Big Stitch Swap 2 :: Finished Pouch

I am very excited to show you my finished pouch for the Big Stitch Swap 2!  

In this project, I hand stitched hexagons using mini charm packs of V and Co prints in purple, green, aqua and navy with hexagon templates from Love Patchwork & Quilting.  I tend to be an "anything goes" scrappy quilter, but for this project I wanted to try a restricted colorway for the first time.  My hexagon stitching improved with time, so you can nearly tell which parts of the bag were made early in the process and which hexies were added on at the end!   

I appliquéd the hexagons onto Essex Linen with navy 50 weight Aurifil.  I have to say I had doubts about having such obvious stitching on this pouch.  I like it more now that it's in pouch shape, but while the sides were flat panels I was sure the quilting was a mistake.

Inside there's a Denyse Schmidt print that I love, but have no idea what it's called?  I picked it up in the US a few years ago and am delighted I still have some to play with.

Of course, the pouch came together using Noodlehead's Open Wide zippered pouch tutorial.  I was aiming for a medium pouch, but it is slightly smaller due to the heavy stitching on the panels.  Still, I think it's a great size for saving your special things when travelling.

The pouch was packed up with a few goodies: 2.5 inch scrappy squares from Simply Colorful, and Simply Style, a needle book and shimmering washi tape.  I think that makes for a happy parcel.  I can not wait for it to arrive at your house, swap buddy!

This is my first finish for the second quarter of the FAL.  Checking number 2 off of my Dreaming Big list.

Bee Blessed Bento Box

Say that five times fast.

I do not know why I stopped making Bee Blessed blocks each month, but it is time that I put them back on the schedule.  It is a wonderful organization and I am only happy to support it.

This month in Bee Blessed, they are asking for modified Bento Box blocks using a tutorial by Film In The Fridge.  As you know, it takes just as long to make two blocks as it does one in this kind of situation, so I dove in fully committed.  

These are easy to make, are totally satisfying and run through the scraps.  Why not give them a try?

Big Stitch Swap Extra :: A Needle Book

Although I have not finished the Open Wide pouch I am making for my swap partner, my brain kept wandering to design the swap extra.  It was getting a bit ridiculous so I decided to sit down, make the extra, and then return to the zippy pouch when my brain was satisfied.  Whew.  So glad I did.

Approximately 1 million years ago (or 2011 to be precise), I made a needle book that I use to this day.  It travels everywhere with me and sits next to me on the couch when I hand sew.  Seeing as this is a swap where hand sewing needs to be a main design element in the finished swap item, it seemed appropriate to have a needle book extra.  

Needle Book Front

I was only too happy to dive into my bag of selvages that are too small to use in my selvage blocks.  There are some real gems in there!  I used a piece of Kona Snow (?) as the foundation, then strip pieced the selvages on at a jaunty angle.  Can you see there's even a mini (really mini) piece of Ruby in the upper corner of the back?  I have been saving that little nub. 

Needle Book Back

Inside there are little sewing machines on the front and back cover.  Now that may be a bit controversial given it's a hand sewing swap, but it's one of my favorite prints and I wanted to share it with my partner.

The "pages" are a bright yellow felt with pinked edges.  Yellow makes me happy and I like when it pops up and surprises me.  I hope my partner feels the same.

I really enjoyed making this for you, partner.  I hope you use it as much as I do mine!  

First Quarter FAL Winners

Congratulations to the First Quarter FAL winners! Did you know there were a record breaking 838 finishes this past quarter?  If you have not already done so, head back to our closing linky to have a look at the completed projects listed.  They are a great source of inspiration and motivation for this quarter.

We have an amazing group of generous FAL sponsors who support each and every one of us with super patterns, fabrics, treads and notions.   The winners of our amazing prizes from the first quarter are....(drum roll....)

The winner of the €25 (25 Euro) Gift Certificate from Fluffy Sheep Quilting goes to Jodie who blogs at The Craft Room and made this gorgeous EPP star quilt:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of the Oakshott Fabric Gift Certificate goes to Sewgrateful Quilts who made this gorgeous whole quilt:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of 3 patterns from Tartankiwi goes to Jackie (@nwpatchwork on IG) who made this pretty rainbow mini:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of the $50 Gift Certificate to The Intrepid Thread is Emilee (@amelialoveskat on IG) who made this wonderful pink & green quilt:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of the choice of 3 patterns from Happy Quilting is Emily who blogs at The Darling Dogwood and made this bright I-Spy Quilt:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A $25 gift certificate from Green Fairy Quilts goes to Brenda who blogs at The Quilting Nook who stitched this beauty:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A copy of DIY Block Design from Blossom Heart Quilts goes to Allison who blogs at Campbell Soup Diary and finished her Farm Girl Vintage Quilt:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The $40 gift certificate from Mad about Patchwork goes to Deanna (@sewasigo on IG) who made this handy apron:

• 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of 3 patterns from Clover & Violet is link Taryn (@forkandneedle on IG) who made this lovely quilt:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of a copy of Machine Quilting with Style from Christa Quilts goes to Heidi who blogs at Red Letter Quilts and surprised her mom with this quilt:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A $50 Gift Certificate from 7 Acres Cleared Fabric Shop goes to Raquel (@colourmehappy2 on IG) who crocheted on beautiful blanket:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A 6-month subscription to Make Modern goes to Ella who blogs at Throw a Wench in the Works (man I love that blog name) and made this extremely graphic quilt:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first winner of 3 patterns from Porch Swing Quilts is Melanie who blogs at Melanie's Kunstraum and made this (along with many other) charity quilt:

The second winner of 3 patterns from Porch Swing Quilts is Allison who blogs at Allison Sews and made these two pot holders out of one pieces of FMQ challenge:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The $30 gift certificate from Sunny Day Supply goes to @kath34 on IG who finished her second pillow, gotta love a couple quilted pillows on the couch:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of a copy of Windy City Bags from Sew Sweetness is @Mandarien7 on IG who made this extremely festive quilt:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The $25 gift certificate to Sew Sisters Quilt Shop goes to Mandi (@must_love_quilts on IG) who made this stunning Tula Pink quilt:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The $50 Gift Certificate from Mariner's Compass Quilt Shop goes to Mary who blogs at Mary Emmens and finally pulled her finger out and sewed with knits and ended up with this gorgeous top:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of the Pattern Pack from On the Windy Side goes to Suzie's Armoire who made this super-cute Mini:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The $50 gift certificate from Fat Quarter Shop goes to Audrey who blogs at Hot Pink Quilts and made this handsome quilt for her daddy:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of 2 pin bowls from Laurel Bee Designs is Kat who blogs at Kat's Craft and made her brother this matching quilt and pillow:

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of the $40 gift certificate to Imagine Gnats is Becky who made this beautifully festive (and extremely early) Christmas table runner:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of the $20 gift certificate from Sew Me a Song is Staci who blogs at The Confused Quilter and finished one of two identical quilts like this:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of the $30 gift certificate to Knotted Thread is Lynz who blogs at Domestic Light and Magic and made this gorgeous Brumby:

 

You are so stinking cute (as my 5 yo granddaughter would say) Lynz!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winner of the £40 (40 Pound) Gift Certificate from Simply Solids is Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilts who made this very pretty quilt:

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The $25 gift certificate from The Quilt Ranch goes to Angelina who blogs at Quilting after Dark and made this incredibly eerie quilt for the Rocky Horror Challenge sponsored by the Badass Quilter's Society:

     

Rhonda is going to email all of you winners over the weekend, unless you email her first after reading this. Rhonda will need to hear back from the winners by Friday, April 23 so that she can arrange to get your prize to you, and if she does not hear from you by then she will pick an alternate.

Hope you have joined into the Q2 linky.  It was such fun last quarter, so lets get stitching!