Good Swap Received!

Who had a great day today?

This girl did!

I received my first package in the mail 

from the Goodie Swap 2011

Hosted by the bestest person ever,

Cindy of Fluffy Sheep Quilting

Here are the goodies I received from

Svetlana.  You can check out her blog 

here.

It's truly a great blog. 

I can't even begin to tell you how beautiful her work is, but I can show you!

Everything from the mugrug to the bag, to the pillow, pins, chocolate and card

were absolutely perfect!

Thank you so very much, Svetlana!!

I love this more than I can ever say!!

And for kicks and giggles, I had to show you what I whipped up last night.

The fabric is called The Ghastlies and you can find it 

here.

I absolutely LOVE it!

The pink and black fabric are by Patrick Lose
(another one of my favorites)

I hope your day brought you lots of great things!

xoxo

Cindy

Mugrug World Tour

I'm pretty excited.

I was contacted by Laura of Quokka Quilts blog.

She came up with an awesome idea.

That idea is to create a Mugrug World Tour

by posting pictures of mugrugs

representing the area you're from.

So, she asked if I would be interested in doing one

to represent Iowa.

HECK YEAH I WOULD!

So, I have been busy thinking and drawing

to come up with the best 

representation of Iowa I can.

The designing part is easy.

Making it look like it does in my head

on the fabric will be another issue.

But I will do it! 

If you would like more information on this, just click on the button

on the top right of my sidebar titled, "Mugrug World Tour".

(or just click here )

And if you're interested in participating for your state, or country, etc,

just contact Laura by going to her blog, see her "About Me" on the right 

side bar, click on "View My Complete Profile", then click on her email.

 

I promise to do us Iowan's proud!

More to come....

xoxo

Cindy

Sign-Ups for Upcoming Swaps

How cute is this?  Pretty darn cute, I say!

It's my mosaic for the Modern Christmas Tablerunner Swap 2011 on Flickr.

There's still time to sign up!

Sign ups close on October 2nd, so click on the link and head on over.

It's another secret swap, so your partner won't know you  have their name.

That makes it SO much fun.

And this mosaic I created is for another swap on Flickr

call the  Scrappy Swap

This swap closes on September 30th,

so click on the link and join! 

For kicks & giggles I had to have a picture of Edward & Bella from Twilight.

Yes...I am a Twilight junkie.

GO TEAM EDWARD!

It's also a 'secret' swap.

You won't be disappointed!

So...there you have it.

I gave you a couple of events to participate in.

You never know...

I might be your secret partner!

Enjoy your day!

xoxo

Cindy

Anywhere Bag, Goodie Swap 2011 & More!

SURPRISE!!

How the heck have you been?

I have been crazy busy

putting in a lot of hours at the office.

Then....

Canning tomatoes.

Canning tomato juice.

Canning salsa.

And today, I'm canning spaghetti sauce.

It was a great year for tomatoes in the Smith house.

BUT... in between all of this,

I still found time to get some sewing in.

Like this amazing bag from my friend, Melissa.

If you are interested in purchasing the pattern for this,

you can find it here 

I can promise that you will love it just as much as I do.

This is the second time I've made this bag.

I think this one would be perfect for a teenage girl.

Here's a close up of the ribbon

And the fabulously lined inside with a pocket to boot!

Thank you for creating such an awesome bag

Melissa!

I am sending the items below to my partners in the Goodie Swap 2011

hosted by the one and only Cindy of Fluffy Sheep Quilting.

Here is the mug rug and goodies I'm sending Partner #1.  I can't show the

front of the rug yet until she receives the package.

This swap has all been a secret, so she doesn't know I'm her partner.

And I want to keep it that way until the package arrives!  :o)

The money pouch is by Terri Atkinson (LOVE her stuff!). 

The pattern by Terri is called Cash & Carry.

It's a pattern for 3 different zipper bags.

and the turtle pincushion (which I've posted before) is called Heneritta by Heather Bailey.

And here are all of her goodies wrapped up in a pretty fat quarter!

And for Partner #2

Technically we were to send a mug rug and one goodie (the goodie being something

made by you).  I wanted to give Partner #2 a needle case.

So, I found a tutorial for one and when I wanted to add a little extra on it

(being the decorative stitch around the edges), my needle was skipping some of the flower petals.

Hhhhmmfffttthhh

So, while shopping with my sister one day, I found this pattern by Terri Atkinson with these cute bags.

I thought they would be handy to have, as you can hold money in the zipped part and put your debit/credit 

cards in the pockets. 

(there's a pocket in the outside front and back)

So that makes me feel better shipping this along with everything else.

So here's Partner #2's 'wrapped in a fat quarter' goodies

I can't WAIT until my partners get their goodies.  I am crossing my fingers that they like them!

Tomorrow I will be posting links to two new swaps I signed up for.

Make sure to stop back and LOOK

Because there is still time for YOU

to join!

And they look to be just as much fun as the Goodie Swap.

And THAT swap was incredibly fun!

It was so much fun that I hope you sign up to the ones

I'm linking tomorrow.

Until tomorrow!

xoxo

Cindy

Goodie Swap 2011

I have to tell you about the current swap I'm participating in.

Cindy from Fluffy Sheep Quilting

is hosting this fun event.

Cindy is from Ireland.

Which I think is wonderful!

Ireland and Scotland are on my bucket list.

Scotland, of course, because I'm part Scotish

and Ireland (and you're probably going to laugh) because

ever since I saw PS I Love You,

I have been in love with Ireland.

I look at pictures all the time and just feel so at peace

whenever I look at them.

It's beautiful!

Some day....

So, what I love about this swap is the fact that I have no idea

who has my name.  And I love that the names I have

also have no idea I'm their secret 'stalker'.

We each get two swap partners.

I'm taking this week to get to 'know' my partners

to make sure I come up with the best swap goodies I can for them.

We will each make a mug rug and a 'goodie' (pin cushion, bag, pillow, etc

just some fun goodie that's  handmade).

Here's my mosaic I created with a few of the things that tickle my fancy

But to be honest, I will be happy with anything.

Any time someone takes time out of their day

to do something just for you,

well, that's pretty special all in itself.

So, THANK YOU, Cindy for hosting such a great swap!

This is going to be a great time!

Thank you, Melissa!!

I have to say 

that I am pretty blessed.

Through blogging, I have met a great friend.

Melissa of 100 Billion Stars

She continually inspires me to think outside the box.

I'm such a rule follower that it's hard for me to

'color outside the lines' 

so to speak.

But reading Melissa's blog inspires me

to get a little crazy.

(Plus she is a huge animal lover like myself)

Though I 'm not ready to post any of my craziness yet,

I can show you what she sent me in the mail!

All these lovely Sis Boom scraps to welcome me to

Sis Boom Sisterhood!!

I just purchased

Girl's World by Jennifer Paganelli

(of Sis Boom).

Now, mind you, I don't have any little girls,

but this book was too cute to pass up!

And I do have little nieces I can sew for as well.

Hopefully, I will one day have granddaughters too.

But I had to take a picture of the book with all the luscious scraps

Melissa sent to me.

What a nice surprise!!  Melissa, you completely made my day!

Here's something I whipped up last night from some of the scraps.

I'm not quite sold on the button yet.  

I think because it's a bit off center.

We'll see if I keep it.

And I realized I needed something

trustworthy to guard all this precious fabric

when I'm not in my sewing room.

Lucky for me, the book had a pattern for this cute little gal.

And of course, she had to be pink

and made out of Sis Boom fabric that I recently purchased.

So what girl isn't complete without her bling?

That keeps her on her toes while she guards all the fabric.

She is stationed on the shelf to keep watch.

I think thieves will be afraid of her, should they come in and try and steal my fabric.

She is rough and tough.

What should I name her?

I took a picture of her on my phone and sent it to my sister and my cousin.

They both want a guard dog now.

I did make them each one, but since this post is dedicated to Sis Boom,

and the dogs are made out of other material from my stash,

they will be posted at a later date.

:o)

I will end this post with a picture of the opposite side of the pillow I made from

the fabric Melissa sent me along with my dog.

Now if you're interested in learning more about Sis Boom

you can click here.

Trust me, you will get hooked.

This is all so scrumptious

that you will have a  hard time saying, "NO".

Check out stores in Etsy

if you would like to purchase

the fabrics.  Just search either Sis Boom,

or Jennifer Paganelli and you'll get all kinds of stores

to lure you in.

I purchased Girl's World from Amazon, if you're interested.

It truly is a great book.  Beautifully designed,

great patterns and pages among pages of inspiration!

Melissa,

Thank you for just being you.

I think you are pretty darn awesome.

Until the next adventure!

xoxo

Cindy

PS  

This posting was not sponsored by anyone.

This is my own free will review.

I'm kind of like that.

When I believe in something,

I just share it with no expectation.

It's kind of one of those things that makes the world go round

in an old fashioned way.

:o)

Exciting Stuff

Before I forget, I need to post the mug rug

I received from my swap partner, Lissy.

The swap was hosted by Jenna at

Sew Happy Geek's blog.

Isn't it pretty?  And she sent me a lovely postcard from where she lives too.

I was pretty lucky!

I participated in my first Friday Night Sew-In last night.

(as mentioned in the post below)

This is hosted monthly by Heidi.

I highly recommend doing this.  It was fun just knowing

there were other quilters, crafters and creators out there

doing their own thing.

There's a groups of us ladies at work that joined Weight Watchers.

It's going GREAT!

But we all needed something to carry all the information in.

Things like our points calculators, weekly pamphlets, etc.

So I utilized my Friday Night Sew-In to make the last of the

bags and pouches to finish our group.

(Yeah...they are lucky to have me!)
KIDDING!

Here's the pouch & bag I made

for the last of my group.

I also had a bridal shower today for my cousin.  I wanted to put

something handmade in the gift, so I made her these appliqued tea towels.

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

I think she liked them.  :o)

Now...if any of you are interested in participating in a fun swap,

head on over here. It looks to be a good one!

You'll have two partners to send to.  (and 2 will send to you) Each will receive a mug rug 

along with another homemade goodie.

The fun is that you have no idea who will be sending to you!

It won't be the same one's you're assigned to gift.
I love the mysteriousness of it all.

So head on over and join the fun!

Sign up end August 26th.

Later, Gater!

xoxo

Cindy