A parcel full of these wonderful blocks arrived in my mail box last week. Aren't they pretty? 

A little while ago I joined in a Nine-Patch swap organised by Barb of Fun with Barb blog. A huge thanks to Barb for organising such a great swap! She has a really clever way of making these blocks quickly and efficiently, which was handy because in the end there were 50 participants so we ended up having to make 100 blocks each!! 

It's really quite a wonderful feeling having a collection of blocks made by 50 different people. Imagine that! If you had all those quilters together in one room it would be quite a party! 

I haven't decided how to use the Nine-Patches yet. I'll save them up for when I'm settled in my new sewing room and I have access to a design wall again.  Not long now...

Here are the blocks I sent. I used my civil war reproduction fabrics. I don't use them often but I have quite a stash of them. At the moment I have the repro fabrics separated in their own area but I've been wondering if I should just throw them in with the rest of my stash that I have organised by colour so that they get mixed with more modern fabrics. 

My hexies are a good example of what I mean. They're a concoction of civil war fabrics mixed in with 30's fabrics, a few modern fabrics, text prints and some classic spots and gingham. What a fun eclectic mix! It's more about playing with colour than being limited by an era or type of pattern. 

I finished sewing the hexies together today. I've decided to make two Dilly Bags. 

Lets hope I don't dilly dally and I get them finished and sewn into bags before too long. 

I also managed to get some quilting done this weekend. 

It's been so hot so I was glad I'd used predominantly cool, refreshing whites with black fabrics in my simple quilt of squares.

*Exciting News Flash!* I was very honoured to receive an email from Amy of Amy's Creative Side to say Happy As A Clam has been nominated for a Viewers Choice Award in the Bloggers Quilt Festival. A huge Thank You to all of you who nominated my quilt!!
If you'd like to vote for Happy As A Clam you can do so at the Viewers Choice page. It's worth popping over to see which quilts made it to the finals. All the quilts are amazing so it'll be tricky to pick your favourites. 
If you feel like voting for Oi Emu in the Art Quilt category you can do that here.
You can also vote for Happy as A Clam here in the Original Design category. 

Here's a vase of tulips to end this post for no reason other than they look bright and springy. 

Have a fun, colourful week!