Pillow Swap Four - Cozy Winter Pillow

I must admit I have a love/hate relationship with winter. The kids still need to get from place A to B and I am not a fan of driving in the snow. Driving the 45 minutes back from Max's weekly soccer game last night, I realized soon I would be doing it on snow covered roads. The morning shuffle to school for all three kids is a bit more crazy when you add hats, coats, gloves and boots into the mix.

But for all challenges the snow brings I love snuggling in for the season. Sitting together as a family with a roaring fire, the little kids playing with blocks with Daddy and Max and I on the couch me knitting/hand sewing and him reading/small electronic device is just heaven. For this whole to work for me, I require cozy pillows and quilts to complete the picture. So when the velveteen came into one of my favorite fabric shops I knew that I had new plans for the pillow swap.

My partner asked for a pillow with lots of negative space, but other than that she was pretty open. She has young children and I thought a big cozy pillow would be fun. Anna Maria Horner's new Innocent Crush in the velveteen is amazing, buttery soft and so tactile. The colors are amazing and in my book it makes for one luxurious pillow. I hope my partner feels the same. I worry when I don't make a crazy over the top pillow, but I love the less is more approach and I am fairly certain looking a her blog and flickr stream this pillow will be right up her alley.

The music has stopped and our game of bedroom bingo is officially over!

The cast is off and I can sort of type again! The good news is sewing doesn't hurt much! So in honor of my fingers freedom, a quick blog post!

Remember the game of musical chairs from childhood? We have been playing that game for the last three plus years at our house and I think either we are going to move into a house that is just one huge bedroom and put two king sized beds together or finally declare a game over! Max was so excited when Ellie and Sam were finally born and each brought home from the hospital after our years of infertility struggles and adoption hurdles that he wanted all three of them to share a room or at least he and Sam could be roomies. From there for various reasons over the past three years we have worked through all the combinations from all three together to all three apart and everything in between. They have also been in all three of the rooms, including taking over a guest room and making another room for our guests.

Finally everyone is happy and in their own rooms. A few months ago this included saying good-bye to the cribs and purchasing big girl bed for Ellie, Sam inheriting Max's bunk bed's and Max getting a new larger bed. We are also starting to decorate each space and for me that includes making them each a quilt or in Sam's case a set for their beds. The boys bed's have bedding that will work for a bit, but Ellie has only random blankets, so I started with hers. For now the walls are a spring green from when we didn't now whether we would be blessed with a boy or a girl (it worked great when we found ourselves parents to one of each!) I plan to paint it a aqua blue perhaps someday soon, but made a fun quilt that will work with anything. I must say I love paper piecing a string quilt, but it does seem to take forever!

It was so fun working with all my favorite scraps and gathering a few new ones! Here is a closer look

Using Ashley's wonderful String Block tutorial found here. Also lots of fun examples of string quilts on flickr here and here.

I am almost done with the back and it will be off to Courtney at KC to be quilted. After the new year I will start on quilts for Max and Sam. Next up for me on the quilt list should really be a quilt for my mom for Christmas, but before starting that I think I am going to take on a quick one for my brother-in-law for the holidays. Along with my husband and their mom, they have had a hard few months since their dad unexpectedly passed away this summer. I thought maybe a special quilt would keep him warm and cozy. He is a big guy and needs a manly quilt. I feel in love by this awesome quilt from Cara and since she is nice enough to start a quilt along . . .

Check it out and join in the fun. I love the thought of this one and think it will come together pretty quick. At this time of year a quick check off the list is a good thing! I hope to get started a bit today!

Note to my children if they ever read this later in life . . . I love you all so much, but please stay in your beds all night. Last night dad and I ended up getting out of bed and going downstairs to the guest room when you all ended up in our bed around 2 am. Is it really that lonely in your own rooms?

Pillow Talk Swap Mosaics

I thought it would be fun to look at the photos I have put into mosaics for this swap the past four times. It shows that yes I tend to love the same pillows and the same styles, but also that I just am so inspired by everything made by this fun group.

Round 4 Mosaic

Round 3 Inspiration

I love all these pillows!

Round 2

Round 1

As I add these photo to the post I LOVE all these, especially the two in the bottom row corners. The fresh white gets me every time!

Thanks Heather and Kerri for this swap . . . it has been a fun one to take part in. The inspiration is fantastic and really makes this whole sewing/flickr addiction FUN!

Short and Sweet

Three weeks into my cast on arm induced blogging, sewing and creative break . . . missing everyone! Since I am typing with one finger, I will keep this short . . . here is what I was able to finish with the help of my kids and a friend . . .

Tree skirt for the Savvy Seasons swap using the new Moda Bliss. It is a great line and a understated take on the holidays . . . my partner suggested she would love this for holiday decor and I think it will be right up her alley. I plan to use this fabric on some upcoming projects myself.

I had plans to make a bunch of little items and had an stitching project half done . . . so switching gears I decided to let the fabrics help me make a bold statement and I must say I love the outcome . . . I hope my partner will like it, with little kids in her life I think it will be great. My kids wanted to keep it and love all things holiday.

I even cut into my favorite Shinzi Katoh holiday prints . . .

I will have to write a much longer post about how much I have come to appreciate on-line friends both new and old. Two great swap packages came my way in the last couple weeks.

A mug rug and fun goodies from Sue -

How can someone read your blog and look at your flickr photos and just know what you will love. This is such a fun and perfect mug rug for me! The stitching is fab and the whole thing is so fun! Thanks again Sue!

Then I was lucky to matched with a online friend who has been so wonderful to get to know over the last year. She was partnered with me and was supposed to make a couple of potholders . . . well lets just say the potholders brought friends! LOOK at this package, I am still fondling everything and making sure no one spills on the potholder or coasters!

Thanks Linda, I am crazy for everything and just LOVE the farmdale prints!

Okay I want to try and add links to this, but I am off to take a pain killer . . . perhaps trying this wasn't such a great idea, just wanted to say thanks and I am still around and miss everyone!

Have a great rest of October! We are getting ready for a visit from some dear friends from the UK and then my college roomate and her son. It will be fun having guests the rest of the month, I love a full house!