I recently took part in a fun swap with fellow fans of fabric designer Sarah Jane. I am often reluctant to take part in swaps, I always worry that I don’t do enough “extras” and if the recipient will like what I have made. It is all very well making something that has been requested or the person seeing and liking it enough to buy, but to make something for another person who sews is always a little daunting! Nevertheless I simply could not resist this one!

First of all I made a cushion cover using Emily Dennis pattern Quilty Stars, I loved how this pattern gave the perfect opportunity for some fussy cutting. I really enjoyed adding some hand quilting to this and used my favourite Aurifil 12wt thread.

I really love this Star pattern and a whole Quilty Stars quilt has gone onto my must make list! It is a perfect scrap buster and a fun way to include some cute fussy cutting.

Next was the extras, like I said at the beginning I never know the right amount of extras to include or what type!

My favourite extra make I made was this little Clamshell needlebook. I am a little bit addicted to making Clamshells so it it is always fun to make a project with them in.

These sweet Clams are only 2″ wide! I am particularly pleased with the little Octopus zipper pocket.

No pattern used, I kind of just improvised! It is only small so I hope my partner can find it useful for something.

Next I made a Hexie Trivet which is a pattern from the book Patchwork Please by Ayumi Mills. This is the first time making one of these, I’m not sure why as it was so much fun, I guess it may have intimidated me a little at first and that was why I kept putting it off, but I’m glad I finally went for it, I will certainly be making more!

For those wondering it is pieced using Foundation Paper. Which really helps getting everything point perfect!

Always a fan of fussy cutting and trying to get it in at every opportunity I made this little pouch. I am such a fan of making little pouches and purses that it did take quite a bit of restraint to not make the whole swap a parcel of pouches! Although in theory you can never have too many, I figured my partner would appreciate me using a bit more imagination!

This pattern was based on one by Minki Kim and her Sweet Seventeen Pouch. I love the look of the diamonds, easy to piece yet so effective!

Convieniently Sarah Jane released a new fabric collection while the swap was running. Unfortunately it didn’t get to the UK until quite near the swap deadline, so there wasn’t enough time to make something too big with it, however as soon as I saw the book fabric and the little girl (Lola Dutch) reading I thought it would make a lovely little bookmark. I had received one as a swap extra on my birthday and I loved it and thought what a sweet little extra it was. Even if people are reading books on Kindle and tablets these days all good sewers have a pile of sewing books in their library!

Finally there was a little button card. I have honestly put off inserting eyelets for about a decade, I’m not ashamed to admit they scared me a lot! However I really loved the Button Card pattern in the new book Rainy Day Sewing that I had to conquer my fear and give it a go, and you know what? It wasn’t that scary at all. I feel silly for putting it off for so long, but now there is no stopping me, Eyelets in everything!!

Now the exciting part is waiting for my parcel to arrive! I always forget that part when I’m stressing about my makes for a swap that somebody somewhere in the world is putting together something special for me too!