March STUD mini-quilt received

Saturday was a good mail day, as my March STUD swap quilt arrived! This month's theme was "Japanese," and my partner did a great job. 

Here you can see some of the detail on this little quiltie. She quilted most of it in gold thread, and in this section she outlined the shapes on the fabric and then added seed beads as accents. There are many lovely little details that it takes a lot of looking to see fully, like a couple of gold butterflies quilted into the fabric on the left (they were hard to photograph). 

Here's a picture of the full swap I received. In addition to the quilt, I got three fat quarters in very bright colors, a retractable measuring tape, and a little book for handwork (it has a built-in needle book, plus spaces for embroidery shears and other necessities.) I feel spoiled! 

There's nothing like receiving your swap to get you in gear to make your own. I had done some preliminary work on my Japanese mini-quilt, but on Sunday I did the piecing, the label, and got about half way through the hand-quilting, which is sashiko-style but with quilting thread instead of embroidery floss. I'm not sure how the effect is working, but it's too late to turn back now! Sneak peek to come in about a week, when it should be in the mail. !