did you miss me?

I didn't realize it had been so long since I last posted!

D and I went on a 10 day trip to the Fraser Valley to visit some family - so that explains some of the absence.  I was still busy with some hand sewing though!

Before we left, I finished cutting out all the hexies so that they were ready to baste while I was away.  I had to make sure that I had enough of the Eggplant Beaded Curtain for binding, so I cut and sewed that first.  I have about 400" of binding.  I sure hope that's enough, otherwise it will be just a little scrappy in one part.  

I have no idea how much binding I will need as I have never made a full size quilt before.  Will 400" be enough?

While on holidays, I not only finished basting all the hexies, but I also made my first few flowers.  I have these 7 done plus another 4, then I had no more hexies left.

We don't have TV at home, and you know, hand sewing in front of the TV is the best!  I finished almost all the hexies while watching the Olympics.  Maybe we need a TV and then I will get done the Hexy MF in record time.  But then, my other jobs around the house might get ignored...

After we got home, I got right to work on finishing up a couple swaps I joined. 

The first finish was the Modern Scrappy Bits Swap.  We are swapping modern scraps and a scrappy item.  My partner is looking for red among other colours, and that is one colour I have a lot of.  Lucky partner.

I chose to make my partner a little coffee/tea gift - a scrappy cup cozy for her mug and a little pouch for some coffee money.  I sure hope she likes the scraps and can make use of the gifts.

The second swap is round 5 of the Pretty{little}Pouch Swap.  My partner has a pretty specific mosaic and that makes it so much easier to come up with an idea!  

I did want to try something a little different though.  Most pouches with rainbow colours have gray or white or text as a background colour, so I thought I would try rainbow with black. 

I chose to be in the advance category to really put myself to the challenge, and so after A LOT of piecing, ended up with this beauty.

I absolutely love how the colours pop against the black, but this project is a fail.

I used a tutorial that is in the works by Mad Quilter's Disease for the Snowflake Block.  (Her tutorial is based on the Rainbow Diamond Blossom block by Madame Parfait.)  But somehow, my block did not end up as it should.  It is supposed to have 6 wedges that make a circle, but I have 6 that don't do that.  Wrong angles?  I haven't analyzed the problem too closely yet because I also realized that this would be way too big for a pouch, so I quit.

  

Instead, I pieced together 4 and am thinking it might just end up a rainbow tree pillow cover.  

I also realized this might not be what my partner is looking for, so I am on to some other ideas for now.

E.T.A  The problem with the block turns out to be my angles.  They are just not big enough so the whole thing kind of shrunk up.  Ooops :)