Wednesday 8 July 2015

Grand Reveal!

OK, finally, time for that Grand Reveal, where you can see who made what and who received what. As usual, I will start with Quilt no 1:


Around Town (no 1) was made by Diana and sent along to Sarah, who had made this piece, no 4:

Sarah's quilt went to live with Virginia, who had made no 23 (Happy Tree):


Happy Tree (which was one of the most popular choices this time around), in turn, went to stay with Melanie, who had made 2 quilts for the swap. 


The first of these, Fancy Cat (no 9, above) went off to its new home with Kathleen.

Kathleen made quilt no 3, which she called Special K, after the Kellogg's Cornflakes Rooster:

And Special K went off to Norway to live with Kjersti. 


Kjersti's quilt, no 33 (above) was chosen by Andrea in Australia, and this quilt:


Andrea's untitled piece (no 32) went to Mary J.

Mary J made two pieces this year, and the first one, The Early Blackbird (no 19) came to live at my house:


The piece that I made, Circles in Circles is shown below:


Circles in Circles (no 21) went to live with Joan E, who had made this piece:


also with a circle theme - Friendly Circles (no 30).   This quilt was a very popular choice, and appeared on many lists, but in the end, Friendly circles went to live with Mary S. 


Carrying on (totally accidentally) with the circle theme, Mary's quilt was called Loose Marbles (no 24) and went to live with Margaret G in the UK. 


Margaret's quilt was called Autumn Meadow (no 22) and was another one of the most popular choices in the swap. It went to live with Marei, who had made quilt no 25: Triangulation.



Triangulation was the other quilt received by Melanie, who had made two quilts for the swap - Fancy Cat back near the top of this post and also no 11, Citrus and Sea (below).



One of the things I really enjoy about this swap is seeing how different the little quilts are - sometimes even two quilts by the same maker are totally different in style, like Melanie's two. Great fun!

Anyway, Citrus and Sea went to live with Barbara F, who produced this piece (no 5):


This colourful pinwheel quilt went off to Mary Jane, and Mary Jane's piece Fireworks (no 17, below) went to live with Barbara S.


The piece that Barbara S made was called Stitching for Spring (no 12) and travelled off to Australia to be with Margaret J.


Margaret has played in quite a few rounds of my swap, and always produces something nice. This time, her quilt was called Cherry Pie (no 15).


Cherry Pie winged its way from Australia to Beth in the US, who made this quilt:


No 31, Wonderfully Wonky. Wonky happily hopped its way to Pam G, who made Dandelion Summer (no 7, below) for Julie.


Julie was another player who made two quilts this round and her first one, Way Out (no 8) travelled to England to go to Lynda. Here it is:


Amusingly, Lynda's quilt Fragments (no 27) went back to the US to Julie!


Julie's second quilt (no 13), Dawn (pictured below) went to Mary J. This was another of the most popular pieces (a joint first with Happy Tree, but ahead by a very few choices)...


while Mary's quilt (no 20, Happy Hearts) - her second in the swap - went off to Barbara C.


(Not many left to go; deep breath!)

Barbara made this quilt:


Fun and Games (no 6), which was chosen by Marie. Marie made Stars Galore (no 26):


which went to live with Ramona, who is one of only three people (myself included) who have played in every single round of ALQS! (The other is Lynda, who made Fragments, mentioned a bit above.)

For this round, Ramona made the quilt Intersections (no 2):


Intersections was chosen by Rosie in the UK, who made the quilt Random Tweets (no 28), pictured below:


This quilt ended up travelling to Australia to be with Lisa, who made quilt no 29:


No 29 was the last quilt to be known to be safely home (the recipient being away for quite some time), and has its new home with Hilde, in the Netherlands.

Hilde's quilt was no 10, Iris:


and went to Di, which brings the loop to a close!

Three other little quilts ended up, for various reasons, staying with their makers:


Pam A's untitled piece (no 14)


Narelle's Christmas Wishes (no 16)


And finally Joan P's Take Heart (no 18).

A HUGE thank you again to everyone who took part - hope I'll see you all back here next time when we'll be making (probably) small, square quilts...  Be on the lookout!

Tuesday 7 July 2015

Reveal soon...I promise

All quilts now home safe and sound and everyone happy (I hope). I know the Grand Reveal is a long time coming, but I have been monumentally busy between the end of school/planning for a different role in September and being away every weekend looking at universities with my eldest. Hoping to get to it this week.  Thanks for being patient (or at least, for appearing patient, even if you are feeling impatient inside)!

(And if you think you saw a reveal published - and now you don't - don't worry, you aren't losing your mind - it wasn't finished  but for some reason blogger published it anyway, rather than saving it as a draft.  Hoping to finish it tonight or tomorrow!)

Monday 22 June 2015

Quilts home safe...

Hi everyone - I've now heard about all the quilts being received safely except one, where the recipient is away from home until the end of June and has someone checking on their mail in that period. That quilt was mailed later anyway as the recipient was going to be away) and I'm sure it will also make it safely, but I won't know for sure for another week or two. I'm going to start to put together the grand reveal, but I do want to wait to post it until after Hilde is home and has a chance to be surprised by her quilt!

If you have not yet had a chance to email your partner to let her know personally that you have received her quilt, why not take this chance to do so? I can send you the relevant email address if it wasn't included in your package, and I know it means a lot to people to hear in person from the person who is getting their quilt baby...

Thursday 18 June 2015

Quilts received?

Many thanks to all of you who have let me know you have received your new little quilts. I know a few are still either in transit or have been sent to folks who have been away, and most of you I have heard from, but if you have received your quilt and haven't let me know, please can you do so. If you haven't yet had yours and haven't been in touch, feel free to let me know that, as well, though I'll be chasing up individually within the next week, anyway.

Wednesday 20 May 2015

Mailing info

Sending - Many thanks to those of you who have either already mailed their quilts or been in touch to tell me when you will - I appreciate quite a few people are away at the moment...  If you have not yet mailed your quilt (or let me know), please can you remember that it would be great to have them all in the mail in the next week to 10 days. If that's going to be a problem, just let me know.

Receiving - Some of you (and me, too!) have been lucky enough to have already received your piece from this swap - don't forget to let me know when you do get your new little one.  Once they are all (or mostly) safely home and dry, I'll put together a Grand Reveal, showing who made what, and who received what.

Sunday 10 May 2015

You've got (e)mail!

OK. I have now sent out all the mailing information for this round of the swap. If you haven't had an email from me, let me know asap!  Please can I ask everyone to try to have their quilts in the mail by the end of May - I know there are some people who are away or who have other constraints; if you've emailed me already, that's fine - I have a note.

If there's a good reason you can't mail your quilt by the end of May and you haven't been in touch about it yet, please let me know so I can keep track of which quilt is in transit and which ones have been received, etc.

There were lots of lovely quilts this time around - I hope you are happy with what I've chosen for you all!

Wednesday 6 May 2015

Tentatively sorted...

Well, ladies. I've had a go at sorting the lists (no mean feat) and while I think I have it resolved to my satisfaction (more or less) I'm going to have another look at it tomorrow or Friday to check and make sure that I haven't made any mistakes - sometimes when you look at something for too long, it's hard to see straight!  You can expect email from me by the end of the weekend, barring catastrophes...

Monday 4 May 2015

Another quick update

Ok, everyone - I now have all the preferences lists in. I hope to have the mailing info sorted within a few days, but it depends on how much time I have (and how complicated it winds up being). But at least you know where we stand!

Sunday 3 May 2015

Update!

Still waiting on a couple of preference lists - just two to come in, I think.  Hopefully they will get to me in the next few days, and I can start pairing up. Thanks for your patience, everyone!

Tuesday 21 April 2015

That's all, folks...

OK, so that's it - no late night, last minute entries, so there are 33 quilts total in this round of the swap, with 30 players.  Please send me your preference lists when you get a chance. Please try to include at least 8 choices on your lists (though of course, if you really don't like more than 8, you can put fewer). I will do my best to match you with a quilt high on your list. You can rank them strictly if you like (1, 2, 3) or in tiers (my three favourites are x, y z; next are a, b,c; finally I also like p, q, r) or even say things like "I really like most of these, and would be happy except I'd rather not get my own back or have quilts x and q because they just aren't my style/I'm not a huge fan of bright orange".

It would be helpful if you'd include your address in your preference list, if you aren't sure if I have it.  If you played in round 8, I have it (unless you've moved, of course).

I'll be emailing the group later with similar instructions, but unfortunately, I have to go to work now and haven't had time to update my mailing list to remove those people who didn't get a chance to make a quilt this time around...

Any questions, just ask.

Quilt no 33


untitled
23.5x14.5" approx
All the fabric is cotton and the batting also is cotton. I used water soluble stabilizer to make the hearts. The hearts are embellished with beads, ribbons and yarn.




Quilt no 32


untitled
14.5x10.5"
This is my celebration of  Spring.  Raw edge appliqué on a pieced background.   



Monday 20 April 2015

Almost there (but not quite)

Just a reminder that today is the last day to get photos to me for the swap.  I have a couple more to post, as well as the possibility of another last minute entry or two, so please hold with your preference lists until I post a confirmation that I've put up all the quilt photos!  Won't be long now ladies - looking forward to seeing which quilts will end up living with whom - lots of nice pieces to chose from this time around, I think...

Sunday 19 April 2015

Quilt no 31


10x24"
Wonderfully Wonky
I am calling this quilt 'Wonderfully Wonky' because of the wonky string blocks. This quilt represents a few firsts for me:   
·Using Kaffe Fasset prints. I bought this charm pack without a plan, and I'm glad to have had it in my stash for this swap. 
·Making wonky string squares. I have wanted to make a string block for a while now, and these prints are perfect for this type of block. 
·Quilting with a heavier, shiny thread. I used Superior Threads Magnifico #40 in Ingot (2068). It was a fun thread to use and adds a glimmer to the quilt without being over the top.

Other fabrics used were Kona Sunny and Kona Ruby. The backing is a Pat Sloan print from her Bobbins & Bits line. I quilted straight lines with my walking foot spaced approximately 1/2" apart. 

The finished size is 10"x24" and there is a hanging pocket attached to the back.



Quilt no 30


Friendly Circles
15x12"
Used Kaffe Fassett scraps and Libby Lehman technique for reverse applique. Machine and hand embroidery with beading round coins shisha style.


Quilt no 29


untitled
17x17"
The materials are predominantly cotton, with a small amount of silk.  All fabrics have been hand dyed in a mixture of synthetic and natural indigo vats.  There is also some hand woven organic cotton from Mali in the piece.



Quilt no 28


Random Tweets
16x9" approx
Top bird is printed on organza from a painting I did. I have sewn some dimes on the back to make it hang better but I'm afraid the sides aren't straight!