My New Motivation

I have four new patterns from Sara at Sew Sweetness (one actually has three different versions though so there are actually six new items) that I am dying to try.  I've made a deal with myself that if I can finish up my Scrappy Swoon, Wedding Quilt, and a couple of small BOM blocks I can start on at least one of them.  Time to buckle down and get serious with the finishes!

Here is the Scrappy Swoon (with lots of toys in the background):

Backing and batting are bought and waiting.  I plan on basting this afternoon!

A suspicious package was waiting for me when I got home from work.  Inside:

 My items from the Modern She Made Swap.  I knew that I had put mine in the mail to my partner but I never even really thought about receiving something.  And didn't she pick the most perfect items for me?!  DO YOU SEE ALL OF THE OWLS AND BIRDS?!  (And do you see the little hand reaching in to snatch my goodies?)

He has claimed the pillow for his own :).  I have to admit that this pillow looks strangely out of place on my couch since all of the others are a muddy brown color (eeew!).  Maybe I'll have to work a little quicker on those pillow covers I have planned.

Wedding Quilt update:

I'm waiting on the last of the fabric for the top to arrive.  I have the backing and batting waiting in the wings though.  I have to admit that I am having a lot of trouble finding motivation for this quilt.  I had a totally different layout in mind.  It was originally supposed to be the Sea of Stars Quilt but due to time and fabric constraints I've had to change it up and just do not love the way it is shaping up.  There's no time to change it or make something else though, so I'll keep plugging away and just hope the recipients appreciate how much time and effort went into it.

I also want to say a huge thank you to all of the you who entered into my giveaway and decided to stick around and see more :)  I am working on compiling a list of all of the QALs and BOMs that are CURRENTLY taking place (with links of course :P).  There have been several that I've never heard of and more than a couple that have been tempting me.  Unfortunately I'm not up for the task of making a list of swaps and bees at the moment (sorry!)

I took the plunge and changed all of my shop/information to Sewing With Squeak.  Guess that means I need to order new business cards :/.  When I changed my e-mail address in Blogger, it deleted all of the blogs I follow so I guess I will be using only Bloglovin from now on.  I still have my old e-mail address since I don't want to lose the chance to be a tester for some of the wonderful pattern makers out there but won't be using it for anything else in the future.

Winner!

***Update--as someone was just kind enough to point out, I ended the giveaway a day early. I did not so this intentionally. All day I have thought it was Friday. Since I have already emailed the winner I have decided that there will be a second winner drawn at the correct time tomorrow. I haven't decided exactly what the prize will be yet, but I'll make sure it's something good :)*****

The winner of the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway is #471--Deb. I used the generator at Random.org but didn't get a photo before I went to check out who the winner was. When I went back to take the photo it had already reset itself :( so no picture. Congrats Deb, I will be emailing you shortly!

Really Random Rant & a Small Finish

First, the finish:

 My May Sugar Club block.

My first attempt at taking a photo of all of the blocks was foiled.  But it's hard to get mad when he's so cute :)

This one is better!  I am now caught up on exactly ONE of my BOMs/QALs--about 11 more to go :)

There has also been lots of progress on the Scrappy Swoon.  So I may have a finish tomorrow if all goes as planned.  My brother has asked me in the past if I could make a Dr. Who quilt for him and since the new QAL started yesterday I figured this was as good of a time as any to get started on it (what's one more WIP added to my stack anyway?--well two actually since there are two versions he wants).  I'm thinking maybe after we go pick out his fabric this evening I can make him stay and watch Squeak for a minute while I get some work done. 

Speaking of fabric...when I went to pick up the goodies for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway my LQS was having a token sale and my token was for 40% off!!!  Let's just say I have plenty to show for Sunday Stash this week :).  The sale runs through the week so I'll go today and hope that I can get another good token so I can buy some backing fabric for the Swoon and Wedding quilts that I need to finish before the end of the month.  Speaking of finishing the Wedding quilt, I did finally order the fabric I need to finish it, yay!

I do have 5 earbuds pouches that I need to make before I can start the fun stuff tonight :(

If you thought all of that was the really random then you were really wrong :P

First off, I will start with my rant:  Why is it that anytime a pregnant woman cleans she must be nesting???  Maybe she's just fed up with her house being a chaotic mess due to having a one year old and a husband (not sure which is worse at this point).  Now if I start labeling things unnecessarily or rearranging the furniture we can revisit the nesting idea, but if I'm just doing normal stuff like laundry, dishes and bathrooms then leave it alone!

Alright I feel a little better :)  Now on to the second part and a serious question.  I am considering changing my Etsy shop name to Sewing With Squeak (the tags on my items would have SWS instead of SD) instead of Swallow Designs.  While I like the original name, I wonder if there is a little confusion when people first hear it.  Does it almost sound like porn or lingerie?  And it would just make things easier I think, especially when marketing.  People ask me where they can find my stuff online and I have to spout off several different things.  If I changed it, I could just say Google Sewing With Squeak and you will find me.  I would love to know your thoughts since you can only change your Etsy name once and I don't want to have to start all over :)

Have You Seen...

Sara from Sew Sweetness's new patterns??? 

They are absolutely wonderful and since we opened one of those bank accounts where if you make so many ____ $ purchases within a certain time period they will give you a $100 I figure I better do my part in getting that extra money by making a purchase immediately :)  I will be picking up the two newest patterns and waiting to see if by some miracle I win her pattern bundle giveaway before I purchase the rest. 

Be sure and check out all of the bags the testers made.  My favorite of the Lilium Laptop Bag is the one by Laura of Quokka Quilts.  She is already aware that I plan on blatantly copying her fabrics and their placement :)

BTW this is NOT a sponsored post.  I just happened to make an Aeroplane Bag using one of her patterns the other day and absolutely love it so I'm eager to try more!

Giveaway Day Response

The number of comments I have gotten on my Giveaway Day post are a bit overwhelming!  I've definitely got a few BOMs and QALs that I'll need to check into now :)  Would anyone be interested in a list of current ones?

I managed to finish up a couple of small projects last night.

I chose this as my first block in the Forest QAL.  I love paper piecing but this one had a lot of little sections.  Can you spot my three mistakes?  Oh well, I'm not ripping it apart :)

 Due to extreme exhaustion and lack of energy I missed out on March and April of the Threadbias Pretty in Patchwork Sew Along.  This month I'm on the ball and already have my project completed!  A cute little drawstring bag using a charm pack and fat quarter of Glamping and a bit of pink left over from the Kirby Pillow Cover.  The sparkly pink ribbon was in my stash and was the perfect drawstring for this project.  Who doesn't love a little extra sparkle!?

Since the photo above was from Instagram I thought I'd include this one too so you can see the true colors.  Plus isn't my helper cute :)  Look at the mess he created while I was finishing up this little bag!!!  Maybe it's time to weed out some of those toys...

And in case you were wondering how I keep track of all of my BOMs and QALs, here it is.  My magnificent system.  Each labeled and kept in a corner of the room.  This way I don't have to search for by fabrics and patterns each time I start working on them.  Now there are a few exceptions.  The Lucky Stars and And Sew On BOMs are being made from scraps every month so I pull those from my stash as needed but the finished blocks are kept in the bins.  I decided to pull them out last night and set them on my cutting mat as a kind of motivation.  I am behind on every one of these.  I can't put the bin back in the corner until I finish at least one bin/section.  Think it will work?

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway!

Hi there!  I thought I would give all of those who are (hopefully) stopping by from the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day a little overview of what I do here :).

I love anything crafty.  Mainly sewing and quilting, but I also embroider, cross stitch, crochet, knit, and I have been known to dabble with paper crafts on occasion.  I am also an avid reader, mother, animal enthusiast and wife.  Not so much on cooking or baking but that could always change :).  So to sum it up I write about a bit of everything!

There are some possible big changes in my near future that could allow me to focus more on my blog and projects (yay!) as well as a new little one in mid October :).

A few of my favorite projects so far:

Now on to the good stuff and the real reason your here ;)

I have a fat quarter set of some of the popular Architexture prints as well as a mini charm pack of Moda's Happy Go Lucky.  

So how do you enter?
Just leave a comment. If you need a topic, please let me know about any QALs, BOMs or Sew Alongs that your participating in.

Followers old and new get an additional entry.

If you are a no-response commenter, please leave your email in the comment.  Entries without an email address will be disqualified. The winner must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If the winner does not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by! It gets a bit chaotic on Giveaway Day and I can't always respond to every comment like I want, but I really appreciate your visit! Good luck and thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you again!

International entries welcome.  The giveaway will be open through May 10th at 6 p.m. CST. 

****Man it has been a strange week for me. I got my days of the week mixed up and ended the giveaway a day early. Since I've already sent an email to the winner I will be drawing a second place prize on FRIDAY 5/10 at 6 pm CST. I'm not sure what it will be exactly. Maybe another set of architecture FQs, maybe something entirely different :)*****

Custom Quilt Top Complete & Bit of a Dilemma

 I have to admit that this turned out much better than I had imagined.

I'm picking up the backing on my lunch break and hope to get started on quilting tonight.  I'm just using widely spaced straight lines so hopefully it won't take too long.  The binding is already cut and will be applied by  machine.

I managed to finish up this little guy on Friday.  There's one May project out of the way :).  I also got quite a bit accomplished on my Spring Sampler!  And I started one block of the Forest QAL.  Ugh, another WIP (why do I do this to myself?!)

And my dilemma...after searching through my stash this morning I couldn't find anything worthy of the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway (of that I could part with) so I suppose I will probably pick up something while I'm getting my backing fabric at lunch.  I had the same problem with my homemade items :(  I may try to whip something up this afternoon so be sure and check back to see what I come up with!