Sunday, September 23, 2012

Mail!

My wonderful pillow from Aylin

That stunning pillow, Happy Circles, came to me from one of my favourite quilters, Aylin (Nilya 2011 on flickr), who lives in Berlin, for the first round Modern Quilted Pillow Swap, which has now changed its name to X-Factor Pillows. I love it and I use it every day as I relax on my bed and read the internet. It is even more stunning in real life.

Mini Quilt from Aylin

Aylin is a wonderful quilter and participates in many flickr swaps where we have been partners before. A while back I sent her a little mug rug that folks seem to like. So with the pillow, she sent me this wonderful little mini quilt. I am taking it with me today to hang at my office next to my desk.  Thank you Aylin, I love both of these!

When these two beauties arrived at my house towards the end of August I was still out of town and when I returned I have been thrown in to an incredible work schedule and have not had time to share them properly here before.

Angles - for the Modern Quilted Pillow Swap

The second round of the swap ended a couple of weeks ago - and this is a swap that you cannot share your own work until after all the voting is done. So there is Angles, a red/pink pillow/grey/Liberty pillow that I made. Using the grey print instead of a solid was my big challenge. It is quilted with bright red Aurafil thread. Guess what, Aylin picked it, it has arrived safely in Germany and looks great on her sofa.

A pillow for me - from the X-Factor pillow swap

And in that round, this lovely pillow, which has great quilting and text and wonderful fabric including puppies, came to me from Lee who blogs at May Chappell. It will look beautiful on my sofa, although the light in the living room is so bad that it is almost impossible to take a good photo there. Thank you Lee, I love it!

Live Life French Bakery

These charms are flying off to Sarah in the Shetland Isles for the Japanese Charm Swap. She let me sneak into the swap and I promised to send my charms early. Well, they were delayed in the mail and only arrived Thursday afternoon. I pressed, cut, counted and packaged them and got them off on Friday (although missed the mail cut off so they are on a plane on Monday morning I think). I hope this amazing fabric - Live Life French Bakery by Suzuko Koseki - will make up for the fact that my charms are likely to be arriving last of all.

Oakshot Lipiary Bundle

A short time ago, my friend Lynne from Lily's Quilts asked if I wanted to play with some of the Oakshott Lipari fabrics - these are shot cottons with black as one of the woven threads - and of course I said "yes please". I am a huge fan of shot cottons, you have seen them used here before. They arrived Thursday too, and they are wonderful. Thank you Lynne and Michael Oakshott.

Oakshott Lipari bundle

If you put them under a light, look at their shine! I am thinking about what to make - these rich jewel tones sure remind me of Christmas decorations and so maybe something for the holidays is appropriate.

I hope you have been enjoying your weekend, I had a lovely late lunch yesterday (after working the morning) with my friend Marianne from The Quilting Edge and today I have yet more work, but maybe tonight I can sew a little too.

Best,

Leanne

22 comments:

Charlotte said...

those oakshotts are amazing! They practically glow!!! Lucky you :-D

Debbie said...

What a full post but really special swapping - good for you! And can.not.wait to see what you do with those new oakshotts - they are lovely!

aksherry said...

Now I want to make pillows!!!!

Julianne said...

That first pillow is amazing,I LOVE it...the others are very pretty too, such nice work from all the ladies...those fabrics are YUMMY!

dutchcomfort said...

Lovely pillows Leanne!! I so hope to participate in the X Factor pillow swap, one day!

Lynne asked me too for the oakshott Lipari fabrics, but I‘m still waiting for them to arrive!
Curious to see what you plan to make!!

Sarah PingsAndNeedles said...

what a lovely haul of stuff and some fantastic inspiration in the form of that Lipari! Lovely post :)

Canadian Abroad said...

What a load of quilted goodness. Love all the cushions and covet the Oakshott!

Katy Cameron said...

Gorgeous swap items both ways there! Love the look of those Oakshotts too, looking forward to seeing what you turn them in to, it's sure to be fabulous!

Strawberry Patch said...

Love the charms, can't wait to get my hands on my share of them. And those Oakshotts, oh wow wow wow! They are stunning!

Isisjem said...

Those Oakshotts look amazing. Not worked with any yet. Cushions are great too!

Fiona @ Poppy Makes said...

Love the cushions! I still haven't managed to get anything made in time for that swap, maybe this time... I really like working with shot cotton too, Oakshott just feels so luxurious doesn't it? Can't wait to see what you make with it :)

Sheila said...

Fabulous cushions, such interesting swaps.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw those charms and then realised I will get one of them - yippee.

elle said...

Super! I luv that grey/red pillow. The charm squares will be worth waiting for and yes, YES! I gotta get me some Oakshot!

Di said...

Gorgeous cushions and all so different in style. I cannot wait to see what you will make with the oakshot fabric. Di x

Susan said...

Lots of lovely fabric goodness here- the cushions, the charms and especially the Oakshotts! Lucky you!

Judith, Belfast said...

Oh what stunning pillows you got L! They are truly gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing what you make with those oakshotts!Jxo

Gertie Pye said...

Wow that circles pillow is an absolute blinder - lucky you! What great fabrics and great stitching. Love it!

I am fast becoming an Oakshotts convert and the Liparis look like the creme de la creme. They do look very festive under the light. Gorgeous!

Annabella said...

The pillows are just amazing - both given and received and the mini is adorable too.

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

All the cushions look fabulous! As for the Oakshott...yummy!

Tina said...

Love, love, love those pillows and the charms for the charm swap... can't wait to get mine in the post!!

SIMPLESEW said...

FABULOUS WORK.. I love them.....

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

beautiful pillows and lovely Oakshotts.