Fifteen days

Fifteen days. That's how long I lasted into 2012 before signing up to a swap. I had told myself 2012 was to be the year of no swaps, no bees, just mindless, relaxing sewing of what I wanted, when I wanted.

But then sign ups for round 7 of the Pillow Talk {Swap} on Flickr opened up and I caved in. Has to be just about my favourite swap. You can never have too many pillows/cushions right?

And then I got my partner.

And then I panicked a bit because I am a huge admirer of her creativity. We were told to bring our A game to this swap but I felt I had to bring my A+ game for this partner.

For me, the easy part is picking the fabric. I take note of their likes in the sign up information, I trawl through their Flickrstream and read their blog and after a few days, I know which fabrics I want to use.

But what pattern to make?

I recently bought this and was itching (figuratively) to try it out. And then Jenny posted this tutorial on her blog and I knew that was what I wanted to make with the chosen fabric.

The tutorial was very easy to follow with the exception of my understanding the instructions for squaring up the blocks on the 1/8th mark which I think are less than perfect.

Yes, I know it's the same backing as my last Pillow Swap but I like it and it fits in with the colours and it's the right size!

However, I don't think it detracts from the overall look of the cushion/pillow and I am keeping my fingers crossed my partner likes it.

What it has done is completely whetted my appetite to see what other patterns and shapes can be made with the ruler. The curves are indeed very gentle ones to sew yet they create such dramatic and interesting effects.

Machine pieced and quilted with a little bit of perle hand quilting for good measure

I have a baby quilt to make next for a new arrival that caught me by surprise by putting in an appearance 4 1/2 weeks early so am hoping to do a curvy quilt for her.

Linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday