Well, I did it—I finally got brave enough to list something on etsy.  I had some good pictures of this chevron baby quilt, so I finally took the time (all of five minutes!) to put it in my shop on etsy.

A couple of people already marked it as a favorite, so hopefully it will sell sometime in the next few weeks.  I have several other items to list as well, so my goal for next week will be to get several other things listed in my shop as well.

I thought this was a good first item to list because it’s very trendy, and I’m quite happy with the way it turned out.  If I had a girl, I would be keeping it.  So, I figure if I like it that much, someone else is bound to like it as well.  Whether it sells or not, I’m at least happy that I finally accomplished a long-time goal of opening a shop.  I think listing things will be easier for me in the future now that I’ve taken the first step.

Back in the fall, my husband found a Dr. Seuss minky quilt kit at a quilt shop while I was browsing the cotton fabrics.  They had a model made and a kit for sale for $80.  The kit included the fabric for  the top of a lap sized quilt (a strip quilt).  It didn’t include backing or binding fabrics.  $80 struck me as kind of high, so I told him I would shop around to see if I could find the fabric cheaper elsewhere.  Back in November, fabric.com had a sale on minky, so I picked up enough minky for a twin sized top, backing, and binding, all for around $60.  Normally I really like to support local quilt shops and smaller businesses, but that price difference was just too much.  Besides, this way I got to design my own top using the Dr. Seuss panel, which I cut into squares.  The kit was just strips of fabric sewn together.

Anyhow, after I got the fabric, my excitement waned a bit in the face of Christmas sewing, and it got pushed to the back of my sewing room.  Recently, however, I’ve drug it back out and begun cutting and sewing.  Let me just say that it will be a LONG time before I work with minky for a whole quilt again.  I think as a backing it wouldn’t be so terribly frustrating, but it’s a real pain to piece with it.  It’s also a real mess:

The fuzz goes EVERYWHERE.  In fact, it’s such a mess, that I plan to do a whole separate post about it (along with some tips on working with minky).

Anyhow, it’s finally all together (if I used swear words, which I try to avoid, I would have been cursing throughout the process), and I’ve begun the quilting.

After each step in the process of making this quilt, I keep telling myself that the worst is over, and the next step will be easier—so far, I’ve been wrong!  Each step provides its own difficulties.  I’m quilting it at the moment, and I’m having trouble keeping my stitch length even because it disappears into the top, and I can’t really tell how long they are.  So, I’m mostly quilting by feel, which is proving quite difficult.  However, I have to remember that this quilt is for my family (as much for my husband as for my boys!), and they don’t care about even stitches—they’ll just notice how snuggly it is, and it’s shaping up to be quite cuddly.

Linking up to freshlypieced.com WIP Wednesday.

This is the swap package I’ll be sending my partner.  I whipped up the little typewriter zipper pouch in about a half hour and added some little fabric scraps and a couple of fat quarters as some extra goodies.

The gnome pouch turned out nicely.  I added some little mushrooms to the back panel as an accent.

I put the fairy fabric on the inside since it’s unusual enough that some people might not like it that well.  It just has one pocket inside, and I added my label to the pocket as well.  I love how the little labels help projects look finished and more professional.

It took about a half hour to make the little typewriter pouch, and I honestly think I like it better than the big pouch!  I liked it so well that I ended up making one for myself as well.  I could use a little pouch for my purse to hold gum, lip balm, etc., anyway.  I salvaged the zippers for these pouches from some curtain packages I had.  I was just going to throw them away but noticed the stitching holding the zipper in was really big and would be easy to pull out—I was right.  It took less than a minute per zipper.  I know that sounds really cheap, but they’re nice zippers in a pretty color.  In fact, they zip more easily than the ones I’ve bought new.  They seem to be holding up well, too.

These are the extra little goodies I sent—two fat quarters and some little scraps.  Hopefully my partner likes her swap package!  I can’t wait to see which project is mine.  I’ll post it here when I receive it.

This year I’ve decided to do more swaps than bees.  There are a few reasons for this.  First, swaps are a shorter term commitment.  If I find myself getting busy, I can take a break from swaps for a while.  However, bees continue every month whether I’m busy or not.  I also love surprises!  Most of the swaps I’ve seen have had secret partners, so you don’t know which project you’ll be receiving—it keeps things exciting.  Furthermore, you get a finished product in the end instead of a block you have to sew into a quilt.  I also love the idea of getting projects I might not make for myself.  Each person’s style shows through their projects, and I tend to get stuck in ruts sometimes or keep doing things the same way.  I also tend to pair the same kinds of fabrics together, so it’s nice to receive a swap from someone else who does things differently.

So, onto the project in progress.  My first swap of the year is a pouch.  There were three categories, and we could pick our level of difficulty.  I chose the advanced level because I wanted a bit of a challenge, and I wanted to push myself a bit out of my comfort zone.  I borrowed a few embroidery books from the library, but I waited until I received my partner info before deciding.  She had a lot of whimsical stuff in her flickr favorites, some gnomes and mushrooms, so I chose this design and already had the Michael Miller mushroom fabric on my shelf.  I had bought it just because I thought it was cute and thought I’d have a hard time using it, but this was the perfect opportunity.

I also had this fairy fabric (top) that came in a scrap bag I bought from a quilt shop.  It’s not my favorite (hard to use), but I thought it fit well with this project.  My partner didn’t say whether she liked it or not, so I’m putting it inside the pouch as a pocket.  That way if it’s not her thing, at least it’s inside and not all that visible.

I finished the embroidery fairly early and just have to do some quilting before sewing it all up together.  It shouldn’t take too long.  I’m hoping to have it finished by Friday so I can send it on its way.  I’m also planning to add some small things inside—maybe a very easy smaller zipper pouch.  So, hopefully I’ll get that made in the next couple of days, too.

Linking up to Freshly Pieced.

I’m going to be featured on Quilt Story!  It’s a great blog about quilts, sewing, and crafts, and there are loads of tutorials and patterns (many of them free—my favorite kind!), so check it out if you haven’t already.

They plan to feature Bennett’s baby quilt on January 23rd, and I’ll post a link to the feature when it’s up.  This is my first feature, and I feel a little silly at being so excited, but I can’t help it!