a nice surprise and some works in progress...

i was going through my google reader today, checking up on some of my favorite blogs. i saw this really cute grouping of images and then realized, "hey! that looks familiar!"



thank you so much, fat quarterly for including my little red and white hexie flower in this amazing post!

now, on to works in progress. i am not really one for "the process". i tend to just sit in front of my sewing machine and just make stuff. following patterns, for the most part, kind of freaks me out. and i've never done mock-ups of things i've wanted to make before. but the idea is growing on me. especially with all the swaps i'm doing. sometimes i get a weird little idea in my head and usually i just dive right in and make it or brush it off. but this time i decided to work it out in photoshop and see what others thought of it.

so, here's my work in progress image:



the person i am making these for requested placemats, and has a very distinct and simple style that i just love. also, i am really into the idea of square placemats! i want to make tons of gigantic log cabin square placemats for every occasion now. i really hope my swap partner ends up liking them. now all i have to do is actually sew them up!

a secret swap mug rug!

i have been a member of the photo-sharing site flickr since september of 2004. i used it for a very long time to post pictures to share with my friends and family but didn't really use it for social networking much. but in the last year, i've become very active in the flickr crafting and swapping groups and have found so much inspiration from so many super-talented people!

it's really helped me grow as a sewer. all the positive energy and great feedback makes me excited to make things and share them with others. i have really loved the swaps and bees that i have joined and i feel like they've really pushed me to make things that hopefully other people will love.

this weekend i finished up my project for the scrappy mug rug swap. both my boyfriend and i have been a little under the weather, so this hexie mug rug was a perfect "curl up in bed and sew while we're watching law and order episodes" project.




my partner said she loved things that were "whimsical" and i hope this is what she had in mind!