Saturday, October 25, 2014

For the love of swaps

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I’ve participated in a lot of swaps over the years, from Block Swap Adventure to online bees to handmade Christmas gifts.  Sometimes I’ve been blown away by the creativity and skill of my partner.  A few times my partner was a dud or never answered any communication.  Oh well, the positive experiences far outweigh the negative ones.

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The DCMQG hosted it’s first swap among members this month, a mug rug swap!  My partner listed red and white fabric and batiks as dislikes.  She asked for a big-sized mug rug (around 10-12 inches) and I stalked her blog a little and found out she likes cats and dogs and dislikes tea and possibly likes retr0-looking funky fabric.  So going on that information, I got to work!

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Am I the only person who finds making wonky stars completely mind-boggling???  I know I’ve said it before, but visualizing where things will go is SO DIFFICULT!!!  Luckily it turned out that all the letters were upright.  I used white Aurifil thread to densely quilt straight lines on a diagonal.  (Aside:  I sent my sister the Aurifil piecing box for her birthday this month and she is now an Aurifil convert as well.)

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I wasn’t sure if my partner drinks coffee or not, so I sent some of my favorite hot chocolate and this cute owl mug with the mug rug.

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The backing fabric is this pretty Color Me Retro blue/purple/green  floral print.

It was mailed yesterday, so it should be received today or Monday. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

10 comments:

  1. A very lucky receiver. 'Cheshire Quilter' participates in so many swaps and she keeps up with them. I enjoy seeing what she makes. I did a fabric swap and that was fun.

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  2. That is really nice, Jamie. I always have a problem being random with the wonky stars. Guess I am too much of a perfectionist for wonky!

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  3. Sounds like you did a pretty thorough job of stalking your partner. I'm sure she'll love her mug rug. I'm amazed that all the text is right-side up!

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  4. Very nice mug rug! Wonky really is nerve-wracking isn't it? :-)

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  5. This is so awesome! And I love that mug. Absolutely love! :)

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  6. I love swaps too :-) This is such a fun mug rug :-)

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  7. What a gorgeous mini! The star is really fun and I love the little pieces in the corners, they look a bit like butterflies fluttering around. The diagonal quilting emphasises the lines of the stars.

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  8. This is so cool, Jamie! I love star blocks! I bet your swap partner is going to love it, too :)

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  9. I think we all have had some great swaps and some duds. And your mug rug is just devine....

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  10. You did a great job Jamie! And the owl mug is so cute!

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Some days the only adult I talk to is my husband...help him keep his sanity by leaving a comment so I have another adult to talk sewing with:) I will make sure to reply!