The Down Under Doll Quilt Swap - Happy Mail

About 2 months ago Kate from One Flew Over invited participants to join in the Down Under Doll Quilt Swap (round 2) and I managed to get a place in the swap! There are only about 10 days to go now before all of the quilts need to be posted to our partners and there are already lots of gorgeous creations in the DUDQS flickr group.  

I have already received my DQ from my partner (thank you Leah!!!!!!) which I just love. The colours and vintagey fabrics she has used are so pretty and it really is such a clever design as the dimension the puffy "pods" have is amazing!!!

On the back she has stamped "DUDQS" and done some lovely handstitching for the binding. I really like the elephant tape she used on the packaging too:)

And she included a cute little mug rug with really nice pebbly quilting (which I need to try.....) in the middle and it now resides on my bedside table as it was just the right size for that early morning cuppa.

Thanks again Leah, and also to Kate for organizing it all:) This was my first swap and now I am hooked!! 

Now I just need to finalize my DQ to send off to its new home ......... 

Kirsten.

Bloggers Quilt Festival - Artsy Trees Mini Quilt

Artsy Trees Mini Quilt

Hi to everyone who is visiting from the  Bloggers Quilt Festival! I am really loving seeing so many amazing quilts!

I loved this amazing Artsy paper scene made by Loretta Grayson when I first saw it a few years ago and although I have already made a paper version of it, have always wanted to try to recreate it in fabric. 

 So I began by building up the background, using a great wonky starburst tutorial by Darci @ Stitches and Scissors to make the sunset. Then I used some fusible webbing for the circles and did some wonky FMQ around them:

  Then the tree trunks (I used linen and Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2 woodgrain) were sewn down over the tops of the circles.

Lastly, I cut a few leaves which I just stitched down the centre of to give them some dimension. The finished mini quilt is about 15" x 16" and I have it hanging in the kitchen as it is so bright and cheerful! It makes me smile whenever I see it there as I had so much fun making it:)

 Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you are enjoying all of the wonderful quilts in the festival as much as I am!

Kirsten.