some more 2014 finishes

I love a good small project, that I can whip up in a day! Here are some pillows, bags and pin cushions I made this year....

In the center is a wall hanging that I did as a pattern test for Sara Lawson earlier in the year (this was NOT a one day project! Ha!) I loved it so much and the sentiment was perfect to send to my friend Maria for Christmas.

Mug rugs made an appearance this year. (all of these have gone to other homes!)...

and lots of placemats, thanks to The Placemat Project....

It was fun to get back to garment sewing this year! I'm really enjoying teaching others to sew garments at Stitched With Love....

Lila Lounge pants, Geranium Dresses, Schoolhouse tunics, Washi Dress and Headbands

Looking forward to lots more fun sewing in 2015!

placemats again

So, you all remember the placemat project, right? And the five, beautiful placemats I received from instagram friends? Well I have always thought it would be nice to have eight placemats, since my table seats eight, and I had every intention of making three more to complete my set. I just didn't intend to do them quickly!

Hubby has some folks in town for work this week and we decided that we would host them at our home for dinner tomorrow night. Perfect opportunity to use my placemats! He informed me there would be six, including us for dinner. No problem! This past weekend I made placemat #6....

 I have a big zipper pouch full of half square triangle units left over from my Pow Wow quilt. I pulled out the ones with red and aqua in them and came up with this layout. And since I loved the idea Trae had of putting Christmas fabric on the back of the two placemats she made me, I decided I would do that too. As luck would have it, the night before (literally, at night. the mailtruck came at 9:30 PM on a Saturday night.... weird!) I received happy mail from Hannah, who had sent me my first placemat. Inside was a moda candy pack of Winter Wonderland, which was perfect for the back of my placemat!

I was pretty darned proud of myself! Now everyone at our dinner party would have a handmade placemat. Except.....

Hubby informed me that he had invited two more guests for dinner. Which is great, but once again, I was short on placemats. Darn.

I set to work, using all fabric from my stash and a few orphan blocks I had hanging around. Soon there was placemat number seven....

with snowmen (from Trae) on the back. And today, placemat number eight....

Which got a very simple pieced backing (Christmas fabrics but simple) because by this time I was pretty burned out on placemats! But I must say, they do look lovely as a set.

I'm quite sure all of hubby's business associates will be mighty impressed! don't you think?

The Placemat Project wrap up

if you've been following along on the Placemat Project swap you know that I was still waiting to share the placemat I sent off to my fourth partner and what I received. Well the swap is complete and now I can share! This is a fun story....

My fourth swap partner was my buddy Trae! I was determined to keep this fact a secret from her. Several times she came to my house for crafty Tuesday and I had to remember to hide her placemat and try very hard to avoid the topic of the swap! I had her placemat finished early on and was just waiting to mail it to her (yes, I could have delivered it to her personally but I chose not to!).

 I had been eyeing up these arrow blocks for a while, wanting to try them. I decided this was the perfect opportunity! I used this tutorial. Trae loves clear jewel tones (especially blues!) and is a big fan of Kaffe. Last Monday, just a few days before the deadline, I popped it in the mail.

After a couple of days of instagram banter, during which time I became a bit suspicious, I opened up my mailbox and found my final Placemat Project bundle from...... you guessed it..... Trae! and get this.... she made me not ONE placemat, but TWO!

 Sorry I had not ironed them yet in these photos, but aren't they wonderful? Another star placemat to go with my first two, and some awesome EPP flowers, which Trae makes in her sleep, I swear! And get this.... the backs? All set for Christmas!

 Trae had actually posted these fabrics on Instagram and I had shamelessly begged for her scraps.... never guessing they were for me in the first place!

So here are my FIVE finished placemats, waiting for me to use them....

Thank you so much swap partners! I love them so much. I hear rumors of another round of The Placemat Project in the fall.... I can't wait! Are you in?

update on the placemat project

I've been having so much fun with the Placemat Project. It's a great instagram swap. You can read my first post about it here. Since that post I have received my second placemat from Laurel.....

 And my third placemat from Hayley (along with an extra fabric treat!)

 Look how amazing they all look (together with the first one from Hannah)...

 Meanwhile, my third placemat made it's way to Hannah. Yes! The same Hannah who had sent me my first one! You can see her first 2 placemats in the background, one with Xs and one with Os. Isn't it funny that I had already made her +s before I even saw these!

I can't wait to receive my fourth one and send mine off too so I can share with you!

the placemat project

I love fun swaps! A few weeks ago, Amber threw out an idea on Instagram for a placemat swap. She called it the placemat project. The idea was that each participant would share what colors/style of fabric placemats she would like to receive. Each of us received four names and preferences to make placemats for over the summer. Every few weeks we would mail one out. The placemats are all the same size (12x18 inches). By the end of summer, we will each have received four different, but coordinating placemats from four different people! Fun! I knew I wanted to play along. 

My first 2 placemats have been sent & received so I can share them with you now. Placemat #1 went off to Tsoniki who lives overseas. I was so nervous until I knew she had received it! She requested mostly yellow with some red. I had fun learning to sew 60 degree triangles on her placemat!

 I decided I would make a coordinating patchwork dishtowel to send with each of my placemats....

 My second placemat went to Sarah. In keeping with my "learn something new" theme, I dug out a tumbler template I had been wanting to experiment with for a long time. Sarah said her kitchen was olive green and I knew these fabrics from my stash would do the trick!

 And with her dishtowel....

I received my first placemat from Hannah and it blew me away! She says this was her very first time doing paper piecing. WOW!

My request was for red & aqua placemats with some black and/or gray. This is stunning! and while the temptation is to hang my placemats on the wall as mini quilts, I am going to use them on my table. I have been wanting patchwork placemats for many years and now I will have some! In fact, I have decided to make four more, all different, placemats to add to my collection so I will have a total of eight. Stay tuned for updates as I receive and mail out more!