Summertime Swap Quilt

Guess what was waiting for me today in my mailbox when I got home from work? That's right! A package from my Good Ole Summertime Mini-Quilt Swap secret partner! And the return address and cool stamps and labels and patches tell me it originated in Croatia!

The quilt inside is beautiful. Done in American patriotic colors of red, white and blue. The three flowers are hand appliqued with exquisite hand-stitched blanket stitching around them.

The grass and stems are also hand stitched , as well. The quilting is done by machine. Love that awesome red and white binding!

Don't you just love the cross-hatching quilting? I do! And the 2 borders, too. :-)

My new friend, Simona from Croatia also sent me some beautiful doilies and fat quarters, as well as some neat sewing themed stickers and a postcard of her home town.

I now cant wait for next summer when I can put my new patriotic quilt up on my wall! Thanks so much, Simona! I love your work!!

Tomorrow I leave for our fall CQU retreat. So, I've gotta get upstairs and finish packing up my stuff to take. I've been cutting 6" squares as well as bricks from my autumn fabric scraps. I've pulled out some old fall panels from my stash and am making some lap quilts by putting blocks around the panels. I've got three of them to take. Plus a Field of Flowers quilt I'm ready to sew the rows together (UFO) and want to make a new fall purse, so will take stuff to do that, too. So many things to sew... and a weekend away to do it in!! YESSSSSS! I'll post next when I get back and will have photos of projects friends created at retreat to share, too! Ciao for now!