These are the latest blocks I created for Round 5 of the Scrapbuster Swap.  This round was Christmas themed (obviously) and we had two options, wonky stars with white background or white wonky stars with colored background.  I chose to create 5 of each.  The funny part was that I was worried I wouldn't be able to make them "wonky enough."  I didn't have that problem, if anything they are super wonky.  I am hoping to make some table runners for Christmas gifts, but we shall see.  If you want to know how to make these blocks yourself, the tutorial is HERE.

The blocks below are what I received from Round 3 of the Scrapbuster Swap, plus the addition of one that I made for myself.  I love the diversity of the blocks, though I am still undecided as to what I will be doing with them.  I think for now they will have to wait until next year.  I love participating in this swap, and it is always so exciting to get that package and see what you get in return!  You can join in on this swap at any point, so I hope to see you all in Round 6!

The lovely Sara over at Sew Sweetness hosted an Echino 10" square swap a few months back.  She choose 10" over the normal 5" swap because Echino fabrics are usually larger prints and patterns and with 10" you get a bigger chunk of fabric.  Cool right?  I jumped right in, because I love Echino fabrics!  The fabric above is the one that I picked for my choice.  I sent it to her and just waited to see what lovelies I would get back!

Here are all the lovelies I received from the swap!  No duplicates, 28 different prints/colorways of Echino fabric!  I love it!

This past month, Sara decided to host another round since the newest Echino fabric line was due in stores any minute.  Of course I signed up again.  I do believe that the majority of prints in this round will be new prints, and there will be very few duplicates from the first round, which I am really excited about.  The bird print below was my choice for this round.  I can not wait to see what we receive in turn!  Thanks Sara for hosting such a great swap and for all your hard work!

The super sweet ladies over at Craft Buds and Crafty Girl Workshop hosted a yellow, aqua, gray 5" charm swap.  I love these three colors together, so of course, I signed up for this one too!  Below is my gray fabric choice.  i can not wait to see all the squares we receive in this swap!

Now all I have to do is decide what to do with all this fabric, which seems to be a running theme in my life these days!

Postage Stamp blocks are the pick in round four of the Scrapbuster Swap.  Each square measures 2" x 2" finished, and by not duplicating any fabrics, you will receive quite the varied selection of blocks and fabrics!  I sent my blocks in quite some time ago, and honestly almost forgot to post my pictures.  These blocks were fun and super easy to put together, and it really helped that I used my Go! Baby to cut these squares out!

I can't wait to see the varied selection I receive back this go around, and if you are interested in participating, it isn't too late to join in.  The shipping deadline for this round is October 15!  Check out the Flickr group for more details and to see everyone else blocks, they are all gorgeous!

A while ago, I signed up for Round 2 of the Pretty {little} Pouch Swap, and I received my partner's information, and then I got stuck.  I'm not really sure why, because her taste, mosaic, website, everything are pretty concise, but I had no clue as to what to make!  Then I got really stuck, trying to figure out what fabric to use, and so on.  I had some ideas, but none of them really came to fruition, so in the end (it is getting close to the deadline) I just had to start creating.  Then I had an idea! What if I created several pouches, posted the pictures in the Flickr' group, and then let my partner choose which ones that she wants!  So that is what is happening folks!  Below are the three choices for my partner, and hopefully she comments and is able to choose for herself, otherwise, I'm picking two and sending them!

This pouch is constructed out of a great dark blue cross-hatch pattern cotton fabric, a light blue zipper, and some sweet little hand embroidery on the front.  It measures roughly 8" x 7" x 3" and has a great gusseted bottom, so it stands all on its own.

This pouch was designed specifically for my partner, who loves Orla Kiely (whom I had never heard of until this swap) and this appliqued image is inspired by this designer's work.  It is a large flat pouch measuring in at 9" x 12."  It is made out of a dark grey linen, with cotton fabric applique on the front.  The leaves and stems are zig-zag stitched around the edges, but the large floral blooms are only stitched in the center and are completely three-dimensional.  It features a small tab on the side, with a matching detachable swivel clip wrist strap.  This is my take on an "artistic" pouch!

This last pouch was featured in yesterday's posting, so if you want the details on it, just click HERE.  Hopefully with these three choices, my partner will be able to pick out the two that she loves best and ends up with something that she truly loves!  I sure hope so!

The Stashtacular! month is coming to a close.  I have sent in fabric to trade, and can't wait to see what I get back!  I successfully gave up fabric purchases for over a month (patting myself on the back!) I completed three projects and am working on two more.  I think for a queasy pregnant lady, I'm doing pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.  Want to see what I've been working on?  Scroll down for more and a picture heavy post!

P.S.  Don't forget to enter my giveaway!  Click HERE to enter to win!

My first two Stashtacular! projects are these awesome Quilted Pin Cushions from Blue Bird Sews, and the tutorial can be found HERE.  Believe it or not, I don't own any pin cushions, so as soon as I saw this tutorial, I knew it was meant to be!  I dug through my scraps, found some stuff I liked and whipped up two of these babies, in no time at all!  The best part was that I had a little bag of extra stuffing that was just enough for both of them!  I didn't have a 'stand out' button for the one on top, so I stacked two buttons to create a little more visual interest.  The pin cushion on the bottom is constructed of Art Gallery scraps, and the "button" in the center is actually a chunk of broken bracelet that my sister-in-law couldn't bear to throw away, she knew I could make something great out of it one day!  I think it was the perfect fit for this pin cushion and fabrics!

My last finished Stashtacular! project is this super cute clutch from Spontaneous Threads, and can be found HERE.  This was such a fun project, and I used a lot of scraps, and scraps that I love!  I also was able to use my new Go! Baby to cut out all those circles, which was such a great time saver and such precise circles.  Awesome!  I used a dark grey linen as the body, and hot pink and other various scraps for the lining, handle and circle linings.  I just so happened to have the hot pink zipper in my stash, so I didn't have to purchase a thing!  I decided to machine stitch the fancy little cross stitch pattern as a little something extra, and I think that it really added that extra touch.

Since I have yet to post anything for my Pretty {little} Pouch Swap partner, I made three pouches and am going to let her choose two of them.  This one will be one of the three that she will get to choose from!  If she picks this one, I will be sad to let it go, but I know I can always make myself another!

This Stashtacular! project has yet to be pieced together, but I am loving working at night on these hexies.  This project is from Sew Happy Geek, can be found HERE and is a super cute Hexy Mug Rug.  I don't think I will finish this project today, but I am getting these hexies done way quicker than I thought I would.

This is the last of my Stashtacular! projects that is alas, also unfinished, but I don't think I have ever successfully made a quilt with a deadline, I just don't work that fast!  The tutorial for this quilt, Sweet Baby Dreams can be found at Sew Happy Geek, right HERE.  What was so great about this tutorial is that I had just enough fabric scraps to make this baby, and they were already cut to the right width, so I just had to chop them up to the right length.  I had just enough, with very little leftover.  I also have 1.5 yards of a matching print for the backing in my stash.  It must have been meant to be!  My only holdup is trying to find a solid color that matches, so I can finish up the top.  It is proving to be more difficult than I ever thought, but I'm sure I'll run across something sooner or later!  I am itching to get working on this one though.

Thank you ladies for such a fun month!

I don't know about you, but I've had quite the productive week!  I am finally caught up on all my bee blocks! Yippee!  All my Kaleidoscope blocks are sewn up, and I have parted ways with a huge box of fabrics for trading!

Bek [dreamfctry} ended up in two of my bees, she had July in both, and chose paper piecing in both bees.  The top photo is a design from Quilter's Cache, and the bottom two blocks are of her own design, so cool!  This was my first time paper piecing, and after getting the hang of it, I think I love it.  These are the most precise blocks I have made yet!  Don't get me wrong, I love paper piecing, but good gosh it is time consuming.  Way more than I would have ever thought.

I finished packing up my box of swap fabrics for the Stashtacular! Swap, and have sent them off!  It feels good to clear out some fabric I know I won't use!

As of last night, I finished up all 30 of the blocks for my Kaleidoscope Quilt.  All I have to do is sew the top together!  I was pleasantly surprised at how well my points matched up (not perfect, but good enough for me!) and how flat they actually did lay.  Can't wait to see what this quilt top looks like all sewn together!

I added a few more projects to my ever growing list, and have come to the realization that I will never be "finished" with my works in progress.  Oh well, I'm OK with that.  Well folks, that about wraps up my week.  How was yours?

Finished Projects:
Quilt Bee Blocks

Ongoing Projects:
Kaleidoscope Quilt-Along
Organizing my OUT OF CONTROL Fabric Stash (95% complete)
Bottled Rainbows Ticker Tape Quilt-Along (5 of 16 blocks complete)
Lily's Quilts Quilt-Along  (Using Sherbet Pips)
Making a Light Box & Photographing 150+ Items (Supplies bought, partly assembled)
Sewing (for myself) a few tops/shirts. (2 down, several more to go!)
Sock Skeletons
Amy Butler's Style Stitches Teardrop Bag (cut out)
Amy Butler's Style Stitches Key Keeper Coin Purse (cut out)
Pretty {little} Pouch Swap - Round 2
2 Uber Large Handbags (cut out)

This Week's Stats:
New Projects - 2
Completed Projects - 1
Currently in Progress - 12

Dream Projects On Hold For Now:
Sock Monkey Quilt
Denyse Schmidt Home Dec Fabric Wall Hanging Quilt
Making a bunch of clutches.

Head over to Freshly Pieced to have a look at what everyone else is working on!

I had such a good time with the first round of the Pretty {little} Pouch Swap, I had to sign up for round two!  Below is the inspiration mosaic I created for my partner in hopes of steering her in the direction of things that I like.  I love all of the pouches below, so pretty, creative and rainbow filled!  I still have yet to decide on fabric for my partner's pouch, though I have decided on what I will be making, I'm just temporarily stuck for the moment.  I better hurry up though, this round ships by August 8!  Oh my!

Mosaic created using Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker

It was actually really fun to go through my fabric stash and pull out fabrics to swap, liberating to give up some stuff, and I think I pulled quite a pile!  I have a boy pile, a girl pile, a random pile, a Christmas pile, and a jungle pile of fabrics.  I sure hope my swap mates can use some of this stuff!  Stashtacular! officially kicked off yesterday, with lots of tutorials, giveaways and a fabric swap, hence the reason I pulled out all this fabric!  It isn't too late to join in...