Swap Sent and Revealed - Need a Little Needle Book

At long last, it's time to share what I made for my partner in the Need a Little Needle Book swap!
{Visit our Flickr page here to see more needle books from the swap!}

As the Swap Mama for our exchange, I had the luxury of selecting the person who would create a needle book for me, and also the one who would receive my creation. I chose to send my needle book to the lovely and talented Gail.
Having just met Gail, all I knew about her was that she enjoys happy bright colors.
That led me to pull these fabrics, and I named my project the Bright Idea Needle Book.
{I hope it will inspire happiness and creativity for Gail!}

I could not resist using the tutorial by Nana Company to create this little needle book. I see more of these in my future, because they are pure FUN to create!
I used my mini design boards to lay out the squares for the back, plus a strip of squares for the front panel.

I added a ric rac edging, and I really think it adds sweetness and fun to the finished needle keep.

Want to see the back?
I love it as much as the front... yep, I need to make another one, with the patchwork on the FRONT.

And now let's look inside... this time I chose some turquoise wool felt for the interior pages.

I used more ric rac - in golden yellow.

I found some lovely lace, and I added a bit of butterfly... always a bright idea!

So once that little needle book was finished, I decided to create a matching pincushion!
I used a favorite pattern that I posted about here, purchased from Details by Des on Etsy.
Can you just imagine how squeezy this pinnie is?

One of the reasons I chose to make this style of pinnie was that I got to use... more ric rac!!!

See those covered buttons, too? They are another favorite design detail of mine.

I made a couple of extra covered buttons to send along...

So that's what I made for my swap partner... stop by again soon to find out what I received!