Saturday, August 20, 2011

Pretty {Little} Pouch Swap - Complete!

Well, another swap has finished. I can now say that I have both sent and received my Pretty {little} Pouch Swap packages. Here's how it went:

Prettly {little} Pouch Swap - Sent

I made my partner two pouches, one on the medium/large side and one small one. She had added a few items including applique to her inspiration mosaic so I ran with it. The grey for the cloud pouch came from an old pair of linen/cotton pants I had. The other pouch you may recognize from the wedding gift I made for some friends in May. I had created an extra panel of green and brown patchwork so I decided to put it to good use in a bonus pouch. Both items came together without a problem which is totally remarkable considering my limited experience with pouches.

My partner sent me this little goody:

Prettly {little} Pouch Swap - Received

The little box pouch she made me was a cream canvas(?) with a sweet little puppy in a tea cup on the side. He looks all wriggly! I don't know for sure, but I'm going to claim this as a Heather Ross print. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

Inside was a pile of surprises!

Prettly {little} Pouch Swap - Received

Not only did she line it with some of the blue and green dots of the DQ Quilts collection (which I can't get in Canada because there are no Joann's) but she added some goodies from Cath Kidston and some green tea mints from Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's is yet another brand we don't have in Canada so it was a real treat!

I am thorougly impress with my partner and how hard she worked on my little pouch. It was really sweet of her to include extra goodies as well! Overall I would call the swap a success.

All that being said, I feel like I should add something to this post. While I am so happy that my pouches were well received, and love the package I got, I actually didn't really enjoy this swap. This has nothing to do with the organization, the talent in the group or anything outside of myself. In fact, this swap is fabulous! It is well organized by two very sweet and hard working swap mama's, the group is full of incredible talents and there is eye candy galore.

I didn't enjoy the swap because I realized that I would rather drool over the eye candy than fret about what to make for someone else. I've taken part in several mini quilt swaps including two rounds of Doll Quilt Swap, and I think those might be more up my alley. Designing and creating mini quilts comes more naturally to me and I am more likely to be satisfied with what I have made. The pouches are not as much fun for me and I feel like that really held me back.

Do any of you participate in swaps or online quilting bees? Do you feel like it encourages your creativity? Or, like me, do you prefer to let inspiration come when it comes and stick to your strong suits?

1 comment:

Wendy said...

Gorgeous pouches, the one you recieved and the two you made. I'm with you on the swaps thing - I'd be too anxious about what I was making to enjoy it.