Sew Saturday Swap

Back in September our quilt guild did a swap.  We each brought a fat quarter's worth of our own scrap fabric, then took another members scraps to make a gift for them.   I chose the bag with a purple scrap.  :)  When I opened it I discovered that it was our guild president's bag.  Oh my!  I was excited to be making something for this wonderful lady, on the other hand I was terrified to try to make something for such an expert.

My first idea was to make a book cover for a graphing composition notebook.  It's the perfect idea for her since she designs quilt patterns. Melissa Dunworth of SewBitterSweet Designs.   I was thrilled that I came up with what I thought was an original idea.  I went searching for patterns.  I didn't find any I wanted to use.  Instead I came up with my own.  Then I saw a picture of her daughter with her new notebook cover.  Obviously I wasn't as original as I thought I was.  ;)

Melissa mentioned in a blog post that she is slightly obsessed with flying geese right now, so I made them the focal point of my design.  She has also been hand stitching hexagons.  When she brought them to our sew-in in September she showed us how she makes and stores them.  I love hexagons in my paper crafting, so I decided to give it a try.  It's so much fun to make these cute little embellishments that I decided to put a few on her book too.

The hexagon templates were made with my cricut and cardstock.  I was able to experiment with different sizes to find the one I like best for this project.  My hope is that Melissa will be able to use the book to sketch out ideas and patterns.  I included a pocket in the front to hold pencils, colored pencils, pens or even a post-it note pad.  :)   This was she can take her book with her anywhere she wants to and be able to capture her thoughts and ideas.

The inside had the typical composition notebook charts.  Not pretty to look at.  So, I prettied it up with some of my stamping supplies.  I love when I can get double use out of my crafts.  After I made the notebook cover I still had plenty of scraps including this definition fabric that I really wanted to use for her.

So, I made her a mug hug with matching mug rug.  The mug hug was so much fun!  I used a template that I bought at the WA Stars Guild show, and sewed small scraps together to make this bit of sunshine.  Unfortunately it is small and doesn't fit the mug I bought for her, so I had to go buy another one.  It's ok.  I think I can adjust the size of the template (or make one up myself) and have a Christmas present for one of my coffee/tea loving friends.

The mug rug was really fun and fast to make too, until I came to the binding.  What was I thinking?  I've never been shown how to bind anything other than a square or rectangle, and I was making this for an expert!  I almost gave it to her unbound, but decided to take up the challenge and give it a try.  It was just scrap fabric afterall and I know how to use a seam ripper.  oh my, do I ever know how to use a seam ripper.

In the end it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and thanks to all the hand stitching I've been doing on my mini hexies I had the confidence to try hand binding for the first time.  Hopefully she won't look too closely, but if she does I'm sure she will overlook this beginner's efforts.  The mug rug itself was made in a log cabin-ish style.  Not part of the pattern, but I seem to be unable to follow the rules when it comes to quilting.   That, above all else, is why I might consider myself a modern quilter. 

The swap was so much fun!  It was almost as much fun to give and receive my own gifts as it was to see what everyone else got.  Tomorrow I will show you what my awesome swapper made for me.  I was blown away! 

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

P.S.  A couple of people said they wanted the pattern for the notebook cover.  I've never done that before, but I am willing to give it a try.  :)

Notebook Cover designed by: Heather North (me)
Mug Hug & Rug: www.sew-blessed.biz




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