sewvivor - {no} hats in the house - sarah

After finally sewing something this summer, I'm back to the arrow that started it all... The radiant one ;)  And since things didn't pan out for the pantone challenge with this little quilt, I figured I'd have a go at Rach of Family Ever After's Sewvivor auditions!  Because why not throw my name in the hat?  After all, it is quilter's edition this season! :o)

So I've had my heart set on handquilting this one for quite some time... I even handpicked an assortment of neutral anchor floss to complement the mismatched feedsack tones in the background:

But knowing any quilting would have to withstand quite a bit of washing (naptime quilts are weekly loads at our house!), I figured I should give myself a little bit of insurance by straight-line quilting on the machine before getting out my thimble.

The lines fall roughly every inch on the diagonal.

And in a surprising twist of preparedness, I have the perfect binding—a bluish/purple striped oakshott—all ready to go just as soon as I add all those handquilted stripes and echo stars.

...Make that almost ready to go thanks to my little helper.  ;o)  (I'm guessing the handquilting will be a much bigger task than rewinding that binding, anyhow.)

And with any luck I'll finish the pattern by the time I get this little cot quilt bound!  (Which would be quite the feat, as it's been on my list since teaching elements of this design back in April.  <<insert ashamed emoticon here>>)

Fingers crossed!

slacking {...and swapping}

Oh hello there ;o)

So... where've I been the past month and a half?  According to the archives, not here.  (Oops!)  And not really at the sewing machine (I only wish I were cool enough to have that many secret projects going on).  No no, instead I've been preoccupied with work (the non-sewing kind), closing on our house, and spending some much-needed time with the fam'.  So not too shabby, really :)

But I have had a few snippets of time to catch up on some sewing.  Namely, my Schnitzel & Boo mini swap!

So I had Shannon (@piecefulkwilter) and I was smitten as soon as I saw the questionnaire:

Jewel tones.  Low volume.

Plaids.  Stripes.  Dots.  Scrappy.

Bright.  Bold.  Graphic.

And of course I couldn't resist adding some more feedsacks and earthy oakshott to the back.  Plus a sharpie label.  Boom.  Done.  :)

Of course the upside to parting with this little quilt was knowing it was always destined for such a deserving (and appreciative!) recipient.  Because at the end of the day, it's the giving away that fuels most of the making in this house :o)