't got the plumbing hooked up again yet.  But it's getting there!

Looks like 3  4 OPAM finishes for May.  Since I have several projects almost done that means June should start of with a bang!

Happy quilting!

and the winner is....

Sorry I'm a little later than indicated in announcing the winner, life does get in the way sometimes!  But the lovely Random Number Generator has spit out #8 - and that is Melinda Cornish who wrote:
"I love this little wallet pattern....I also love that it gets passed on.....Please include me too in your drawing!!! melinda "
Congratulations Melinda!  I'm sending you an email to get your mailing address!  Have fun with this little pattern!
Happy quilting!

(edited for horrible spelling errors!)

What a month!

It's not over yet, but I feel like I've been treading water, really hard! just to keep my head up! And, unfortunately, not a lot of sewing to show for it.  I will be announcing the winner of the Hot Potato Giveaway tomorrow, so you still have a little bit of time left!

I have received some mail though, and that has been very exciting!  May is my birthday month and some of the ladies in the 4x6ers postcards group have sent me birthday postcards - first up was this beauty I received from Sheila a little over a week ago (I should have posted it when I got it and showed off Sheila's talents as it is a beautiful card!)  Thank you Sheila!  Isn't it gorgeous? she also include a wonderful fun piece of happy computers fabric, which I've neglected to take a picture of - shame on me.  Please check out Sheila's blog - a wonderful read with lots of fun projects - Sheila always manages to give me a chuckle! and she does some fantastic needlework - always something on the go!

Then today was another happy postcard mail day as I received cards from both Isabelle and Thea.  Isabelle included these 2 beauties -
this one for my birthday

Foxglove and Wild Roses

and this one for our May swap with a theme of flowers

Queen Anne's Lace

Isabelle's stitchery is gorgeous, and while she doesn't have a blog, you can check out some of her needlework HERE on Flickr.  Beautiful work!
and then there's the postcard I received from Thea!

Roses are Red

Thea is just new to our postcard group and oh she is going to make us stretch!  This fabulous card, with it's 3D rose uses a few techniques I've only dreamed about.  I will be having to give them a go now!  Isn't it gorgeous, too??!!  Check out one of Thea's blogs here and see some of the other wonderful creative projects that she has made - I love her CanCan Girls (A Pat Sloan challenge) she did.
What a wonderful mail day it was!
And, I've also been receiving some 3.5" blocks from the the Mini QT Flickr group I belong to.  So far this is what I've got, with just two more to come.  Checkout the link as this is a really fun creative group - I am amazed at some of the wonderful things they come up with!

It is going to be such fun to put them all together!

I haven't just been receiving, although I think I'm coming out on the good end of that stick! I did make and post my May Flower postcards, but, seems I don't have a final picture of all of them, just this one that shows 5 of them in progress!

Flowers Postcards

not sure why I don't have the sixth one in there?  Oh well, if you go to the 4X6ers blog, you may be able to see pictures of them as they arrive.

And I also made and sent off my 8 blocks for the mini block swap

Black & White + Orange

The 3.5" blocks aren't the only swap I'm doing right now with the Mini QT group - I'm also participating in the Black & White + One not square or rectangular mini quilt swap.  This is my sneak peek on that!

 I had fun figuring out how to piece this houndstooth pattern - those little blocks all finish at 1" sq.  That's all you get for now - I have to get it finished and in the mail before I can show anymore!

AND then, of course, there's the Potholder Pass 3 - not quite finished those, but hopefully soon, and I'll get a picture of them before they are off!
Oh yeah, I've still got the Spring to Finish, OPAM and Say Cheese challenges that I'm working on - I don't think this month is nearly long enough!

Hope you are having fun and keeping busy!

Happy quilting,
J

It's hot potato giveaway time!

wow! it's been awhile since I've posted - I'm still here, plugging away on challenges and swaps, and our kitchen reno is coming together, so I've been busy!

I've had this lovely little wallet pattern for a month now,

 and have had great fun making it, and have cut out a couple more wallets, all ready to be made up,

but, the rules are clear!  When I won this pattern from Sarah of Sarah's Prim Treasures, I could have it for 1 month then had to pass it along in a giveaway, so that someone else could have the joy of making this very quick and easy little wallet for 1 month, before they too, had to pass it along in a giveaway.  Specifically, and these are direct from the source, the rules are as follows:

1. You must have a blog to be in it.

2. Once you receive it, you must pass it on to another blogger via a giveaway within 1 month! It will be great to see where goes around the world......

3. Add your name and blog address to the card provided which will also be passed on with the pattern.

So, if you agree to have made it and to pass it on within this time frame, please comment on this post! I am happy to post anywhere in the world.  I will make a random selection for the winner next Thursday, May 20, 2010, from all comments left on this post.

Happy quilting!