July nine-patches

I've been kind of going through a dry spell here, blogging-wise and crafty-wise, lately. Freelance work and lack of energy are definite contributors. But, I have been catching up on my blog reading and have been finding lots of wonderful inspiration-- just what I needed. Thanks so much to all of you other quilty-crafty bloggers out there!!!

Last week, I received the last batch of nine-patches in the Three-by-Three swap, led by the fabulous Anina. Woo hoo!!! Check out the loveliness:


So, between these, the May blocks, the June blocks, and the ones I made and kept for myself, I have 60 gorgeous nine-patches! These are going to make one (or two?) fabulous quilt(s)! I don't know if I'll manage to get it together this year, what with all of the other projects in the queue at the moment (and the holidays fast approaching!), but we'll see.

More nine-patchy goodness!

A couple days ago, I received my June blocks for the Three-by-Three nine-patch swap:


Aren't they fabulous??? I love them all and I am getting sooo excited about putting together this scrappy nine-patch quilt. I've already bought my sashing fabric, so once the next set arrives (sometime in August) I can get started.

Woo hoo!

More nine-patches!

A couple of weeks ago, I received my first set of 16 blocks from the Three-by-Three nine-patch swap:


LOVE them!!! So many beautiful combinations here, and I love the variety. A few other swappers had complaints about the sizing of the blocks, but I was fortunate in that only a couple blocks were more than 1/8" off. I don't think I'll have any problems using all of them.

Feeling super-happy after getting my first set of blocks, I went ahead and signed up for another month of the swap. Here are the nine-patches I've made for July:


I think my favorites in this batch are the sienna/tan ones. But I like them all.

As I've been making blocks for the swap, I've kept one of each color-combination for myself (because I thought some of them were so pretty, I had to keep one!). So in the end, I'll have 48 swap blocks plus 12 of my own blocks. I'm not sure exactly how that will work out yet in a quilt, but I figure I won't have all of the blocks until August. So I have some time to figure it out.

Yay, scrappy nine-patches!!!

3x3 Swap - Month 2

Here are my blocks for month two of the Three by Three swap hosted by Anina.


The top ones (the outside left and right ones, specifically) are a little busy. Hopefully, they'll be okay. I love the colors and do think they are pretty, but if I had it to do over again, I probably wouldn't have put the two prints together. The scales of the prints are just too similar in size. I think my favorites out of this batch are the yellow and pink ones (center right and bottom left). But the green/purple ones are pretty spiffy too (color-wise, they look better in person).

I think we're going to be getting our first month blocks in the mail here shortly. I can't wait to see what I get!

Nine-patch-a-rama

I haven't been terribly productive lately, but I did manage to make my first set of 16 nine-patches for the Three-by-Three swap.


I'm really happy with how they turned out. Hopefully, the recipients will like them too!


I was able to use up the last of some fabric bits too, so that was awesome. I think my favorites are the brown and green ones. I'm just a sucker for green.

Feeling swappy

Last week, I decided to join in on a couple of swaps.


The Three by Three swap is being hosted by the ever-amazing Anina. There are 50 of us participating in this two (maybe three) month nine-patch exchange. The blocks are all supposed to include 2 different fabrics. I've been seeing lots of fabulous scrappy nine-patch quilts lately that have me feeling very inspired. It should be a lot of fun seeing what we all get at the end. I definitely need more scrappy fun in my life!


Snip.Sew.Send. is a virtual quilting bee organized by Adrienne. Each of the twelve participants will be sending out fabric and instructions to the other members and then in return will receive twelve blocks. It's a lot like the block exchange I'm doing with my guild, except that it's all by mail. The bee is starting up next month, but "my" month isn't until January, thankfully, so I have lots of time to figure out what I want to do. I'm really excited about this one. It is going to be a lot of fun "meeting" other quilters and being involved in such a collaborative and creative venture.

Swaps are pretty new to me. I've only participated in two previous ones, and those were for fabric-- so all I had to worry about was cutting an appropriate sized rectangle. Making and sending blocks is definitely a little different-- I haven't even started and am already feeling the pressure of creating perfect 1/4" seams! But at the same time, I'm really excited about trying some new things, and having some new crafty experiences. I can't wait to get started!

Mail fun!

Today was an excellent mail day! I got my package of fabrics from my first-ever swap (woo-hoo!), and it included many fabrics that will definitely make it into my green-and-white Dear Jane quilt. (Many thanks to Anina for organizing it!) I also received the latest issues of Ottobre, Threads, and Cooking Light. Lots of wonderful fuel for my crafty/cooking spirit.

It has been a busy week, thus the dearth of posts. It was focus-on-work week for me. On the bright side, I'm feeling good about where I'm at on my freelance projects. But, I didn't manage to get any real crafty time. I'm even behind in my Dear Jane blocks! But, I'm hoping to catch up tonight...