Round n round n round the turntable goes

I have this song from Deanna Durbin (click link to hear it) stuck in my head inspired by the pillow I'm working on for my Poofy Pillow Swap partner.  She likes orange and circles. I took it as a challenge to try curved piecing.  I found loads of tutorials to "cheat"  and applique the circles. Which I *did* do for the smaller circles in the center. I want to quilt in a circle and didn't want to stitch around the appliques and I definitely didn't want to do raw edge - it's a pillow and the idea of unraveling stitches didn't appeal to me. I do like the look of raw edge, but not this time.  I used this tutorial and did Ok- a little bit ripply in a couple spots.  I learned to use the shorter pins on the ends instead of my favorite long ones.  I will be making this block again for my FTFYA quilt. 
I used some precuts that arrived in a ziploc from one of CA Mom's eBay excursions. There are 2 sizes:  6.5 inches and  close to 5 inches.  I don't know what the fabric line is.  I've used bits here and there - Lissys owl bag,  my beach house block etc.  They are fun prints! The orange swirly circles, are actually a Halloween print I bought to go with a cute Fox print but I will have to get more for that project.  :)
I hope to have the pillow ready to mail Monday as well as some other swap projects.
I have so many going on right now I'm having trouble keeping track so I made a wipe off project frame from an old picture frame.  I just used one that was in the closet but I need a larger one. 
My swaps:
Poofy pillows WIP
Getting to know you envelope WIP
#magicalforestmugrugswap- ideas forming
We Bee With it - not assigned yet
Placemat swap - not assigned yet
Tote bag swap - needs tweaking
Other WIPs
FTFYA quilt - 2 blocks started
Wild and wonderful - slowly but surely
Cozy Afternoon BOM - block 1 complete, block 2 this week
Christmas cozy afternoon - still thinking about it
Bruce's quilt - I had fabric and used it for another project
Snapshots - still collecting fabric
Disappearing hourglass - it's for me so going slow

Obviously I won't run out of things to sew!  But this morning's project is not sewing. I have Put on my plumbing hat. I am putting a new Rookiesnythuter in the toilet.  (the flusher contraption) and then I will be cleaning up the mess. 
Hope your Saturday is fabulous!

Monday make over

Ooh blogger is being bratty today - Just lost half my post :-(  great and now it won't let me publish because two pix didn't load and it shuts off when I try to remove them. Grrr starting over - love cut n paste :-)

I decided a couple months ago that I wanted to redo my living room and bring in some aqua.  3 walls are dark paneled and one is faux stone. I rent so painting isn't in the mix.  It took me awhile to decide exactly what I wanted - I like my living room decor just want to update.  I decided a new rug would be just the thing - but way out of my budget and I couldn't find what I wanted any hoo.  To pinterest I go - aha! I can buy a cheap ugly rug and fix it with fabric!  Whilst wandering JoAnns looking for the binding for Emma bean's quilt, I found the perfect fabric for my rug! It has the c colors that are in my living room now and aqua - that means I don't have to change the whole thing at once!  And I love this fabric.  Now I have the jumping off point.  I don't have the rug yet but the fabric is on the floor (testing for cat hair adherence - and so far  it's not too bad.)
Anyway I finally decided on maps and book pages.  I have some old windows and intend to place a map behind one like this one I found on pinterest except mine will be sepia - I painted some picture frames and the window frame this morning - since I am writing this on my phone the pix will not be in order.  So far I haven't spent much on this redo - 1.87 for paint 15 for fabric and 3.99 for my map - which I found thanks to this post from beadandcord.com. 
Have a fabulous Monday - hopefully my back will let me sew  for a while so I can get Emma bean's quilt done - sew close and yet sew far...

Ikea frame make over

I love how these turned out! I used some ikea frames that I got at a garage sale. I painted them with Rust O leum Caribbean sands spray paint. They feel sandy. :) the paint didn't work quite the way I planned but that's okay. The people at Rust oleum were great to work with.
Anyway, I glued seashells, stones from the dollar store, and "kitchen twine" round them and added some vacay pix from SanDiego. Simple Sunday afternoon project!

from this to that! :-)  (of course since my phone put the pix in backwards - I guess its more like "this FROM that" :-)