Mailbag

I made a trip to the post office today to send out a few swap packages. First, the easy lap quilt for the bend-the-rules swap. My fellow swapper chose the fabric, but the layout and quilting are all mine. I like the simplicity of this pattern, and it really was quite easy. To complement the linear design, I channel quilted lines parallel to the strips. I also hand-quilted a number of asterisk-ish designs in three of the bars in cream pearl cotton. Hand-quilting is hard! I found it very difficult to emulate the rocking motion that everyone speaks of. I think this may have been because the pearl cotton is so thick. It took quite a tug to get it through the layers of fabric and batting. I would love to hear any hints on quilting with this type of cotton if you havy any! Here's the handquilting: Here is the front: Here is the back: I also sent out the blocks for the about.com birthday block swap: peggy asked for a butterfly block: stacy asked for a batik star block. another paper-pieced beauty!