This is what I made for my Paper Bag swap partner!!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great day. I worked today and ended up being forced to stay at work for an extra 2.5 hrs. I was not that happy about that. But there wasn't much I could do about it. One good thing about today is that my Snickerdoodle Paper Bag Swap partner received the package I sent her. So now I can show you what I sent her. I made her a wall hanging mini quilt. I hand pieced it and hand quilted it. I used the pattern Patchwork Cottage by a Canadian pattern company called The Rabbit Factory. I made a few changes to it since this pattern is for a whole quilt and I only used one of the blocks to make my mini quilt. This pattern was great and the instructions were very easy to follow.

I also made a large pincushion using some of the trims that Kjerstin sent me.

I gave her a nice notebook and also gave her the Patchwork Cottage pattern. Just in case she would want to make the whole quilt. I really enjoyed making this little quilt. I almost didn't want to send it to her, because I loved it so much. But I was also excited that I had put my all into this little quilt, and hoped that my partner would love it as much as I did. And she did. I'm so glad.

You should all go check out the Rabbit Factory Blog. She has a free applique block of the month. I think you would love.

Happy Stitching!!!

Ariane :o)

I got my Snickerdoodle Paper bag swap gifts!! Yeah!!!

Hi everyone! I got home from work tonight and what did I find, a package from the postman from my Snickerdoodle Paper bag swap partner Kjerstin Aker. I got such wonderful gifts. I got a wonderful bag with a cute little bumble bee and my name embroidered on it. I love that. I don't have too many things with my name on it because it's not that common here.

She made me a little thread catcher basket, a needle organizer and some great embroidery needles, a scissor cozy, a mini pincushion with some tiny little applique pins in it, a beautiful thimble and a strawberry that turns out into a cloth bag.

Oh!!! I just love it all. They are all so well made and so cute. I think she read my mind when she made me the needle organizer, because I can never find my sewing needles. I have a package here and there. Can never find the size I want, even though I know I have it somewhere. Now I'll be able to have them all organized together. That strawberry bag is such a great idea. I can put that in my big purse and have it for when I go shopping. Then I have an extra bag to put items in.

Then to top it off, she sent me some pieces of Thai-silk that her closest neighbour has given her. I love them. I'll be able to use them in a special project. A mini crazy quilt or something like that.

I'm so happy with all my gifts. Thanks you so much Kjerstin. It was fun to do this swap with you. I hope you receive my package soon.

Happy Stitching!!

Ariane :o)

Di's Christmas "3" in August Challenge

Hi everyone!! I worked today. It was really hot and humid. Which really tested my patience. I had a lot of work to do and I was so excited to come home. I was all ready to go, I was tired.....but I couldn't find my car keys. I searched and searched...my co-worker searched and searched. I just couldn't find them. I was so frustrated. I said a little prayer to St. Anthony. He's the Saint that helps you find things. I said: "Please St. Anthony help me find my keys, I'm so tired and I want to go home." I turn around and look at my work bag. I look inside again. I have this little pocket on the inside of the bag that I put some papers in. I move the papers around and what do I find. My KEYS!!! AHHHH..........They were in my bag all along. It took me 20 minutes to find them. I was really tired. But thankfully I did find them. My Mom always told me that if I lost something to pray to St. Anthony. It always works. I don't know why I waited so long to do it.

Anyways, I found a cute blog today. Di from Quilting is Blissful is having Christmas "3" in August Challenge. She is challenging us to make three Christmas projects in August with her. I had already purchased some Christmas fabric to add to the fabric I already had and bought the nicest Christmas pattern booklet. So I had already decided that I was going to make some Christmas projects in August. This Challenge is just an added bonus. I haven't started any yet. So they are all going to be started from scratch. I can't wait to get started. Well, I hope you all have a good night. I'm going to bed now. I have to work tomorrow evening and I have lots to do before I go in.

Happy Stitching!

Ariane :o)

A block made from some of my scraps

Hi everyone! Yesterday I was playing around and looking at what I had in my scrap bags. I have two plastic grocery bags full of my scraps. They aren't organized or anything. I just throw all my scraps in there. Most are very small, but some are less then a fat eighth. After I made the cushion cover using my log cabin ruler, I decided I should use the smaller width and make a smaller log cabin block with my really small scraps. I decided to use pinks, pale greens and yellow. I came out with a really nice block. I thought I would make it bigger and make it into a star block. I really like the way it turned out. It's about 12 inches now. I still have quite a bit of small scraps in those colors. So, I think I'm just going to set them aside and make a bunch of different blocks and make a small sampler quilt out of my pink, pale green and yellow scraps. It's something different to do. I didn't really feel like working on the projects I have already started and have not completed. My list of UFO's is getting long again. Oh well!! Sometimes, I just need a distraction and make something else.

I hope you all had a good day. We went to the beach today. The kids had fun. But I have to work the rest of the week. So I'm going to go to bed soon.

Happy Stitching!!

Ariane :o)