November mini-quilt reveal

Here it is! My Swap Til You Drop November mini-quilt. The challenge was two-color quilts. I had a number of ideas, but when I saw that my partner really liked black and white, well, I couldn't resist using those lovely Mark Lipinski Califon fabrics! 

The pattern is my own but was inspired by one I saw in Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting magazine. The white areas are quilted with a free-motion curlicue in white thread, and the black areas are quilted with a free-motion ladder / greek key pattern in black thread. Not really sure how best to explain that, but my free-motion quilting is getting pretty solid! Even the straight lines look fairly straight, and my curlicues are coming out well. It's all about the tension, I guess! 

I did another embroidered label. I couldn't resist throwing some red in there to really make it pop! This time I pinked the edges of the label then pressed them under before sewing it down. I like how this works. I also like the look of quilting through the label. I had read somewhere that you're supposed to do that because it makes it harder for a quilt thief to remove your name from your work, but at this point I think it's ridiculous to think of anyone wanting to do something like that to my stuff! 

My partner received the quilt yesterday and said she loves everything about it, so I think it's a success. I also threw in a beehive pincushion as a little something extra. I adore these things! I am considering making one this weekend and participating in the Sew, Mama, Sew Give-Away Day on December 3, but I don't want to commit until I have something definite completed and set aside. I hope to do something about that this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled for more news on that! 

Also, I am expecting my November swap package in the next couple of days, plus some awesome crafty loot I won online, so I'll be posting pictures of all of that. Yesterday my 3.5-year-old iPod died (that sad iPod face is just too much!) so Rob and I went to the Apple store and I got the fancy new nano in a beautiful blue. Awesome. Also yesterday my Mary Kay rep dropped off a big order I had just placed, so it was kind of like Christmas. For me. Except I paid for everything. 

Speaking of Christmas, I just saw this on the Purl Bee. I don't know what I want more--the advent calendar, or all of the lovely notions inside!