Millennium Star - A Swap Quilt
In my last post I shared a photo of a quilt in progress. That quilt is now finished and I'm so happy to be able to share some photos with you. You can click on any of the photos to get a bigger view.
This quilt is now living in Queensland with somebody I have never met! You see, I made it for a swap run on Instagram. (The hashtag, if you'd like to look, is #igminioz.) It was my first swap, and I had lots of fun making the quilt, despite a sore shoulder slowing me down with the quilting.
It is an interesting exercise, making a quilt for someone based on knowledge you gain of them through a questionnaire and 'stalking' them on social media. (It was a secret partner swap). I was very fortunate in that my partner, @strange_stitches, commented on and 'liked' my progress photos, so I felt I was on the right track. Still, I was very nervous and so, so excited when it actually arrived and she got to see it in person. Her reaction was all I could have hoped for and more, and actually brought tears to my eyes!
I admit to being rather proud of this quilt, and completely smitten. The fact that it has gone to a fellow patchwork quilter is, I think, wonderful. I know that she knows what has gone into making this, and that makes giving it away so much easier. I also got to watch her progress on the quilt she made for her partner, all the effort she put in, which was fun.
The pattern I used for the star is called "Millennium Star" and is from the e-book included with the Craftsy Class "Quick-Strip Paper Piecing" by Peggy Martin. I love that class. It has made paper foundation piecing so much more fun for me, and easier. I highly recommend it. I changed the orientation of the star to have more room to go to town with the quilting.
The quilt finishes at a touch under 25" square. The quilting is mostly done with Aurifil 50wt thread. The black quilting took a LOT of thread - I went through over four bobbins! I also used rather a lot of purple thread for the feathers. I used white cotton batting behind the star, and black batting of a cotton-polyester blend for the quilt as a whole. I pre-washed all the batting.
All in all, I'm very happy to have participated in this swap. Whether or not I will do another one remains to be seen. Though it was not all I had hoped it would be, I feel I was very lucky with the partners I was allocated, and the interaction I have had with them and a few others over the course of the swap. And the swap package I received from my partner... wow. I was, and still am, thrilled and touched. I will share that with you next time.
Bye for now,
Hope x
P.S. Have you participated in a quilt swap? What did you think?
This quilt is now living in Queensland with somebody I have never met! You see, I made it for a swap run on Instagram. (The hashtag, if you'd like to look, is #igminioz.) It was my first swap, and I had lots of fun making the quilt, despite a sore shoulder slowing me down with the quilting.
It is an interesting exercise, making a quilt for someone based on knowledge you gain of them through a questionnaire and 'stalking' them on social media. (It was a secret partner swap). I was very fortunate in that my partner, @strange_stitches, commented on and 'liked' my progress photos, so I felt I was on the right track. Still, I was very nervous and so, so excited when it actually arrived and she got to see it in person. Her reaction was all I could have hoped for and more, and actually brought tears to my eyes!
I admit to being rather proud of this quilt, and completely smitten. The fact that it has gone to a fellow patchwork quilter is, I think, wonderful. I know that she knows what has gone into making this, and that makes giving it away so much easier. I also got to watch her progress on the quilt she made for her partner, all the effort she put in, which was fun.
The pattern I used for the star is called "Millennium Star" and is from the e-book included with the Craftsy Class "Quick-Strip Paper Piecing" by Peggy Martin. I love that class. It has made paper foundation piecing so much more fun for me, and easier. I highly recommend it. I changed the orientation of the star to have more room to go to town with the quilting.
The quilt finishes at a touch under 25" square. The quilting is mostly done with Aurifil 50wt thread. The black quilting took a LOT of thread - I went through over four bobbins! I also used rather a lot of purple thread for the feathers. I used white cotton batting behind the star, and black batting of a cotton-polyester blend for the quilt as a whole. I pre-washed all the batting.
All in all, I'm very happy to have participated in this swap. Whether or not I will do another one remains to be seen. Though it was not all I had hoped it would be, I feel I was very lucky with the partners I was allocated, and the interaction I have had with them and a few others over the course of the swap. And the swap package I received from my partner... wow. I was, and still am, thrilled and touched. I will share that with you next time.
Bye for now,
Hope x
P.S. Have you participated in a quilt swap? What did you think?
Beautiful Hope! Are the baby spiders done by hand? The detail really takes this over the top.
ReplyDeleteI participated in a mini swap last year and had a partner that didn't use social media much, and her survey didn't tell me as much. I was rather at a loss for what to make and didn't enjoy myself as much as I thought I would. I think I was more stressed about making something she would like and I would be proud of more than anything else. Rather sucked the joy of creating out of the project for me. I've thought about doing another swap, but just haven't felt like going through all that stress again.
Thank you Colleen! The baby spiders are pieced into the background.
DeleteSorry to hear your experience was not a good one. Stressing over a project definitely saps the joy out of it. :(
I'm so grateful to be the recipient of this quilt. I am so enamoured with it I find myself staring at it instead of working! :D
ReplyDeleteI think the igminioz swap felt different to other swaps I've been in as there was no list of people involved that I could follow on Instagram, and I basically just followed anyone who used the hashtag but there didn't seem to be much action on the tag, either so the sense of community that swaps sometimes bring was slightly lacking. Which was a shame, really. Especially as it would have been nice to get to know more Australian quilters!
I feel like I hit the jackpot with you as my partner though, and I want you to know that even though I'mt not still raving about your awesome creation every day in public, I'm still raving about every day to my family, and in my head. :P
So I'd love it if you gave another swap a go, so hopefully you can get what you expected out of it, and so you could make someone else as happy as you've made me.
<3
I swear that your reaction to receiving the quilt is one of the best I've ever had. I've felt so appreciated, it’s been wonderful - thank you. I’m just so happy you like it, happy to have made you happy! I really do feel lucky to have been given you as a partner.
DeleteYes, there was less interaction than I’d hoped with the swap. It’s like a lot of people already knew each other and didn’t bother with the rest or something. Maybe some forgot to use the hashtag too, because I swear there were some finished quilts I didn’t remember seeing any progress pictures of. It’s nice to know that it’s not the norm, and I think I’d like to give swapping another go one day. Not soon though, too much else to make and finish!
Thanks again for making me feel so appreciated. :)
What a great mini! The quilting is absolutely amazing!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sarah. The quilting was the most fun part I think. I developed a love of feathers and want to use them on everything now!
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