My Second IG Swap and Hooked

I've been absent for about 9 months from blogging. One of the side effects of cancer chemo is depression. It's a tough hole to climb out of and I didn't want to take anything, so I "holed up," for way too long. I'm back, though some days I have to make myself do what I need to do, including quilting. I do have a few I put together last year which I'll post about. I've got my energy and hair back, life is good.

 If you have an Instagram Account and follow quilters you're probably aware of the swaps, they seem to have gone viral, this is a good virus to catch. My first swap I was lucky enough to get in, sign ups start and end fast, was the #disneyquiltswap2015. (I'll post a blog about the Disney mini I made in another post.)

Here's how swaps work: After the signup you receive a questionnaire with your likes/dislikes, fave colors, fabric designers and a few other bits of info about yourself. You get to see your secret partners info sheet complete with their IG account so you can start stalking them to figure out what they want. You can also follow the hash tag to see what everyone else in the swap is doing and guess which one is for you.

My partner for the #rainbowminiswap favorite designer is Denyse Schmidt. I purchased a couple of charm packs, Hadley and Shelburne Falls to get a good selection of colors and started to make a rainbow with. The pattern I used is Tula Pinks, Free Moxi pattern, I just sized it down, laid out the fabric and got this. :) I wish it were are easy as that last sentence, I did sweat it out a bit but it was a a fun project.

 I decided to quilt it in concentric circles and chose three different ares to start. I used the edge of my walking foot as a guide, it creates just under 1/2 inch space. between each circle.

I'm super excited about the back, the quilting circles show up better. What do you think? 

Now a swap isn't a swap unless there are extras. So from the little left overs I made a mug rug and a wide open pouch using Denyse Schmidt scraps. If you've never made a wide open pouch before its easy, I can finish one in 20 minutes. Heres a link to Anna's blog: Wide Open Pouch

I have to give credit to Elaine from Hemmed in By Him for the Wonky Flying Geese Tutorial

Here is the Plus Mug Rug, which sports my first concentric circle quilting, it was a learning experience.

 The squares are one inch finished. The lighting isn't real good in this picture, the fabric is all blues and greens.
Instagram Swaps are addicting, I'm limiting myself so I can get my other projects done and sell enough houses to pay for my quilting habit. Next up that has to ship by the 27th of April is the Spring Fling Mini Swap. I haven't even thought about it, I'd better get busy.