WiP Wednesday #13

I wish I could say more about this week, but I really haven't done much more than prep work for some new projects.

(And I will apologize upfront for the icky photos this week.  They were taken with, and imported from my phone, so...)

I added 2 new projects this week:

1 - Pillowcase dresses.  We got invited to our friends daughter's first birthday next weekend.  It is in North Carolina, where we used to live.  So not only are we driving down for the party, but I am taking the opportunity while in town to have lunch with one of my BFF's.  I figured if I am going to the trouble of making one dress, I might as well make two more for her two daughters, too.

Because I love her.  And that's just what I do when I love people.

I ordered the fabric on Friday, so I am expecting it any day now (hopefully TODAY).  I got a couple different patterns in the "Apple of My Eye" collection from Riley Blake. 

I have to say, having three boys, I don't get many opportunities to buy a lot of cute, girly fabric, so shopping for these dresses was a lot of fun!

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2 - The second project I took on is something of an experiment on my part.  A few years ago I received a monogrammed, fabric key chain as a gift from one of my friends.  

As you can see, it is now well worn and ever since I got my new sewing/embroidery machine, I have wanted to try to make my own to give as gifts.

I have seen a few (very few!) patterns/tutorials for these, but none of them were exactly what I wanted, or they were actual in-the-hoop embroidery programs, which I definitely didn't want! So, with no pattern, I am trying to figure out how to make these.  I have done some measuring and ordered the key fob hardware (which should arrive tomorrow, thanks to Amazon Prime!)

I didn't want to spend a ton on fabric and thread during the experimental phase, so I stopped at JoAnn's and picked up a few quarter-yards of fabric that matched the embroidery thread that I already had, and these are the combo's I came up with:

The pink that you see will be embroidered in black, and I do have a piece of purple that I will be using especially for my mom's, embroidered in white.

In fact, it is the same piece of purple Terrain that I am offering to anyone who is interested in doing the Purple Fabric chain/swap!

I wrote about it last week HERE, but I will briefly repeat it again now. 

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Here is an excerpt from the letter:

This is a quilt tree – no money involved, just postage stamps, and a lot of fun!  Please send 2 (two) 6-inch squares of purple (or purple in it) cotton fabric to the first person on the list below.

Then remove the name you sent the squares to, and put your name below mine.  Next, copy this letter and send it along with 2 (two) 6-inch squares of purple fabric to six other people.  All together you will have cut 14 squares of fabric.  You will probably get at least 72 squares, which is enough to make a nice, cute, purple quilt. 

I have already sent off 3 envelopes of fabric, but I need 3, possibly 4 more people to send my fabric to. If you are interested, shoot me an email, or leave a comment below!

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So, back to WiP's.  My Stats for the week look like this:

WiP's finished - 0

New WiP's - 2

3 Pillowcase dresses

Up to 11 embroidered key chains

WiP's worked on - 0

(Unless you count ordering fabric and hardware as "working on"!)

WiP's NOT worked on: 4

Swoon mini quilt

Denim Rag Quilt

Star Baby Quilt

Couch Pillows

On the back burner/not started yet: 4

Bed quilt

Christmas Stockings

Secret gift #1

Secret gift #2

Total = 10 - up 2 from last week!

Now I am heading over to Lee's @ Freshly Pieced to check out everyone else's WiP's :)