Finish Along 2016 Quarter 2 roundup and Q3 Goals

The days are flying by and it's time once again to look back at the previous quarter and look ahead toward what I hope to accomplish by the end of the next quarter.   I did get a few things done this time, but there's so much left to do!

Quarter 2:

1. Pillowcase - finished!

2. Doggie quilt - finished!

3. Basket - finished!

4. (2) gift place mats - not yet started.. thinking of moving to Q4 just in time for Christmas

5. Pouches -finished!

6. Playhouses Doll Quilt - not yet started
7. Baby girl quilt gift - started and changed theme
8. Succulents wall hanging - not yet started
9. Picnic quilt - not yet started

10. Easter baskets - not yet started. I think this would fit better in my Q1 2017 list!

Quarter 3 Goals:

1. Laptop sleeve - I've been searching for a simple sleeve for my laptop and my husband suggested I just make one... why didn't I think of that? 

2. Baby girl quilt - This was to be a water or beach themed quilt, but will be from the Halfhearted Pattern. I've made about 20 blocks and have about 20 more cut out. 

3. Zippered pouches - at least 5, but hope to make more. I designed some fabric depicting the city symbols, so this will be fun to experiment with.

4. Shopping totes - I hope to make 2 using the same fabric.

5. Bee quilt - this is a throwback to last year. I think it needs one additional row. I put it aside because it's slightly too small for my current bed and because it's going to be a beast to quilt on my small machine. It is so easy to put off projects that will made for myself!

6. Commission quilt - I need to make a lap-sized quilt in jewel tones to be used as a couch throw.

7. Playhouses doll quilt - Now that she's finally started summer break, my daughter is happily choosing fabrics from my scrap baskets...and spreading them all over the floor. I have no idea where she learned that.

8. Supernova - I only need to make 2 more blocks before I can sew up this top. They take FOREVER but it would be nice to get this one finished for myself as well. Plus, maybe then my partner will be inspired to finish hers too!

9. Picnic Quilt - this bundle is still waiting patiently!

10. Another bee quilt - I'm being ambitious, but this is a pile of blocks just begging to be rescued from the cabinet and sewn together!

There are so many more things I'd like to put on this list, but I will stop here for now! Linking up to 

Last bits of sewing 2015 - Star Plus Birthday/Christmas Quilt

Squeaking in just in time for Christmas - tada! My son's birthday quilt was finally finished and put in the washer at about 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Ok fine, technically it was Christmas morning. I even had to sneak down and get it out of the dryer around 8 a.m., stuff it into a gift bag and ram it under the tree before he woke up. Luckily, he is very easy to sneak by early in the morning.  His favorite colors are green and orange, so I started out early in the summer with an improv green triangle idea set in a navy background, but I never got farther than one column completed. I've had this set of Simple Marks Summer charm packs for quite awhile without a specific project in mind. These charms, with the addition of Kona white, ash and steel were a great combination for him. This also gave me another opportunity to play with and learn more about EQ7.

blocks finished about 17.5"

fun with basting!

looks pretty good on my own bed - tempting!

All finished!

Quilt Stats:
Fabric: (3) Simple Marks Summer charm packs
             Kona white, steel & ash yardage
Blocks - 17.5" unfinished
Binding - Kona steel, leaf and ash
Finished quilt - 70" x 70"
Inspiration:  Chandelier Quilt along at WeAllSew.com. My hst's and pluses are of equal height & width - measurements, cutting instructions and finished block/quilt sizes from quilt-along were not used.

Confetti Rainbow Stars - a rainbow improv experiment

Well I finally can count this as a finish! I must say I spent a whole lot of time thinking about what step to take next in this process. In the end, I probably took a few too many "steps," but it was fun and used up a bunch of solid scraps - win win!

After making the stars into 17" blocks, the  top wasn't quite big enough, so I sashed it in mostly corresponding 2.5" wide solids and then again more randomly around 5" wide so it finishes about 65" x 65" - great for couch snuggling.

My trusty quilt holder here was complaining that he was tired of "too small quilts that he can't sleep under." What nerve! It could have been in response to being told to scoot his big forehead down a little & out of the picture. Can you feel the love? lol

A different perspective..

 The back  - jack. See that pretty red & white dot binding? 

Finally a finish from my FAL Q2 goals!

Confetti Rainbow Stars

Pattern/inspiration:  Confetti Star PP pattern & Paper Pieced Modern Book ("Squareburst" center rainbow block)

Size: 65 x 65"

Fabric: Kona solids including white, scrappy mod prints for stars and red/white dot scraps for binding

Thread: Aurifil #2024 for piecing & quilting


Later gater, FMT

WIP Birch trees

I'm working on a few class samples for later this year and here's what I've come up with so far...

I'm telling myself I'm stopping because I need some good light to take pictures

but really I don't have a good idea of where this is going, so I'll enjoy it as it is and move on to the next sample!

Also, I've only heard back from one winner of the SMS giveaway, so I'll be redrawing this Friday if I haven't heard from winner #2 by then!!


Linking right on up to Freshly Pieced & Sew Fresh Quilts &WOW

FMT

Stash Bee - my fave finish

Just last week, I had another exciting finish: my Stash Bee quilt. In July of 2014, I sent out instructions and a sample palette for a Wonky Pinwheel block (inspired by Greenleaf Goods) to 12 lovely ladies. Over the course of the next several months, the blocks came rolling in.

In early October, I got the blocks sewn into a top and was very pleased with what I was seeing.

Sometimes my bee mates included fabrics that I wouldn't always have necessarily chosen, but they all work together! I even have a couple that are closer to silk than cotton and they give a nice little surprise feel when you come across them. That's what made this project so fun - other perspectives make this quilt far more interesting.    

The gold and grey floral adds a silky surprise

In an effort to force myself to get this one finished, I put it on my Q1 list and it worked! 

 The back was a bit of an experiment. As I fancy myself addicted to paper piecing lately, I decided to play around a little. I used this letter set from Craftsy to make myself a label.

 The back is half Kona ash and half Kona white and just love how it came together around the letters and the binding is Kona navy. You can see that the quilting is a simple diagonal and a double straight gridline.

Ready for naptime! 

fmt

linking up On the windy side

walking backwards

Hey stranger!

Boy, I've caught a lot of blog posts recently by people expressing their difficulty in finding time to write. It's so easy to post to instagram and move on! I've been sewing a bit & traveling a bit & planning projects these last few months and haven't made myself sit here and catch up - and the longer you wait, the harder it is!

I think I'm addicted to paper piecing .. at least to searching for beginner patterns and printing them. I have quite a stack going and it's hard to narrow down what to work on next!

Last night I found this free pattern called Confetti Star. I think it will be fun to work on it as I have time and build it into something rainbowy. I pulled out 3 baskets worth of scraps and realized that I am keeping way too many!

Realistically, I will never work with tiny pieces so I started throwing them out and what a great feeling!

Now I just need my son to come and empty my can so I won't be tempted to dig anything (else) out and keep it.

Anyway, back to paper piecing: I found a really cool (and also free) pattern called Graceful Dancer a couple of weeks ago and had it in mind to turn it into something for my daughter.

Happily, it worked out well as a front panel for the messenger bag I needed to make as part of my Finish Along 2015 goals! As I was multi-tasking and actually testing a pattern for the famous Katy of The Littlest Thistle, I can't show the whole thing yet, but it has already made it's first journey and received lots of compliments! Here's a little sneak peek. & the pattern will be released in early April.

FMT