Craftster Blocks ... the grand finale

Blocks, blocks and more blocks ... that's what I've been up to lately! Driving the flurry of block-making has been the fast-approaching deadline for the Craftster Lap Quilt Swap. I had 22 blocks to make for this swap and, with the Christmas holidays falling right in the middle of the swap, I was starting to feel the pressure in the past few weeks.

No worries ... with a week to spare, I was able to finish up all of the blocks this past weekend. Here are the blocks I've made since my last update:

• First, a block for Ashley. She sent an inspired (and inspiring!) selection of browns, whites, and teal greens with lime accents. I decided to go kinda improv on this one, with intentionally wonky horizontal stripes. I had a lot of fun selecting some coordinating prints (mostly from the "Nest" line) from my stash. It's one of my favorites!!
  

• Next up, two blocks for whoopdedoo_5. I've been wanting to try making some string blocks, and I felt that this selection of Surf & Sand fabrics was the perfect place to start. I loved making this block and I love the end result even more. I'll be making more blocks like this, so don't be surprised when you see them!
  

• Here's a block for thatbluesea. I wanted to keep it simple and let the teal and red combo speak for itself. I love the look but, unfortunately, it's not quite finishing out at a nice, clean 12.5". I think I'll be making a second (replacement) block before sending this back, just in case.
  

• Next, a block for swap hostess (and SewConnected regular!) Audrey. I felt like the fun, vintage-y fabrics called for a more traditional block. The colors look so great together, don't they?! I tried to make Audrey a bonus block (below), but ran out of enough long strips of fabric to put a top and bottom border on it. I sent it anyway ... I thought Audrey could finish it up if she likes it, or use it for another purpose.
  

• The block below was made for libbyk. Her fabrics selection included a bunch of black and white prints (very much outside my usual comfort zone) and a splash of color. I hope she likes it!
  

• And finally, two batik beauties for 1b1g1k2. You know, I've never really been drawn to batiks. Of course, I've seen many of your beautiful quilts made from batiks on your blogs and Flickr streams, but for some reason I tend to always walk right by them in the store. But I started feeling a small itch when working with Kim's fabrics in the SewConnected 2 swap. The itch grew a lot when making these two blocks, and just the other day I found myself lingering on the batik pages of the latest Hancock's of Paducah catalog. I LOVE how these blocks came out ... especially the first one. The pictures really don't do the bright colors any justice. I think there will be a batik project in my future ...
  

Another fun Craftster swap under my belt! I'll be sure to post pictures the blocks I receive as they start to roll in ...