Humble Quilts Doll Swap 2018

It was time for the annual Humble Quilt Doll Swap and as usual, it did not disappoint. However, I didn't get a photo of the finished quilt that I shipped off. I do have the "work in progress" shots though.
First up is the quilt I received. I had been sewing for a few days with my stitching buddy, Jan Horn. I came home and a package was on the counter that came from Jan Horn. How silly, what would she be sending me? Then I looked at the address, and squealed. It was my swap piece from a different Jan Horn! Isn't this delightful?

When Lori sent out the swap buddy list, I was so excited.  I was going to have the opportunity to send a doll quilt to someone who sent one to me a few years ago.  I quickly when through my studio, looking at all the labels on my stack of past swap pieces.  However, I could not find one from Sue.
Oh well, I got my books out and started to look for inspiration.

First up was getting out this wonderful book and flipping the pages, looking for inspiration.

I came across this piece and thought the center would make a delightful little crib quilt.

I got busy and did a fabric pull, and promptly put everything into a bag.  I had to wait a few weeks before I had the time to get working on this swap.

When the time came to finally get to this task, I pulled out more bins from under my longarm.  One can never had enough choices when it comes to scrappy reproduction work!

And then the whole plan went out the window.

This mess of fabric got piled up on my cutting table....

and then I found this picture in the same book.  Be still my beating heart!

I had the most fun auditioning prints and colors for each block.  I felt like I was a bit indulgent with my selections, but since I couldn't find the swap piece Sue had sent me, I just went for it.

After making several blocks, I chose the four I wanted to put into this doll quilt.  We had a size restriction, so four blocks and a narrow sashing would fit the bill.

Here were a few other blocks that will be included in my own piece.  I usually love my swap piece so much that I end up making one for myself. This time it's been no different.  I just haven't had the time to get mine together.

After machine stitching in the ditch, I wanted to add some hand quilting.  I got out the hera marker and eyeballed two lines in each rectangle.

Just a bit of hand stitching really added to this finished piece.

I made the shipping deadline by one day.  Good grief, talk about a last minute swapper.  The best part was when Sue emailed me telling me that the package arrived.  She then wrote, "I wonder if Lori knew you sent me a swap piece two years ago?"  No wonder I couldn't find a swap piece with Sue's name on it, I sent it to her!  So now two of my pieces reside in New Zealand.  I just might have to go visit them one day!

Sorry I do not have a finished shot of this, but Lori is doing a Link Up post over at Humble Quilts
I'm sure you will see lots of darling pieces over there. Do you do swaps?  There are so many and I've had great success with them.  Show me some swap pieces you've done!

Keep stitching,
Sharon