Fancy a Charming Swap?

 The two groups are now full

So who’s up for some fabric?

Me me me!!! I hear you saying?

Here’s a fun way to increase your stash of precuts and to end up with a nice pile of rainbow coloured charm squares. I have done a few charm swaps in the past, two rainbow themed and one for Japanse fabric (which I wouldn’t mind to repeat again, Cindy…  -blink blink- ). They are really useful when you are making small projects and need a good varied selection of squares. So what do you think? Would you like to add 112 charms squares in your stash?

 I’ve hooked up with Cindy from Fluffy Sheep Quilting to organize this charm square swap.

This is how it works:

We need 28 participants but it would be great if we got 56…

1. To sign up, comment below with your email address. Sign ups will close on the 12 of October at midnight.

2. You will then receive an email by the 17th of october from either Cindy or me with your assigned colour.

3. Once you have your colour, you must find 2 prints (1 yard each) where you assigned colour mainly predominates BUT one will be light and the other dark. Bear in mind that you will have to cut the fabric into 5″ squares, so try not to get prints with big motifs or with big sections of a different colour. The fabric must be 100% good quality quilting cotton, modern prints and no solids, please.

This photo above gives you a general idea for the 2 contrasting shades of each colour.

4. Once you choose your fabric, check this flickr group to make sure that someone hasn’t got it first and upload a photo of each print. This way we will be able to check all the prints and dribble a bit at the goodness that is coming to us.

5. Cut your fabric into 5″ squares, (if you have never cut charm squares before you can follow this tutorial), put them in a plastic bag (those resealable food bags work brilliantly) and post them to Galway by 22 November.  Include in your parcel a pre-addressed return envelope. No return envelope, no returned charms.   

Since this is a Fluffy Sheep Quilting sponsored swap, a 10% discount is offered on any fabrics purchased from the shop.  You will find a discount code in the email with your colour assignment.  If you buy from FSQ, your fabric will also be cut into charms AND you will not have to pay shipping.  Big thank you to Cindy!

See how gorgeous  they looked in the last swap?

Cindy and I will sort all the charms and you will receive 112 charms, 56 prints in duplicate.  When shipping comes around, send (via paypal) to Cindy the cost of your shipping so that she doesn’t loose out on paypal fees. She will not be invoicing you, but requesting you send the payment directly to her by email.

So, want to join the fun???

A swap sent and a swap received

Again, as always, another long stretch between posts…

I have been enjoying the good weather, since school days came to and end (and I can’t believe they’ll resume in 10 days!). We’ve been out and about, cycling, swimming, gathering pebbles and shells… and collecting and neglecting big piles of laundry, leaving pots and pans to be washed at the end of the day, if not the next day…

Oh yes, we’ve had a great time.

I was busy making cards and sending orders to customers, I’m so grateful I get to sell my work on Etsy and now in a local craft shop too! It is, really, so nice to hear what people say and how much they like what I make. It just keeps me going! And in between of all this, I was making the gift for my Big Stitch Swap partner. The project had to have a good amount of hand stitching done, it could be a bag, a zipper pouch, a mini quilt… When I received the details about my partner, she mentioned she likes mini quilts, so this is what I made.

I draw a dragon fly onto the fabric, inspired on a mobile I have. My partner said she likes anything scrappy and colourful, so I opted for nice warm fiery prints to frame the embroidered panel.

I was using different stitches that I’ve been learning from this site. And I was making it up all along. Mins you, you can get easily carried away with the embroidery and the hand quilting!

I like these interlaced stitches that let you play with different coloured threads.

I couldn’t resist to throw in a few French knots…

The hand quilting… I suppose those Sashiko coasters I’m making are helping me to get a steady regular stitch, but still, it is not the same when there is batting in between, so they are not as regular as I wanted them to be.

I liked those spirals…

I used a variety of Anchor and Fabra & Coats threads for embroidery and DMC perle cotton n.8 for the hand quilting.

And for the border, I was using three colours, yellow, orange and red, alternating different arches (also irregular because I couldn’t do it any other way!)

I didn’t mark any lines for the quilting like I did for the embroidery, so I can see now that it is a bit wonky all over the place, but I think it adds to the charm of being hand stitched all over.

It was so hard to part with this mini quilt! I will make a similar one for my sewing room… There were a few people interested in buying one off me too, but I think that will have to wait for a while 🙂 there is a lot of work in here…

I was thrilled when I received my swap gift from another participant, I just love it so much! I think I was very lucky to get such an amazing piece of art too. I will show it to you next time and I promise it will be very very soon.

Have a great week!

Swap received and ongoing projects

This is the beautiful zipper pouch I received from my swap partner Kim. I love it so much! It was filled with goodies, sweets and chocolate. Hana had a blast when she opened it, her eyes were as big as plates!

Aquest es l’estoig amb cremallera que m’ha enviat la Kim, la meva parella d’intercanvi de Kentucky! L’estoig anava ple de chocolatines, caramels, un llapis, una crema de llavis i un iman de l’estat de Kentucky.

I love every little detail of this pouch, the fabric choice is so lovely ,with the linen bit. The quilting fits in perfectly and what I like the most is the double stitching in both blue and brown, matching the colours of the patterned fabric, and the way the zipper is sewn in. Oh, zippers… I like them, I like sewing zippers, but still I haven’t mastered this technique!!! So I suppose it’s a matter of practice and more practice.

M’encanta com li ha quedat, la tla que ha escollit es perfecta i hi lliga molt amb el lli. L’encoixinat ha quedat molt be i el que m’agrada mes son els repunts que ha fet en blau i marro lligant amb els tons de la tela estampada. La cremallera esta tan ben cosida! ai les cremalleres, m’agraden, pero encara no les domino… Suposo que es questio de practica practica i mes practica… que hi farem!

In the meantime, I have finished two quilt tops. One was finished a while ago, but since I haven’t been able to quilt for the last two months…( my walking foot was not working well), I was trying to do other bits and pieces. Now I’m craving for quilting!

De mentres, he estat fent petites cosetes. Fa temps que no he pogut fer encoixinat perque el peu de doble arrosegament no m’anava alhora, pero ara em moro de ganes d’encoixinar!

This one above is a custom order which I want to send by the end of this week. The baby is due to pop out very soon, so I hope I’m still on time before it arrives into this world. I used a charm pack of School Days for Moda.

Aquest quilt de dalt es un encarrec, he fet ser vir un charm pack de School Days per Moda. Espero enviar-lo a fials d’aquesta setmana abans de que neixi el seu inquil.lí.

This is another quilt top using more scraps from Aneela Hoey’s A Walk in the Woods. I’ve just cut a second border in grey and I’ll use a foxy print for the backing. I’m not sure what the binding is going to look like yet, but I’ll show you when it’s finished, of course.

I aquest altre es un quilt que s’ha anat esperant a la qua d’encoixinar. Esta fet amb restes de tela de l’Aneela Hoey, A Walk in the Woods. Ja tinc tallada la tela per fer-li un marc i la tela del darrere estara plena de guineus. 

I’ve made a second A-line dress for Hana. She won’t let me photograph her wearing it… but it does fit her very well! This time I sew buttons all the way down at the back.

Aquest es el segon vestit que li hje fet a la Hana. Aquest cop li he cosit botons de dalt a baix a la part del darrere.

Now I’m working on a third dress, adding some detail and altering the pattern a bit (just a little because I’m a bit of a wimp and I’m afraid of making a huge mistake). I’m adding some pin tucks at the centre front, and I’m thinking of adding a pocket or two, I’ll see how I’m getting on… and hopefully I can take a photo of her wearing the three of them…

N’estic fent un tercer, canviant una mica el patro, nomes una mica perque no m’atreveixo a fer gaires virgueries encara. A veure si em deixa fer-li unes quantes fotos amb tots tres vestits. Ultimament no es deixa fotografiar gaire!

A Swap on its way…

Well here it is, the finished zipper pouch for my swap partner with some of the chocolates in it. I’m not doing a swap that involves chocolate again. I had to replace some bars a few times… that what happens when you buy the chocolate when your pouch is still being made…

Anyway, I made the zipper inspired by this tutorial. It’s the first time I sew a zipper on the side of a pouch. I like the way you don’t have to deal with those bent edges when the zip is on top.

I’ve been good and the pouch is being filled up with chocolate since it was finished without any temptation getting in the way… there’s some yummy stuff in it which is a surprise for my  partner! So tomorrow it is heading the post office and off to America it goes!

Doncs aqui esta! L’estoig amb cremallera per l’intercanvi de “cremalleres i xocolata“… I ja esta decidit, que no fare cap mes intercanvi on hi hagi xocolata pel mig. I es clar que em vaig menjar algunes xocolatines! Es el que passa si les compres abans d’acabar l’estoig que has d’omplir… 

Vaig inspirar-me en aquest tutorial. M’agrada com queda la cremallera en un costat de l’estoig. Es mes facil cosir-la aixi que no pas quan esta amunt, perque a mi mai no em queden be els extrems.

Dema sortira volant cap als Estats Units, despres d’omplir-la una mica mes…

Zips and Chocolate… Cremalleres i Xocolata

I haven’t had a chance to blog these last days, my internet connection was not good and it kept breaking down too often… making it so frustrating that I just gave up. It seems it is working pretty well now, thank Goodness!

Chocolate and Zips. Nope, it’s not an edible recipe (yet), but it’s what I have on my working table at the moment. I do like love chocolate but this time I’m trying not to look at it (in fact, it’s hidden and put far far away) while I make a zipper pouch which is going to be filled up with chocolate.

Roslyn from Sweet Delicious was hosting this swap and, well… the word chocolate caught my eye as usual… the zips too… those little challenging things… so I joined.

I got my partner’s details, she likes modern fabrics (me too) and we have something in common (apart from the love of chocolate of course), we own cats… And you should see her cat, it’s so BEAUTIFUL!!!

I’ll be showing little peeks of what I’ve made just before it travels to my partner’s house.

Have a great weekend!!!

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Fa dies que la meva conexio d’internet no funcionava be i ha sigut molt frustrant, tant que no he fet cas del meu blog durant uns dies. Per fi sembla que aixo ja rutlla, menys mal!

Xocolata i cremalleres… No es una recepta per menjar (encara no…), pero es el que hi ha sobre la meva taula de treball. M’agrada encanta la xocolata. Aquest cop no me l’estic menjant (per variar) pero li estic donant cada mirada…

Estic fent un estoig amb cremallera que anira ple de xocolata.

La Roslyn the Sweet Delicious va organitzar un intercanvi i la paraula xocolata em va cridar l’atencio, aixi com tambe la de “cremallera”, que tant em costen de posar de vegades! Vaig pensar que m’hi apuntaria i ja quasi ho tinc tot preparat per enviar-ho a la meva companya.

Ja tinc tota la seva informacio i veig que tenim una cosa en comu, a part de la passio per la xocolata… i es que tenim gats, i haurieu de veure el seu gat, es PRECIOS!

Mes endavant ja us ensenyare com m’ha quedat.

Que tingueu bon cap de setmana!!!

swap received

Here’s the mini quilt I received as part of the swap between the Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland and the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild. Andi from our-epoch is the artist who made this amazing mini quilt. She found out I’m very fond of tea and made this tea set for me.

Aquest es el mini quilt que he rebut com a part de l’intercanvi de l’agrupacio de patchwork modern d’Irlanda i el d’Atlanta. L’Andi de our-epoch es l’artistassa que m’ha fet aquest quilt sobre te. Va investigar una mica el meu blog i va veure que soc fan del te.

I didn’t know we would receive a quilt from the same person you made a quilt for… Had I known this I would have waited to post about my quilt for her until Andi received it. I’m not sure if she has yet, as it was sent early last week. My quilt is so simple compared to those of the rest of the participants, I’m really embarrassed… sorry Andi… 😦 If you’d like to see the rest of the quilts you can click here.

No sabia que ens havien posat per parelles i que rebria un quilt de la mateixa persona a qui jo feia un. No estic segura de si l’Andi ha rebut el meu ja, el vaig enviar la setmana passada. espero que li agradi, tot i que es molt mes senzill que el seu i que de tota la resta de participants. em fa una mica de vergonya i tot… Si voleu veure’ls tots, cliqueu aqui.

The fabric es great, I really like the printed letters of the cup.

La tela es molt maca, sobretot la de la tasa amb les lletres impreses.

The embroidery bit is very cleverly used, coming out of the spout…

El brodat esta fet molt astutament, com si fos fum que surt de la tetera i es llegeix “te”

The piecing is amazing, how many pieces has this little quilt!

La quantitat de trocets cosits per a cada detall es impressionant.

And on the label at the back, she even printed a lovely poem about tea…

I al darrera,  a l’etiqueta, hi ha impres un poema sobre te… tot un detall…

Andi, this is so nice. Thank you thank you very much. 

All the details on it are so well taken care of.

Go raibh maith agat!!!

SWAP – INTERCANVI

This is the mini quilt I made for my swap partner from the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild. She said she likes red and green and I love red, so I had plenty of that. The stripy fabric has tiny green dots that match the outer green border and I used red thread for the quilting. I hope she likes it… 

Aquest es el mini quilt per a l’intercanvi amb el Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild. La meva companya d’intercanvi va dir que li agradava el vermell i el verd, i com que a mi tambe m’agrada el vermell ja tenia molta tela d’aquest color. La tela ratllada te puntets verds que ja queden be amb la tela verda del marge. Ara espero que li agradi…

I used Flea Market Fancy for the binding and backing.

Now I only need to print a label and 

it will go all the way to Georgia.

I always think of peaches

when I hear Georgia…

La tela del darrere i la vora son de Flea Market Fancy.

Ara nomes falta imprimir una etiqueta 

i estara llestper anar a Georgia. 

Sabieu que Georgia es famosa 

pels seus pressecs?

I like quilting a straight line just outside the seam so it bulks out a bit,

but I quilted on the ditch for the outside of the star.

M’agrada fer l’encoixinat recta just a la vora de les costures

per fer resaltar mes les peces, pero a la part de fora

de l’estel l’he fet just a la vora.

Straight red lines to frame it and finished!

Linees rectes amb fil vermell per enmarcar-ho tot i acabat!

linking to:

enllaçat a:

CARD SWAP – INTERCANVI DE POSTALS

I’d like to show you the card that I received and the card that I made from the Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap III:
Us vull ensenyar la postal que vaig rebre i la que vaig fer per al Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap:

Here’s the card I received from Heather at HKPowerstudio in the USA.  It is a printed heart on fabric and there are tiny beads stitched all over. It looks amazing and she will soon reveal how to make those stitches, so keep an eye on her blog if you want to know how to do it!

Aquesta es la postal que vaig rebre de la Heather de HKPowerstudio als EEUU. Es la foto d’un cor impres sobre roba i ha cosit tot de boletes a sobre. No se quina tecnica ha utilitzat pero aviat revelara el secret al seu blog, si voleu aprendre com es fa aneu a donar un cop d’ull!

The card I made is this one and it went to Susan from SVM-travels, in the USA as well. I decided to make something a bit different, so it is a three sided heart that you can hang up like a mobile.  I will show you how to do it too. She seems pleased with it, so I’m happy! Susan is a great knitter, you should have a look around her blog and see the nice stuff she makes, among other cool things too.

La postal que jo vaig fer es aquesta i aviat tambe us ensenyare com es fa. Va viatjar cap al EEUU, a casa de la Susan de SVM-travels. Vaig fer un cor de tres cares que es pot penjar com un mobil. Sembla que li va agradar, aixi que estic contenta! 

La Susan te molta trac,a fent mitja i haurieu de veure tot el que fa, visiteu el seu blog i tobareu moltes coses!

AN INVITATION / UNA INVITACIO

Ja arriba la tercera temporada de The Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap que organitza la Beth.
Podeu donar un cop d’ull a totes les postals fetes a ma i amb una gran varietat de tecniques, a part d’algun punt cosit, al group de flickr.

El tema de la primera celebracio va ser “Temps” i aleshores encara no sabia que aixo existia! Arrel d’un blog que segueixo vaig descobrir que se celebrava la segona temporada amb el tema “Llar” i vaig poder participar. Vaig rebre una postal cosida i estampada a ma de l’Stella, dels EEUU.

El tema d’aquesta nova temporada es “Amor” i si voleu, vosaltres tambe podeu participar. Heu de fer una postal a ma, amb la tecnica que mes us agradi, afegint algun puntet cosit, ni que sigui un boto, interpretant el tema de l ‘amor. Envieu un email a la Beth dient que voleu participar i donant-li la vostra adrec,a. Mes tard ella us enviara el nom i l’adrec,a de la persona a qui li heu d’enviar la postal que heu fet.
No oblideu de fer-li un foto primer, per si es perd pel cami… i un cop la persona a qui li heu enviat l’ha rebut, ja podeu ensenyar la vostra postal al vostre blog o al grup de flickr.

Us animeu?

The third Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap is on again! pop over to Beth’s blog and read all about it to take part on it. The first one was about “TIME”, the second one was about “HOME”, now it is about “LOVE”. Have a look at all the lovely postcards that were made before on flickr.


I received a lovely card from Stella in the USA and mine flew over to that same country too. I wonder where my new card is going to travel this time and from where I will receive mine.
Would you like to join us?
Send an email to Beth, telling her you want to participate and give her your address. She’ll send you the details of the person you’ll send your card to. Don’t forget to take a photo of your card before you send it, and once the person receives it, you can show it on your blog and on the fickr group.