This package of goodies is now in the hands of the US Postal Service.
After the Sewing Summit, I found myself tempted to jump back into the world of social sewing. I haven’t done any Bees or Swaps since the beginning of this year, and it was a much-needed break. While they can be fun, they’re also a lot of work, and definitely involve the risk of being disappointed – which I have been, in the past. But I’m an extrovert by nature, so everything is better to me if there’s a social aspect involved. I wanted to keep the good energy of Sewing Summit going, so I organized a swap for people who had gone.
It’s small and quick, only about 30 people and less than a three week turnaround time. People are making mini quilts and/or zippered pouches, since those were both big hits at the conference. I already got mine, a super-cute flying geese mini from Jacey.
For my partner, I found a Neptune charm pack kicking around in my stash, and decided to have fun with hexagons, since that’s what I worked on for most of the conference. I sewed them together in a kind of random shape, and appliqued them right onto a base of Essex Linen in Natural. I echoed the shape of the applique in turquoise thread. I’m really happy with the texture of it, even if I could easily point out all of its imperfections.
The back is a print that I had left from the Neptune fat quarter stack I got several years ago. Binding is a Connecting Threads print from my stash, and marks the first time I have ever successfully done machine binding! I’m torn, because I still like the look of hand-finished binding better, but holy hell was that fast! Not to mention the extra strength of the machine stitching…
And just when I thought I was done, I randomly decided to make a little zippered pouch from some of the leftovers. I used Cara’s tutorial, but made it patchwork instead of a solid piece of fabric. Turns out that just meant more seams to (not quite) line up. Oh well. I thought it was cute.
So, this whole mess of stuff is making its way West, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my secret partner likes it!
