McKMQG Ornament Swap

Here is the ornament I made for the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild Annual Ornament Exchange.  It's three different six point stars, stuffed and stacked.  The pattern is by DerStickbaer.

 Here is the adorable ornament I received.  I had seen this on Instagram and I am so glad the stars aligned so I could "steal" it from another member in the swap.  Isn't it adorable?

The McKinney Modern Quilt Guild meets every first Tuesday of the month at Stitched with Love store at 6:30 pm.

Christmas Sweet Pouch Swap Sent

Here is what I sent my partner Barbra in California for the Christmas Sweet Pouch Swap.

Barbra likes pastels so I went with a pink, hot pink and green color scheme.  I sent a snowman ornament that I made in the hoop, a mesh bag with monogram applique and one of my zipper pouches.  My thought was that the mesh bag would come in handy for Christmas gift wrapping; like storing tape, scissors and gift tags.   Hope you are having a great holiday season... I am doing a lot of sewing keeping up with orders in my Etsy store.  

Christmas Sweet Pouch Swap Received

If you sew and swap, you can make friends all over the world...  Came home to a beautiful swap package from a new crafty friend in California. Everything is lovely.  She totally hit the nail on the head by using tree themed fabric (since I am a Tree Hugger). Love the pouch and goodies.   Thank you Barbra!  This was for the 4th round of Sweet Pouch Swap hosted by Ros in Australia #sweetpouchswap 

 

Christmas Swap going to Indiana

Here are the four items I made with the fabric I pictured on Friday.  I really like the way everything turned out.  

I started with the zippered bag, then the set of four coasters-- did stipple quilting on both.  I decided two things was not enough so I made the mug rug with fabrics from the group (more stipple quilting) and then when I started to arrange everything in the box there was a little more space so I quickly made the key fob (took a break from stipple quilting...lol).  I hope my swap partner enjoys these items as much as I enjoyed making them. 

The Red Snowflake and Beige Christmas Toss fabrics are from the 12 days of Christmas collection by Kate Spain and made by Moda. I love the colors and the patterns within the items like the Christmas tree and stocking. The Stripe and the Dot are Candy Cane Christmas by Stampin' Up!. I love how these two totally seperate collections coordinate. I had been saving these fabrics for special projects and the day to use them finally came!
My two favorite items are the zippered bag and the mug rug.  The zippered bag looks small in that collage but it's actually 7" wide and 4.5" deep. 

I tested the mug rug with one of my Lenox Butler's Pantry mugs and thought it looked good so I will have to make a mug rug for me.  

I've got to make a bunch of gifts in the coming weeks, I feel like I am off the ground and running- thanks for stopping by.  Have a great week. 

Christmas Swap Sneak Peak

These are some of the fabrics I am using for the swap items I am making for the swap at Pink Stitches.  My partner is swaping with me so I've gotta be kinda discrete until she receives the package in the next week or so.

I love all of these fabrics and I have been holding on to them for a while.  The Red Snowflake and Beige Christmas Toss fabrics are from the 12 days of Christmas collection by Kate Spain and made by Moda. I love the colors and the patterns within the items like the Christmas tree and stocking.  The Stripe and the Dot are Candy Cane Christmas by Stampin' Up!. I love how these two totally seperate collections coordinate.  I had been saving these fabrics for special projects and the day to use them finally came!

I'll be posting the finished projects in the next few days so sit tight and thanks for stopping by!

Secret Santa Swap 2012 by The Apronista

As you all know I participated in a couple of Halloween Swaps last month and loved it.  Now I am hooked!  The other day I was literally googling to see if I could find others and found a really cool one at http://flirtyapronswap.blogspot.com/ by The Apronista, Shawnee Halligan.  I am so excited.  Her swap is a little more structured and I am required to post my questionaire and info here on my blog so here it goes....

1. What are your hobbies?  Making a house a home, Sewing & Embroidery, Texas Native Gardening, Baking, Scrapbooking & Paper Crafts (card making).
2. What are your favorite colors?  Rich Ruby Red, Dark Green and Vintage Gold
3. Do you collect anything? Seasonal Dishes & Tabletop Items (love snowflake and gingerbread items), Vintage Sewing Memorabilia, and commemorative postage stamps since I was a child
4. Are you allergic to any fibers or animals?  None
5. Do you have any pets?  Yes, a black & white Piebald Daschund named Oreo
6. Coffee, Tea, or Chocolate?  Not a fan of dark chocolate, coffee or tea (yes that is weird).  Love Milk Chocolate...
7. What do you like to read? Yes, magazines & books mainly anything from Better Homes & Gardens or Good Housekeeping... not much into fiction but like biographies from women I admire.
8. Do you prefer Cookies or Candies as a sweet?  Love anything with pecans, candy or cookies....anything with caramel, pecans, walnuts, and fudge.
9. What is your favorite holiday treat?  Candy Cane Kisses by Hershey's
10. Describe your favorite holiday tradition. Traditional Mexican Catholic Posada on December 24, Virgin de Guadalupe mass and Las Mañanitas with live mariachis on December 12 at dawn and christmas shopping with the family afterwards
11. Did you believe in Santa as a child?   Yes, very much so until I was about 8-9 years old.
12. When do you open presents?   We open some on Christmas Eve and some on Christmas morning.
13. Do you put up a tree and when?  We put up several trees in our home.  A large one in living room and small ones in kitchen, dining room, and some bedrooms. 
14. Does your tree have a theme?   Living room tree is traditional stuff in red, gold, bronze and green, kitchen one is gingerbread and cooking items, daughter's bedroom one is whimsical bright stuff like hot pink, lime green turqois, etc. 
15. What has been your favorite gift to give? to receive?    I love the Texas-shaped Waffle Iron I got from my husband and the Cricut I got from my parents many years ago.  Gave Micaela a Janome mini sewing machine last year and a dollhouse many years ago- she was over the moon for both. 

Secret Santa Swap package should be a minimum of $15 in value before postage, and include the following:
At LEAST One Handmade Item

Something to Read (book, magazine, poem)
Something for the Tree (garland, ornament, topper, skirt)
Holiday Goody (candy, cocoa, tea, coffee, chocolate)

Challenge: Include one gift for each letter needed to spell out a word from the season (SNOW, JOY, FAITH, LOVE, HOPE, GIFT, TREE, JESUS, STAR, SANTA, etc). Of course, the perfect gift for an "A" is an APRON.