I'm Addicted, Oh No! The Swap Syndrome

So I don't know about you, but I love Instagram (I'm audacious_squid over there).  And I have recently discovered the beauty, the marvelousness, the absolute fun and hopefully friend-making spirit of Instagram swaps.  I may have gone a taaaaaad bit overboard.  I think I signed up for... four so far?  Only one has sent out partners, so I'm only adding one project (and making very little progress on everything else!  Gosh) right now, but soon I'll probably be swamped with sewing!  (I also just indulged in a huge fabric order so I'm sure that will keep me inspired as well.)  So far, we have:


-the Handpieced Mini Swap: (#handpiecedminiswap and I'm on #teamlifeinlists) which is what I have my partner for.  Here is my initial fabric pull:

My sewing table is so, so, so messy, I know.  I've tidied up since, but I should have done that BEFORE the picture.

I have a plan!  It's not terribly original, but it is bright (obviously, ha ha) and hopefully with the kind of modern aesthetic my partner likes.  I'll be posting progress on Instagram for this one.  Sign-ups are closed and partners have already been assigned, but there are going to be so many lovely projects, I highly encourage you to check out the tag once or twice to see what everybody's making.

-the Lori Holt Mini Swap: (#loriholtminiquiltswap) Sign ups for this have closed, as well, but I haven't gotten my partner yet!  Hopefully soon, fingers crossed.  I am really excited about the hand-pieced swap (and nervous! I'm self-conscious about my hand needlework because it's not very neat), but I am SO excited about this swap.  I have the cutest idea ever. Seriously, I kind of want to go ahead and start working on it, but of course I need to make sure it's something my partner will like.  (I think so!  Based on the very swap theme, at least.)

-the Jen Kingwell Gardenvale Mini Swap: (#gardenvaleminiquiltswap) This fabric line just came out, so it'll require a purchase, but sign ups are open I believe until May 1st!  I kind of impulse signed up for this one, so I don't have a lot of ideas yet (well, one, but we'll see how that goes) but I am also excited about getting to make something for someone.  That's my favorite thing!

-the Beach Bound Mini Swap: (#beachboundmqs)   Ahh, I am so, so excited for this one, too!  I have no sort of a plan here (though I know of one cute extra I want to include), just because this theme is so wide and varied.  My partner might really want a paper pieced mermaid, or maybe just a lovely blue mini that reminds her of the ocean!  It could be anything!  (I have starry eyes right now, oh the possibilities!)  In the next few days we should be receiving partner assignments YAY (queue happy Kermit the frog arm swinging).

(I think I signed up for one more, but I can't recall which right now...  That's pretty bad, ha ha.  I also want to sign up for one more, but I haven't decided 100% on it yet.)

And finally! 

I just wanted to share something I actually finished!  I say "finished" but all I had to do was make an envelope back and do a little bit of quilting on the pillow top so.  It did not take me long.  But it turned out so cute!  My little tiny pug pillow:

Pugs are my favorite - the light in here is so bad tho