Swaperoo!

WOOHOO!  I finished the last of my swap items!  This was my first swap and I'm totally hooked!  Thanks so much to Natalie for giving me a little nudge in the beginning...without it, I would probably still be a chicken and be missing out on the fun!

So the big item for my partner is a wall quilt.  My partner likes improv quilts - I DID actually use improv piecing techniques (I swear, I didn't use a ruler or a rotary cutter!), but it came out looking more wonky than improv...but I'm ok with that for my first try though!  Hopefully this will still fit the bill!

I finished piecing it ages ago (or at least it feels like ages) and then couldn't decide how to quilt it...I printed out a page with four pictures of the quilt top and then drew different quilting lines in pen...I did at least two rounds but I couldn't get it quite right...  Then it finally occurred to me to consult the masters: Denyse Schmidt and Malka Dubrawsky!  I checked out a bunch of their pics and noticed that they often paired square-ish piecing with circular quilting so I went with wonky, free-motion spirals. 

On the back, I added four corner pockets to hang it up.  I always picture it in the orientation shown above, but there's really no right or wrong direction...so this way my partner can hang it up any way she likes.

(you know I couldn't just use a plain backing, right?)

For my small item I made a little pouch...

(the bird is carrying a twig...but I can see how it might look like a worm...or a moustache!)

And I added a little bit of color to the inside too!

I may have messed up the math a little with the zipper...ok, I definitely did!  And even though I think it looks ok (and I got a second opinion - thanks Audrie!), the knowledge that it wasn't the way it was supposed to be was eating away at me.  So I'm sending this for the swap because I really like the way the bird and the piecing came out...but I made another little thing to make up for the zipper! (I know, I'm crazy!)

It's a needle book.  I think my partner will get some use out of it!  I used a tutorial from Sew She Sews.  It was quick and painless!  (I might have to whip one up for myself too!)  The darker blue is a pocket, the "pages" are a wool blend, and I even managed to add a snap!  I have had bad luck with those "easy" grommet tools in the past and with my first trial snap yesterday, I kind of messed up the plastic on the tool and bent the knobby part of the snap...I clearly don't know my own strength...I'm a hulk!  But it still worked and after using up most of my snaps in trials, I successfully added one to the needle book!  Again, I say "Woo!  Hoo!"

I have to confess that I really wanted to dip into a polka dot or something for the inside of the needle book or the pouch lining...but this IS a solids swap and part of the fun was not letting myself add prints...  I'm really happy with how everything turned out!  So now I just have to hold my breath and hope this suits my partner!