Nuetral and Solids Swap - Sign Ups Now Live!

UPDATE: 
The 28 guaranteed spots are now full. But go ahead and sign up to be put on our waiting list - if we reach 56 by April 15th, we can double our variety!! Spread the word!
__________________________
It's official! 
I present to you...

Each person will purchase 2 yards of fabric (1 yard neutral, 1 yard solid) and cut them into 5" charm squares. 1 yard = 56 charms.  (I recommend buying 1.25 yards- never hurts to have a little extra in case you make a cutting mistake.) 

The first 28 people to sign up will be guaranteed a spot (you must fill out the form, comments will not count). After that I will start a waiting list and if we reach 56 by April 15th , we will do 56 participants. 

This will be open to U.S. swappers only this round. Sorry! This is my first swap, so cross your fingers, if it goes well I will do a second round and open it to international swappers!

Wanna Sign up?  HERE is the form.  


 Wondering what sort of fabulous fabrics we'll get back?

Here are some examples of fabrics that would be great 'neutrals'



Here's some 'solid' eye candy ;)

Are you wondering what you can do with this lovelies? Here's what I am inspired by:

1. Improv circles pillow by stitchindye on Flickr 2. PTS7 in progress! by BlueElephantStitches on Flickr 3. Solids Swap package finished by Sarah @ FairyFace Designs on Flickr 4. the big orange wall quilt by Spotted Stone Studio {Krista} on Flickr 5. gelato circles by alobsiger on Flickr 6. YIP 365.230:: Windmill mini by stitchindye on Flickr

Aren't you drooling? I am!

Can't resist? Secure your spot in the swap HERE. 

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Here are the particulars

Mailing deadline will be May 25th 2012. This gives you little more than a month, since lots of families are traveling for Easter and Spring Breaks.

 Fabric requirements (as written by the wonderful Jennifer @ Ellison Lane Quilts):

1. Choose a fabric that has a small print suitable for an 5" charms. Scale of the print is very important as smaller works better in this case. A larger print has a larger repeat and you want each charm to have enough of the print showcased on each piece.
2. Fabric should be designer label, 100% cotton, quilt shop quality fabric.  No Hancocks, Joanns or Michael's fabrics. For a fabric swap, the fun is receiving quality fabric that you might not be able to pick up around the corner.  *The exception to this is Kona Cotton Solids which can be purchased from Joanns, just check the end of the bolt to make sure it says Kona Cotton.
3. Fabric must be new and unwashed and must come from a smoke free environment.
4. Before mailing, cut your fabric into 5" x 5" charm squares.  Press your fabric before cutting. 1 yard = 56 charm squares (5" x 5".)  Here's a great tutorial on how to cut fabric into charms by Elizabeth Hartman.
5. Put your fabric in a ziplock bag and include an index card with your name and email address. 
6. Upload pictures of your fabric to the swap Flickr group and include the name of the fabric, designer, etc. This ensures that there are no duplicate fabrics chosen and allows everyone to find out more about the fabrics in case they would like to order more once they have received their charms. 

    

New Charm Swap: Neutral and Solids Charm Swap!

Update:  THIS SWAP IS NOW FULL! 

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I love charm swaps, recently there have been some awesome rainbow charm swaps. 

Now though, my stash is so very low on neutrals and solids.

Turns out I'm not the only one.  

Since I'm feeling up for an adventure and there was a great response to the idea. I present to you...

Sign Ups will go live on this blog 12 noon EST on Friday, April 6th, 2012.

The first 28 people to sign up will be guaranteed a spot (you must fill out the form, comments will not count). After that I will start a waiting list and if we reach 56 by April 15th , we will do 56 participants. 

This will be open to U.S. swappers only this round. Sorry! This is my first swap, so cross your fingers, if it goes well I will do a second round and open it to international swappers!

Mailing deadline will be May 25th 2012. This gives you little more than a month, since lots of families are traveling for Easter and Spring Breaks.

 Fabric requirements (as written by the wonderful Jennifer @ Ellison Lane Quilts):

1.  Each person will purchase 2 yards of fabric (1 yard neutral, 1 yard solid) and cut them into 5" charm squares. 1 yard = 56 charms.  (I recommend buying 1.25 yards- never hurts to have a little extra in case you make a cutting mistake.) 
2. Choose a fabric that has a small print suitable for an 5" charms. Scale of the print is very important as smaller works better in this case. A larger print has a larger repeat and you want each charm to have enough of the print showcased on each piece.
3. Fabric should be designer label, 100% cotton, quilt shop quality fabric.  No Hancocks, Joanns or Michael's fabrics. For a fabric swap, the fun is receiving quality fabric that you might not be able to pick up around the corner.  *The exception to this is Kona Cotton Solids which can be purchased from Joanns, just check the end of the bolt to make sure it says Kona Cotton.
4. Fabric must be new and unwashed and must come from a smoke free environment.
5. Before mailing, cut your fabric into 5" x 5" charm squares.  Press your fabric before cutting. 1 yard = 56 charm squares (5" x 5".)  Here's a great tutorial on how to cut fabric into charms by Elizabeth Hartman.
6. Put your fabric in a ziplock bag and include an index card with your name and email address. 
7. Upload pictures of your fabric to the swap Flickr group and include the name of the fabric, designer, etc. This ensures that there are no duplicate fabrics chosen and allows everyone to find out more about the fabrics in case they would like to order more once they have received their charms.

    Still interested? Awesome! I'd love to have ya!

Check back here for the SIGN UP FORM, after NOON on Friday April 6th!

Neutral and Solid swap. weigh in!

Hey lovelies!

I am loving all of these rainbow swaps! I know you are too.

I am totally lacking coordinating solids though, and neutrals. This made me think.

I don't see many swaps for these, but they can be really useful and striking. See?

pouches by Sarah @ fairyface designs

wall hanging by malka at stitchindye

SO, since I'm feeling spunky and up for an adventure, I am thinking of hosting a swap 

(similar to the usual 28 or 56 person format).

Would this be something you'd like? No commitment here, just gauging interest. 

Oh happy day!

First off, I want to say a big hello ya'all to anyone visiting from Small Blog Meet being hosted (once again) by the wonderful Lynne from Lily's Quilts!  If you'd like the "who I am, how I got here, and what's with the nut story" check out my about me page.

The abridged version is I ....
... am a scientist by trade
... am a part-time nanny whille I pursue said scientific career
...live in a small apartment with my husband in beautiful central Pennsylvania
...am easily distracted by shiny things
... always have more projects on queue than I have more time for
...blog when I can, about whatever is relevant to my life at the time
...and I hope you enjoy your visit here and come back to visit again soon!

To all ya'll old timers, hey there friends, did you miss me?

I missed you!  I have been very absent from blogland, but I promise to make it up to you with some fun progress pictures and 'real' life anecdotes.

Hope you don't mind an excessive amount of photos for my first update -

I still have that slighty euphoric feeling that comes over me when I have a finished project to share with you!
I am soooo happy with how my Christmas tablerunner turned out!

It seems like FOREVER ago that I did this digital mock up of a design I had floating around my little brain.

I got this far...

... and life happened (aka all creative progress seized).

A few job interviews, roadtrips, and other rather dull misadventures later..

I got my little pretty layered and basted. When I was closing up the binding, I had a little, erm, brainfart.

This is the first time I used spray basting. I am happy with it and will definitely be using it on other small scale projects that will be smushed, twisted, folded and generally abused in the quilting process.

Just a few days ago, Leanne from she can quilt posted her thoughts on spray vs pin basting.

The seamripper and I had some quality time to get that binding snafu sorted out

 and..... drum roll pease!

DONE!!
ahhhhh.. so satisfying!
 I even gave it a wash and dry so that it has that crinkly goodness to it.

That was the longest 12 minute cycle of my life (I was nervous about reds bleeding, but it was just fine!)

It's winging it's way to distant lands (or is it??) right now with an ornament.

I do hope my secret partner is happy with it. I'm a bit sad to see it go.
I'd be lying if I said it wasn't the nicest thing I've made. Ever.

Now don't think I'm bragging - it is so not perfect. But it is 100% my design and my first go at hand quilting with Perle 8 cotton.

Yummy.

Now. I promised a few real life ancedotes to give you a peek into what my time away from blogland involved. If you are one of those people who are not into the non-crafty stories, avert your eyes.

If you like those stories, then keep going!

- I let the fridge get empty in the week before Thanksgiving, so that food wouldn't spoil during our time away. Once we got back, my subconcious wouldn't let me forget that grocery shopping was necessary.
I had a dream that I was trying to find gluten-free rice puffs in a huge food store.
Now it gets weird because
1- I am not alergic to gluten nor do I regularly seek out gluten free anything and
2- I was trying to get around the store on roller skates. Yup. Strange, I know.




- I found out that dogs can get 'reverse sneezes'. and when they do, the sound like the are dying.
It's freaky, funny and all together nervewrecking when pet sitting for a good friend.

Ask me how I know. 

The dog got excited, drank his water too quickly, and just about gave me a heart attack! I was way too disturbed by the sound to take video of it myself, but  this video is fairly close to what it sounded like.

So, there you are. A finish, a dream, and a dog with reverse sneezes. Welcome to my weird little world :)


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