Aussie Hoop Swap

 

 

Earlier this year I participated in the "Aussie Hoop Swap" which was hosted by Jas McMahon @jasminesews

 

Participants were asked to create a piece of hoop art for their assigned swap partners. 

 

Our partners were secret so we did not know who was making for us - at least we didn't until our parcel arrived.  And who we made for may not be the same person who was making for us.  Our dispatch deadline was 31 March.

 

My assigned swap partner was Kristy Monaghan @misskm89 who lives in Western Australia.  I was told that Kristy likes blue, aqua, turquoise and navy.  Kristy does not sew but does do embroidery.  

 

Kristy's inspiration mosaic

 

When Kristy mentioned that "the ocean is my place to be happy and sooth my soul" I immediately knew that I would run with this theme. I was inspired by the image of the lighthouse in her mosaic so went searching online for suitable images to use for inspiration.

 

This is the hoop that I made for Kristy.  I used a combination of variegated threads.  For the waves I used colour #1053 by ThreadWorx, #415 "Bonnie Brook" by Cottage Garden Threads for the lighthouse and seagulls; and #803 "Pea Soup" by Cottage Garden Threads for the light bulb.  I used a soft grey for the clouds.  I've used a combination of chain stitch, back stitch and satin stitch.

 

The entire parcel of goodies that I sent to Kristy kept with the ocean theme.  I included some stickers, the latest "Get Creative" magazine from Spotlight, a DMC embroidery pattern "Under the Sea", an "Ocean Breeze" candle and a selection of Semco embroidery threads in her favourite colours.

 

The candle that I included was called "Ocean Breeze"

 

The Semco threads that I sent were various shades of blues.

 

The card that I sent

 

When Kristy received her parcel

All photos on Instagram were posted with the hashtag #aussiehoopswap   There are some amazing photos in this feed so please check them out when you have time to do so. 

In my next post I will show you what I received from this swap.

Aussie Swag Bag Swap

 

 

Back in February there was a large quilting convention in America called "Quiltcon".  Surprise Surprise I didn't get to go, and nor did a whole lot of other Aussies.  Whilst we all got to gaze longingly at the mass of photos posted on Instagram, my good mate Janine @janithon decided to do something about it.  

 

Often when you go to a convention you receive a goodie bag or a show bag full of "stuff", so Janine decided to organise a goodie bag swap between us Aussies, and in true Aussie style, she called ours a Swag Bag Swap.

 

Swag Bag - A goodie bag that contains various useless yet irreplaceable items packed into a dufflebag, usually given at parties or by sponsors.

 

42 of us put our hands up and said "we want stuff!" so Janine assigned us all secret partners.  We were asked to confine our purchases to a retail value of AUD15-20 and we were asked to fill up our swag with "stuff" for our partner.  This was a NO SEWING SWAP!  We were not to make anything.  We could send sewing notions, fat quarters/charms/mini charms, pretty much anything quilting related.  We were asked to ship our swags by the 2nd of March.

 

This is what I sent to my partner:

 

I bought a red swag bag for my partner - Michelle

 

And I bought her lots of "stuff".  Michelle enjoys embroidery as well as quilting, so I included some DMC threads, a seam ripper, ribbon, buttons, pens, washi tape, and lots of fabric - some were fat quarters and some were useful sized scraps.

 



Michelle received her Swag Bag of "stuff".

 

And this is what I received from Kylie @alittlereddress

 

Beautifully wrapped!!

 

With a GORGEOUS gift card!

 

and lots of AMAZING "stuff"!!!  Lindt chocolate, lip balm, travel scissors, ribbon, a sharpie, a seam ripper, a mini charm pack, some Bonnie & Camille scraps, some Woodland Critters fat quarters and some Kaffe Fassett!!!!!

 

Other photos from this swap can be viewed on Instagram under the hashtags #AussieSwagBagSwap and #NotGoingToQuiltcon

 

The Circle Game - Block Three

 

The Circle Game Block 3 featuring Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  The centre squares were machine pieced and the rest of the block was hand pieced.

My Downton Swap "Parcel of Awesomeness" arrived.

On Thursday I posted about the Downton Swap and showed you the parcel of goodies that I sent to my swap buddy - Alison White.  Today it gives me great pleasure sharing with you the amazing parcel of awesomeness that I recently received from Samantha Dorn @aqua_paisley from South Australia. 

 

Firstly these are the inspiration mosaics & the information that I supplied for my swap partner to work with:

My favourite UPSTAIRS character was Lady Sybil.  I loved her natural beauty, sweet nature and her rebelliousness.  She saw the beauty in everything and was not up herself.  She also had great taste in men!!  I cried bucket loads when her character was killed off.

Oh we all like to dress up and enjoy high tea.  Years ago when I was travelling in the UK I enjoyed a schmancy high tea at "One Devonshire Gardens" in Glasgow and have also enjoyed high tea at a number of safari lodges throughout Africa & at hotels throughout Asia (I used to travel extensively for work).  I am not a tea drinker, I prefer coffee, but I do enjoy peppermint tea at night.  With regards to cakes & biscuits I have to stick with gluten free.

My favourite DOWNSTAIRS characters are Daisy & Mrs Patmore.  I love watching their kitchen antics and learning about how things were made back in those days.  Yes I do love to cook.  My own kitchen is red & white with 1970's era orange laminate bench tops. My goal this year is to schmancy it up a bit by adding some quilty goodness so your mug rug will probably end up being hung up on the kitchen wall or in my sewing room (depending on what colours you choose to use).

Before I show you what was IN the parcel, these are the teasers that Samantha had posted on Instagram.  Although I saw some of these photos under the #DowntonSwap feed, I honestly had no idea that any of this was headed my way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is what the postie delivered:



a great big box of awesome!

My Downton Swap goodies



My Downton Swap goodies

The Mug Rug features the Union Jack & a heart

The back of the Mug Rug

This Pincushion caddy is designed to sit over the edge of a lounge chair and it has several pockets which can hold sewing notions or the TV remote control.

a Lady Mary card

Tea Bag caddy



Tea Bag caddy opened



Tea Bag caddy with three tea bag sachets



"Petal & Plume" fabric by Art Gallery Fabrics

 

Such a beautifully bright parcel of awesomeness! 

Thank you so much Samantha.

 

Other photographs of this swap can be viewed on Instagram by typing in the hashtag #DowntonSwap

 

 

 

Downton Swap

I recently participated in the "Downton Swap" which was hosted on Instagram by @amber_crawley and @rockislander 

 

Participants were asked to create a mug rug for their swap partner together with two handmade items of their choice, although we were asked to keep our partner's preferences in mind with regard to any particular favourites that they had specified in their application form and on their inspiration mosaics. 

 

All photos on Instagram were posted with the hashtags #downtonswap  There are some amazing photos in this feed so please check them out when you have time to do so. 

 

Our partners were secret so we did not know who was making for us - at least we wouldn't know until our parcel arrived.  And who we made for may not be the same person who was making for us.  Our dispatch deadline was 24 February.

 

I was ecstatic to discover that my swap partner was one of my quilting friends Alison White @alisonwhite31 who lives down in Melbourne.  I've known Alison for quite a while and have been looking for a way to repay some recent generosity that she had sent my way.  I was determined to spoil her rotten! 

 

I was told that Alison likes: The Dowager Countess Violet Crawley (upstairs) and Bates (downstairs).  She loved the quote by the Dowager "what is a weekend?"  She loves Christmas, the flower show, dinner parties and the early morning for the staff when the bells start ringing. Her preferences were: something decorative, scissor keep (for embroidery scissors), pincushion, just about anything.  Alison doesn't like solids but is fond of retro type designers like Lori Holt, Figtree & Co, polka dots, cutesy Japanese prints and Pam Kitty fabrics.  She also liked the mellow toned Downton range of fabrics by Andover.

The mosaic that Alison posted

Armed with this information I set out on my secret squirrel mission and this is what I created for Alison:

 

Alison's entire Downton parcel of awesomeness.

"I'm Down With Downton Abbey" is a cross stitch pattern by Lisa LeBlanc of Cottage Nest.  The finished size was 8.5" x 7.5" which I then machine sewed to a grey polka dot fabric "Flurry" by Dashwood Studios, and attached to a stretched canvas frame.  The finished product can easily be wall mounted or will sit upright on a ledge.

another view of "I'm Down with Downton Abbey" hanging on the wall

Two fridge magnets which I purchased off eBay

A cookbook, Twinings English Morning Tea, and some buttons.

 

Pincushion, Pouch, Scissor Case and Needle Book (based on the "Roses on Parade" patterns by Val Laird published in "Crafts to Stitch" No 4).  The Downton Abbey quilt labels are by Andover and I used these together with some matching polka dot fabric and some vintage lace which I tea dyed.

A key fob which I made from Downton Abbey fabric by Andover.

The Mug Rug I made from Downton fabric by Andover.  I printed the picture of the Dowager Countess onto fabric and appliqued it by hand.  The embroidered text reads "Are you drinking tea from a bag?  How middle class." 

I added a mini charm pack of Aloha Girl by Fig Tree & Co - one of Alison's favourite fabric designers.

I used this washi tape to decorate the parcels as it reminded me of the fancy jewellery that Alison had included in her mosaic.

I added this cross stitch pattern in with the parcel.  It was one of my original ideas but I soon realised that I would not have the time to make it.

This was how I wrapped Alison's parcel, in pretty polka dot paper & decorated with schmancy washi tape & Downton fabric scraps.  The rotary cutter is hiding Alison's name & address on the envelope.

So, what did Alison think when she received it?  You be the judge: