Quilt-Alongs, Swaps, & Such

Even though I would have liked to sleep in on this lazy Saturday, there were benefits to waking early . . .

I was able to pack up my 100th post gift to send to Tiffany - Mini Swoon, along with a few fat quarters.

Momo dots, Kona Tourquoise, & a Valori Wells Wrenly print

I was able to cut and pack up my charm squares for the Gen X Quilters' Spoonflower Swap.

Spoonflower cluttered fruits

My Prairie Women Sewing Circle quilt #6 outgrew the design wall and was moved to the floor, where {bless him} hubby helped lay the rest of the blocks and setting pieces out. Believe it or not, this feels like a huge accomplishment - now I can at least stack the rows all up and continue with the sewing.

sunny Saturday - yay!

Lastly, again with hubby's help, we played with the layout of my Kaleidoscope quilt along triangles - at least got an idea on the design wall, so I can start piecing those too.

Whew! Talk about a sense of accomplishment! Feeling pretty good about all that . . .

Quilt-Alongs, Swaps, & Bees

One of the main reasons I started blogging was to join the online quilting community in a fuller sense. Right away, I jumped in quilt-along-ing with Block-a-palooza, Socken, and later, Supernova, which in itself was a profound quilting experience. Now, I am eager to start Kaleidoscope next week, with prints from my stash.

Mostly Denyse Schmidt Fairground, with a Katie Jump Rope plaid,
Amy Butler Lotus dots, Michael Miller Ta Dot, & Cloud Nine Nature Walk.
A prized piece of Flea Market Fancy Green Dot is on its way to round out the collection.

I ventured into the swap arena with safe, low-commitment SewSara's Scrap Swap and  A Little Fabric, A Little Chocolate {Swap!}. They were fun, and gave me the confidence to join Gen X Quilters' Spoonflower Swap, with its slighty higher {read: custom fabric} stakes, and flickr's Scrapbuster Swap, where we'll swap modern Scrappy Depression blocks like these . . .

photo credit: JulieFrick on Flickr

And I confess, when I started blogging, I had high hopes to eventually join a quilting bee. And that I have, just this week! The [3 X 6] Sampler Quilt Mini Bee seems a perfect 'first bee.' I can hardly wait to be assigned to a hive next week.

So. Progress is being made. Quilts are being created. Community is being built. Fun is being had. I've made some bloggy friends, who I enjoy sharing progress and ideas {and life} with. I find great inspiration in seeing the work of my fellow quilters, and I'm learning some things. All in all, it's a good thing.