A Finished Instagram Swap

Do you take part in quilting or sewing swaps?

I did my first one earlier this year, have just finished a second, and I'm signed up to one more, which i need to send out at the beginning of November.

I'm not sure I shall do any more, at least for a while. I'm in two minds about them. I think their success depends very much on everyone fully participating. I've done mine through Instagram and I think if your partner doesn't really show inspiration boards in their feed or updates on their progress then your swap experience can be rather underwhelming.

I've decided the best way forward is to use them as a means to stretch my skills, rather than worry too much about whether I've made something my partner will love. 

I always imagine I'm going to get someone with the same level of enthusiasm as me, but if they don't post any sewing related photos, you really don't know what their taste is, so it's hard to come up with something you're certain that they will like! 

These are the items I made for my second swap.

I designed this mini in EQ7. I paper pieced it, and I must admit the mariner's star was a lot easier to construct than the diamond border.

I quilted it with lines about 1/4" apart echoing out from the centre. I love quitting minis. It's a good chance to practice something you might not have the time or inclination to do on a whole quilt.

I also had good fun making the quilt label. The flower centre is the same design as the centre of the mariner's star.

Note: the buttons aren't sewn on. They are just placed their temporarily to hide the name of the recipient. I don't want to spoil the surprise!

I then let doubts creep into my mind, and certainly didn't follow my own advice. Was this the sort of thing my partner would like? I wasn't sure. So I made a table topper for her too. I used one of the large designs in the Farm Girl Vintage book by Lori Holt.

This was a fairly quick make, especially as I did wavy line horizontal quilting from edge to edge. No threads to sew in!

                    

            

And finally, I also included a dumpling pouch. There is a free pattern for these at Michelle Patterns

They are really easy to make. I used scraps and the "quilt as you go" method for this one. I'm pleased with the results.

                                    

So that's my swap package all complete. I do hope my partner likes what I've made her, and I did have fun making them! 

 

My Hand Pieced Mini Swap

A few months ago I joined a secret swap on Instagram. We had to make a mini quilt that was completely hand pieced.

I chose to make mine using English Paper Piecing.

I started with an idea that I drew on EQ7

I was hoping to make lots of different pieced hexagons and then appliqué them onto a background with gaps between them that I could do some big stitch quilting in. But after a little experimenting, I found that they were hard to appliqué, particularly if seams came right to the edges, so I reverted to joining the hexagons in the normal manner. I also restricted myself to two or three designs of hexagon to give it a little more unity.

It was fun working on a layout for these!

I got to do my big stitch quilting, too!

I procrastinated for a long time over the label, but once I hit upon the idea of an embroidered flower in the shape of hexagons, i enjoyed that too. I've had to cover up the name in the photo just incase my partner hasn't received it yet!!

I made her a few extras:

There's a Dumpling Pouch from a  Free Pattern, a needle case made mainly from scraps of Denise Schmidt fabric (her favourite designer) and a covered notebook. To make the notebook I backed some fabric scraps with Bondaweb, and then cut out the hexagons. I ironed them in place onto a tiny piece of linen and then worked a small blanket stitch around each to make sure they stayed in place. I finished it off with the wording and border and then used more Bondaweb to secure the design to the front of the notebook. 

It felt good to get all these posted off today. I hope she like what she receives!!