The swap is full!

Update: There are only 12 11 7 4 spots left!

Have you heard? Maybe not. That would be too bad because you'd miss out on all the fabric goodness. The spots are filling fast for the Kate Spain Charm Swap Round 2. There are a few spots left though so if you want in you should email me fast.

All of the swap details can be found in my original post here. Just look at all the pretty charms that you'd receive back (though these are the charms from Round 1 so you wouldn't get these specific charms)

I mean...how pretty is this picture. And how can you resist?
Just imagine the gorgeous quilt you could make with this stack.

Or maybe you'd want to make a few tote bags for you and your bestest friends, a huge pile of mug rugs to share with all your neighbors or a set of place mats and a table runner to grace your table this spring. 

Either way, if you snooze you lose. Send me your info today. Just make sure that you check all the fine print here so that you know all the important details and also remember to check the Flickr photo page, the list of fabrics used in Round 1 and the Round 2 fabrics used list before you pick your fabrics so that you don't choose prints that have already been used.

There is going to be a special little surprise in your package for all participants. If you are a Kate Spain addict like I am, you'll want to be a part of this.

Whoo hoo! I actually have a finish to show to you today. The pattern came from this issue of All Small from 2012.

I purchased the kit from The Village Quilter in Mt. Holly during the New Jersey Shop Hop that year. It included everything...the fabrics for the top, the backing and the batting. All I needed to add was the thread. As you can see from the picture, the sample was done in bright fabrics from Me and My Sister Designs and my kit was made up with Asian fabrics.

This was the sneak peak I posted a few days ago. The instructions state to sew all the strips together then sew the side border/backing fabric to the long sides of the strip panel. After that you add the batting and then turn the entire thing right side out to finish. (The instructions called for fusible fleece but my kit contained batting so I just basted it with basting spray.)

I looked through a few books for quilting ideas and settled on some straight lines in every other strip and a big loopy Ls in the alternating strips. I didn't mark the straight lines, I just eyeballed it. But do you see my big Oops there? The strip with the peacock feathers is the correct one to have straight lines but the next one should have been the Teal/Blue/Green one to the left of the Cream strip.

I quilted up the correct strips with the plan to rip out the wrong rows after. It was time to take a break for dinner so I decided to leave it for the moment and then come back and see if I prefer it with straight lines in every strip or not.

After cleaning up the dishes, I went back and took a good long look at it and decided which way to go. What did I choose? Well you'll have to keep reading to find out. Some top stitching down both sides of the border was next.

And here it is all finished and now residing on my kitchen table. It finished at 15" x 47", a good size for this smaller table.

As you can see, I decided to rip out the strips that I quilted by mistake and I also decided to not quilt the big loopy Ls in the alternating strips. I like it with the alternating strips unquilted. I did quilt a couple of additional long lines of stitching on the borders.

This was a fun and quick little project and one that I'll definitely make again. It would be easy to adjust to make it longer or shorter and being that it only took a few hours overall to complete, would make a great fast gift to whip up when needed.

I'm joining a few Linky Parties this week with this finish.

You may remember my Not feeling the love post from 6 weeks ago. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. Well I've been waiting all this time for the local repair guy to come and take a look at Penelope and see if he could figure why she has been behaving so badly.

Yesterday, just before lunch he called that he was on his way and after a lot of this and that, adjusting and leveling, totally taking apart and reassembling the tension assembly and a bit of other tweaking, he was able to get her working. See!

I'm happy to report that I had not one but two new project starts in February, despite getting really sick early in the month. Smitty and Gracie of the Three Cats Ranch (and Barbara too of course) give us all full permission via the New FO Challenge to start new projects each month and who am I to not listen to what they decree. 



I also pieced the table runner from this kit I bought 2 years ago during the New Jersey shop hop. A sneak peak is below.

For my March goals for A Lovely Year of Finishes, I'm feeling pretty good so I'm also feeling a bit ambitious. I hope I'm not going to regret those words.

First up will be to make my "Bobbi's Just Right Bag". Though I have a great new tote bag for MQX East (aka the New England Quilt Festival) to carry with me around the show and to classes, I don't want to haul it to dinner etc so I want a fun smaller bag. I bought this pattern and some fabrics at a LQS a while back but ended up using the fabrics for another project so I am substituting these Kate Spain Terrain ones instead. I think I'll like this version better than the one that I originally planned.

Quilting and binding this Always and Forever table runner was my February goal but the aforementioned illness squashed any possibility of that accomplishment last month so I'm putting it back on the list for March.

Here is a sneak peak at the table runner made with the kit mentioned above. It is a really different pattern; the side borders/backing get attached to the top, the batting is added and the whole thing gets turned right side out and then finished. I haven't added the batting and flipped it yet so this is what it looks like at the moment peaking inside the tube.

The February germies also kept me from keeping caught up on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2014.

February's color was Pink and as you can see I have plenty of Pink scraps to work with. This pile should result in a couple of really pretty blocks.

March's color is Teal and as you can see here, I don't have a lot of Teal scraps. I hope I can squeak out my blocks from this. It is a color I just haven't used a lot and I barely have any of in my stash.

So there is my list of goals for March: 1 bag, finish 2 runners and make 2 colors of rainbow scrap challenge blocks. I'm truly hoping that no speed bumps get in the way of me having a good month quilty wise.

 

UFO wise I honestly don't have many projects that are just blocks, waiting to be sewn together. I typically finish the tops and then they just need to be quilted and bound. I've been saving all of my tops lately to quilt myself on Penelope and really wanted to get that bit underway but with her under the weather and the machine doc nowhere in sight yet, she continues to sit and wait.

 

If I'm hard working enough and get the items on my list all crossed off as done before the month is over, I just might tackle what was supposed to be my goal for January...sewing on the 1st side of the binding on this monster quilt. Here is a peak.

It is Jammer's 100 Good Wishes Quilt and it literally weighs a ton. The entire quilt is 116" x 130" so wrestling it under my machine is going to take a lot of hard work but finally having it 100% complete will be so rewarding. Then I can get started on Sunshine's 100 Good Wishes Quilt.

 

Wish me luck! I think I'll need all that I can get.

The swap is full!
Update: There are only 12 11 7 4 spots left!

Here it is! What you've all been waiting for.

The official opening of sign ups for the Kate Spain Charm Swap Round 2!

So many of you have been waiting for this day to come and I know this round will fill up really fast so you don't want to wait to add your name to the list.

Here are the details:

1) This swap will be open to 56 participants, me included of course. This is for all of Kate's fabric lines except for the Christmas/Holiday ones. The roll call of included lines is below.

2) Each spot is 2 Kate Spain fabrics, 1 yard of each, and I strongly suggest that you purchase at least 1/4 yard more in case of any cutting mistakes you might experience. Last round someone bought fabric from an online and the shop where she ordered it from cut it short so she had a bit of a scramble. Better safe than sorry.

3) Fabric must be new and unwashed and from a smoke free environment.

4) Cut your yardage into 5 inch squares (56 per yard) total = 112 charms. Press your fabric and remove the selvages before cutting. You can follow the great tutorial on how to cut your charms from yardage by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Frannson! found here.

5) Ship them out to me by April 5th. Put them in a Ziploc bag and include your 112 charms, an index card with your name, mailing address and email address (in case your envelope opens up, your charms will stay safe and dry and your contact info will get them back to you. I don't know if this has ever happened in real life but again, better safe than sorry). You must also include a SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE so that your charms can be mailed back to you. I will not be billing anyone through Paypal. Unfortunately due to the cost and complexity of shipping back internationally, this swap will be for US participants only.

***In addition, please triple check that is the postal person put the stamps on the return envelope for you, that it is at least the same amount of postage that is on the envelope shipping to me. In round 1 two people were short on their return postage and I want to avoid that at all costs this time.

  Once I receive them all I will sort and return a stack of 112 different charms to each participant! You can sign up for more than one spot but to start I will allow only 2 spots per participant to give more the chance to get in on the fun. (2 spots = 224 charms, 56 each of 4 different fabrics). They will be in the mail to you 2-3 weeks later. Since I'm attending MQX East the following week I won't be able to get them back out until I get home but of course if I receive the charms from all the participants before the show, I'll do my best to mail them beforehand. 

6) Very important!!! Please choose fabrics that have not been claimed by another swap member. Please join the Kate Spain Charm Swap Flickr group and check before purchasing fabrics to see what has already been chosen; we want to avoid duplicates. Once you have chosen your fabrics please post pictures, the Fabric line and specific print/color information to the Flickr group. I've also added a list post so that it will be easy to see the names and color ways chosen so far. Once you've chosen your fabrics make sure you add both the photos and the names to the list post.

There is a list here of all the fabrics used in Round 1. No duplicates please.  And as you can see from the picture of the Round 1 charms, there was a lot of Green, Aqua/Teal and Blue charms so if we could get more this time of the other colors available, that would be awesome. I for one am going to mix up the prints/colors from Round 1 and Round 2 when I make my quilts.

So who wants to join in on Round 2 of the Kate Spain fabric frenzy?

Email me:

Your Name

Mailing Address

Email Address

Phone Number (just in case)
Blog address (if you have one)

When I email you and confirm that you are in the swap, I will include my ship to address.

Grab the new blog button and leave a comment so I know who is participating. The code is on my side bar.
Feel free to spread the news if you'd like.

Here are all the Kate Spain lines that are included in this swap. Remember, no Christmas/Holiday fabrics. Some of her older lines are a bit scarce but various prints can still be found if you do a little hunting.