Rainbow Mini Swap

I actually remembered to take pictures (and good ones at that) and show them to you before I packaged it up and sent it off. Usually I remember that I needed to take pictures as I'm sitting in the post office parking lot after I sent it.

I joined the Rainbow Mini Swap and instantly I felt on top of my game! I had a plan! I know and love color and I couldn't wait to get started.

 This was my first time playing with Liberty of London fabrics and I AM HOOKED!!! I started with the feathers and once I finished those, the mini needed to grow just a bit and I still wanted to play with more color, so I added these offset borders. It worked out almost perfectly to run "around the rainbow" twice. I had to improvise just a few pieces. It was pure luck because I just cut haphazard widths of strips, there was no rhyme or reason to the pieces besides thicker strips for bigger pieces and smaller prints were cut into thinner strips...

 Then I played with the quilting and did this denser-ish swirl design in the background and these angled lines on either side.

I wanted to mimic the feather into the border and you can see how the quilting added to the quilt as a whole. I had so much fun making this mini and I can't wait to see what shows up at my doorstep!

Plan B Sewing

I have this amazingly huge quilt on the machine right now that needs to get finished, and I was all set and planning for a super long day of quilting...

That was until I woke up with the dog in the middle of the night to let him out and it was snowing like mad...

And then Hubbin texted me once he got to work saying his drive was awful and stay home if I could...

So I woke up a bit early and was drinking my coffee and decided to quilt my minis and see how the day played out...

 I was just going to quilt one... and then it went so quick so I decided to do them both!

 I love how the back of this one turned out... I guess I should have taken a picture of the back of the other one (it doesn't have extra spool blocks, but it's adorable)

So now the binding is trimmed for both of these and I just need to finish it and get them finished up.

Well, after finishing quilting these guys, I almost thought about heading down to the machine. The wind has been roaring here by the lake, but just to be safe I checked Facebook to see the current conditions of the roads and I'm glad I did. It's nasty out there. South of us has been hammered all morning and the kids have been out of school for three days now (the previous two for the cold, today for the snow). Then once I made the decision to stay put and continue on with projects here at home, the snow moved in and it's just awful out.

So instead I've done some computer work, I'm planning on jogging later, maybe moving some furniture around if I feel up to it... We shall see what the rest of the day brings, but most importantly I'm blogging!!! Like a REAL post, not a quickie from my phone! I'm so proud of myself!

I just downloaded a TON of pictures off of my camera and I will be sharing a bunch of quilts I've worked on recently and some pictures of my little vacation too!

I hope this little post finds you all safe and warm (or if you're down under, cool and dry). I'm going to go make myself a cup of tea and get back to work. Check back soon for TONS of pictures!!!

-Rebecca

My Name is Rebecca...

And I am a Swap Addict!!! I started with my first online mini quilt swap a couple months ago and now I'm planning my fourth swap quilt!!! They've been so much fun and I wanted to share with you what I've been up to:

The first swap I joined was the Little Quilts Swap featuring the book Little Quilts by Sarah Fielke & Amy Lobsinger. It was simple, you just had to make one of the quilts from the book! The quilt above is what I made for my partner and below is what my partner made for me:

This was a secret swap so you couldn't divulge your partners info until they got their package and the person you're sending a quilt to may not be the same person sending something to you! 

My next swap was the Quiltcast Mini Swap and this is what I made:

We had guidelines of what size quilt to make and it had to feature stars (or a star). My partner for this swap loved Kaffe Fasset fabrics so I got a piece for the backing and pulled the other colors for the quilt top from that. This quilt pattern was my adaptation of one of the patterns from the Little Quilts book and it got my feet wet for paper piecing again (it's been awhile and I was a bit rusty). 

And in return I got this amazing package from my partner!!! I still have to hang my minis on my wall, but I have a bit of cleaning and rearranging to do before I decide on a spot for them. 

Currently I'm working on my mini for the Schnitzel & Boo Mini Swap and I just got my partner info this week for the Rainbow Mini Swap. As I said, I'm addicted!!! I will share my progress as I get them completed!

So would you like to join a swap? Have questions on how they work? Well, I found all of the swaps I've joined on Instagram... There are swaps on Flickr and random blogs as well, but Instagram has worked well for me. 

For each swap, there's usually an online form to fill out with your information and a questionnaire to give your partner information about your likes and dislikes. There are swap moderators that usually email you and track your progress as well as answer any questions you may have along the way. 

Then it's basically stalking your partner at that point to get a better idea of their likes and styles, then planning and sewing before you send it off. Granted, I've kinda skimmed through the details, but it's more of a learn as you go and just have fun kinda experience. 

Most swaps come with guidelines of what size quilt to make and deadlines to send out your packages and whatnot. The reason I think I've joined so many so quickly and why they're fun is that I get to meet a ton of new people from all over the world. Most of my swap partners like fabrics that I've never played with before so I'm discovering new things as well and it pushes my creativity with a little nudge. I have to think about what my partner would like and I have to make something that I may not normally make. So far I've loved everything new I've played with. Plus these quilts are small so they're not daunting and they go quickly so you can dabble in a new technique or fabric without feeling burdened if you don't like it. But you can try it out to see if you like that fabrics or piecing technique and if you like it you can always make your own larger quilt. 

Now, I do not consider myself an expert by any means, but I have been having so much fun and I urge you all to find a swap and give it a try. Or maybe even arrange a swap in your own quilt guild rather than doing a challenge... Trying to stalk your friends and make them a project in secret could be challenging enough!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to leave me a comment below or send me an email at rubybluequilts (at) gmail (dot) com. I cannot guarantee I have an answer, but I will try my best!

Do you have a swap you've joined and would recommend for the future? Are you interested in swapping? Let me know!