swap swap swap-a-roo

i joined Ba{m}s a while ago.

i have enjoyed my time in the group but as i have discovered, i am awesome at over-extending myself.  

it is one of my few resolutions that will begin in a few days.

i will be downsizing.

anywho... it was the christmas swap.  make a mini...

these were our instructions:  .

You will be making a MODERN mini quilt no smaller than12"x12" & no bigger than 24"x24". Your mini must include at least 6 blocks; tiny is so much fun, so please stretch yourself with your design.

stretch myself... check!

 bam!  clamshells!

my first ever.  i loved the hell out of this mini.  

i loved making the clams, i loved hand stitching them on, i loved hand quilting it. 

it was a joy from start to finish! truly, a joy! 

it really wasn't that much of a stretch.  i am good with needle and thread; it is where i am home.

i also had some awesome tutes that i followed... 

miss mary's is amazing as usual and the reason i hand quilted!

and penny's grid was what it kept everything straight.

i also made her a little journal cover with rachels great tutorial.

my tip is, because i did so much piecing on it, i interfaced the backside with a little pellon sf-101.  (love that stuff) to keep it looking nice on the inside.  rachel does say in her tutorial if you use batting or interfacing to make sure you make your cover 15 1/4" long to account for the extra bulk of the cover.  

now i will caution you to heeeeeeed her words, or you will be picking out and restitching...  just sayin... ;) you may even want to go 15 3/8"... just to be sure! 

so, there it is.  

my partner Jill was pretty happy with it.  i am so glad.  it was very fun making it for her and it really did feel good to stretch myself a little.  i made her all things that i had never made before and i loved every minute of it (even the unpicking).  

i see more clamshells and journal covers in my future.

also,  we had swap in our Heal circle of do.Good.

i got the lovely melissa and was happy to make this little needlebook for her.

i used nanacompany's tute.

this is the backside.

and the frontside.

and this little pinnie.  i used dana's tute and templates on the stars, they were so fun!  

i shrunk the templates to 60%. 

i have one more swap that i need to finish now. and then i will be finished with swaps for a while i think.  i am afraid it is going to have to wait until the very beginning of the year since i have a PILE of presents to wrap and put under the christmas tree now.  

i probably won't be back in this space until after the holidays so... 

have a very very merry christmas and a very happy new year! 

xo

nicke