What appears to be a tangled mess of floss is actually all sorted and ready to go.....at least that's my hope. I was able to distinguish between the different colors without any problem, but when it came to what name and symbol went with what color, it was any one's guess.

Who are they kidding??!! Here's a short list of some of the colors......Pale Brown, Light Brown, Brown, Dark Brown, Light Rust, Rust, Dark Rust, Darkest Rust, Pale Beige, Light Beige.....
Yikes! And just within the brown family. The greens and yellows were just as confusing. Well, I did the best that I could and with any luck, the project will look like the picture on the package!




Hopefully, this will be a finished project and these threads will all go together to make a nice picture and a great gift. To be continued.........

My Pink/Green/White swap exchange blocks are now set into a quilt, ready for quilting. This picture is not very good as I don't have any place large enough to spread it out and then be able to get far enough away for a good shot. Use your imagination.....

I used 15 blocks, leaving 3 for a table runner, and set them 3 blocks x 5 blocks. It measures 52" x 84", which is a long, narrow quilt, not a standard size.

This quilt will fit the antique "handyman's" bed that is in my den. It's much smaller (narrower) than a twin mattress, but just as long, so these measurements will be just right for a nice drop, all the way around.

I'm not thrilled with the fabric that I used for the outside sashing. It's a little too dark and too olive to blend as nicely as I would like. I had used it in the swap blocks that I made, not knowing what shades would be used by the other swappers. As one block, it will blend just fine, as a border, it's not quite what I wanted. However, all of the fabric used in this quilt (including the block fabrics that I sent out) came from my stash, and therefore, was "free." OK.....I had to buy this fabric at some point, but for this particular project, I didn't have to buy any extra fabric.

It now goes into my Bermuda Triangle of unfinished projects, as I'm not happy or comfortable with my own machine quilting and can't afford to have it sent out. This would be a good quilt to experiment on since it will be for my own use and not given away. We'll see....

I'm really happy with the swap blocks that I received and would join another "no sew" swap in a heartbeat! Thanks to everyone that participated. :)

I wanted to show you what I did with my sad looking couch over the week end. This couch is probably about 13 or 14 years old and it's the only cushioned seating in my house. Therefore, it gets used and used and used........ It was (is) a good quality couch and just needed some TLC.

It had lost some of it's oomph and the cushions were showing signs of being squashed and were unable to rebound. I read somewhere that you could add quilt batting to stuff in the low spots but I thought that would take a whole lot of trouble, a whole lot of batting, and that it would possibly be pretty lumpy.

I went to Joanne's and sorted through all of the foam and batting products and came upon 2" NU-Foam. It's compressed polyester and as I squished the different foams and battings, it seemed the most firm and substantial. OH, and it was much less costly than some of the other foams. My original plan was to add an entire layer of the NU-Foam to the whole top of the cushions and then decided to just add a strip of Nu-Foam to the front of the cushions where most of the wear was showing. I cut a 5" high strip by the length of the cushion fronts.

It was a little bit of a struggle to get the foam strips shoved down to the front of the cushions and then smooth it out evenly. I'll bet the whole process was about 15 minutes for both cushions.





Here's the after shot. It's pretty dramatic for a little expense and a little elbow grease. I don't know how long it will last, but it will be easy enough to do the whole procedure over when it droops again.

Meanwhile, my couch has a new lease on life and I can hold off on buying a new one. I like that!

They are all finished! Eighteen blocks, including the two blocks that I contributed to the swap. This is the last batch of the Pink/Green/White swap blocks.



"Churn Dash"--Thanks Diane
"Box Kite"--Thanks Georgia



"Rail Fence"--Thanks Karie
"Pinwheel"--Thanks Diane

I really enjoyed this swap because we all sewed our own blocks from the pieces that were cut out by the swappers. Not having to cut out the block pieces was a huge time saver and it was fun to see what pattern the swappers picked out and their fabric choices. I was also able to control my own seam allowances and make sure that all of the blocks came out to a perfect 12 1/2". Not surprisingly, 1/4" on my machine may be different on your machine. Even a few threads multiplied by several seams can make the overall block a different size. Sewing my own will make setting the blocks a breeze, as they are all uniform in size.

I'm still mulling over what I'm going to make with all of these blocks. I have 18 completed blocks, which includes the 2 blocks that I contributed to the swap. Right now, I'm thinking of making a large lap quilt using 16 blocks, 4 x4. This will leave two left over blocks that could be used for the sides of a tote or I could make an additional block to make a table runner. I've been playing with my graph paper to decide what to do. Hmmmmm.......decisions.........

Are you getting tired of seeing my Pink/Green/White swap blocks? I hope not, because I've got four more to show you today! ;)




"Shoo Fly"--Thanks Debbie (nontraditional)
"Shoo Fly"--Thanks Karen (traditional)




"Twisting Star"--Thanks Rebecca
"Mini Bow Tie"--Thanks Jane

Four more Pink/Green/White no sew swap blocks;



"Four Patch Fox and Goose"--Thanks Sharon
"Tulip Lady Fingers"--Thanks Wanda



"1930's Square"--Thanks Robin
"Sunlight and Shadows"--Thanks Lea

February BOM. This went together quickly and easily. Since February is short, I wanted to get this block finished before the end of the month slipped up on me.

(Thanks for picking up my block kit, Kathy....and for the cookies...Yum!)



I've been nipping away at the Pink/Green/White quilt block swap kits. Here are a few that are completed.

"Louisiana"--Thanks Andrea

"Prairie Queen"--Thanks Kathleen

"Oh Susannah"--Thanks Kathleen

"Tennessee"--Thanks Lynne

These have been fun to pick up and sew when I've had a little "block" of time. I have more finished and will post those soon. So far, they have gone together pretty well and I'm pleased with the results. I'm still not sure how I'll use the blocks (full quilt, runners, lap quilt, etc.) but I like having lots of blocks to give me lots of options.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Mail Call!

I received my "no sew" block exchange today! Since I did two exchanges, I received 16 pink, green, and white block kits. I've already made the two blocks that I sent in for the swap so I'll have 18 total blocks to work with when I get them all sewn. The fabrics that the exchangers chose are all great....there isn't one fabric that I don't like.



Kathleen, my great swap hostess, also enclosed a little bonus, the tissue holder that you see in the bottom left corner. She did a great job on this with both her color choices and construction. The holder has boxed corners and a double trimmed edge, which really adds to it's character. Thanks Kathleen!

I've had a rough month of illness and these blocks will be a nice project to pick up whenever I get a little time. Some of these blocks will go together in about 15 minutes, others a bit longer, but since I can just pick up one at a time, there's no completion pressure. I can't wait to see how they all look when they are put together! Thanks to all of the swappers!

Several inches of snow arrived last night and I'm spending the day inside, enjoying the view.

I've been wandering around on the quilting sites that are frequently advertised in the quilt magazines and came upon;

http://www.redroosterfabrics.com/

They have a nice assortment of free pattern downloads and although I have way too many patterns as it is, it's still fun to add more to your possible future projects folder. When you go to the site, just click on patterns and you will find both current and retired patterns. Obviously, they are designed around their fabric lines, but you can use your own stash. I found several patterns that I thought were a little bit different and copied them for my files.

And another place you should check out is;

www.allpeoplequilt.com/millionpillowcases

I've mentioned this before, but there is a huge need for charity quilts and pillowcases too. I love the pillowcases because I can make them quickly and since they require much less fabric, cheaper. The site has four pillowcase patterns for you to download.

Back to browsing.......

Oooh, I'm back. Here's another great site;

http://www.windhamfabrics.com/

They have some great free patterns too. Don't miss the Page 2 tab at the top of the first page of patterns.