I am weak

Each time I sign up for an online swap I say it is going to be my last.

I grumble to myself over partners so silent they don't leave one crumb of a comment.
I tell myself I really shouldn't be spending all this time over a quilt for someone who is not the partner I had hoped they would be.

I imagine they will be chatty, leave encouraging comments, participate from time to time.
In reality the majority have not been.

And then the swap comes to an end and I get a lovely package from the person who was making for me (who I always forget about during the whole process) and then my niggled nerves are soothed somewhat.

My very own Guernsey cow made for me in the last swap I did - I love people who think outside the box

I forget my own gripes and moans and then before I know it, I've signed up for another swap.

This time it was the Schnitzelandboominiquiltswap on Instagram which I believe has over a thousand participants in it. With that large a number, I realise the chances of my partner commenting, leaving an encouraging comment, are fairly minimal and I'm fine with that now.

I think what drives me on, is looking at a person's comments about what they like and feeling challenged because they are so far removed from mine.

In this case my partner likes solids and a fairly specific set of colours. Without giving too much away, I was up for the challenge and off I went.

Hopefully the following photos will give you a good idea of the process.

First I decided on a pattern. I found this one on Etsy and asked the maker to reduce it from it's original 27" size to 24" as this is the maximum size allowed for this (and most) mini quilt swaps.

A colour palette (to my partner's likes) was picked.

To be that restrained was hard. Very hard.

Each block was made up of four separate paper pieced sections.

And some of the pieces needed their colour placement reversed.

Sometimes I got it wrong.

Sometimes I swore.

Sometimes I swore a lot.

Slowly it started to come together and that's when you get a bit of a second wind to carry on because you can see the emergence of something really quite spectacular.

Until you reach that 'oh wow' moment.

Until that is until you realise you've sewn the two wrong halves together...look at the middle bottom half square...it should have been facing the centre half square as I deliberately used a slightly different fabric.

Then the swearing recommences.

Lots of.

A couple of days break, the mistake is rectified and I am back at it with the quilting.
I decided to go detailed.

Like really, really detailed.

Like I'm never making this again so I might as well throw everything at it detailed.

And then finally, it was finished.

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday

And that's me done with swaps for a while.

I think.