2016 Finish Along: Q1 Goals

This is the first year, I'm going to link up with the Finish Along. I've seen many others do it in the past and have felt the twinge of desire to use it for motivation to finish things. However, every time I would shrug it off because I didn't think I really had that many unfinished projects. After cleaning up my craft room again...I'm sad to report that my number is 69 and I'm still finding more. So I decided to be overly, optimistic in my list. I'm including 17, and those are just the ones that I started in the last 6-8 months of last year, as part of quilt-alongs or mystery quilts. I guess as long as I work on them this year, I'm working towards my goals of using what I have. But I would love to get a few of these done in time to be counted as part of the 2016 Finish Along: First Quarter.

First I made myself a nice pretty list with all of them and all of the steps required to finish, so that I can mark off each step as I finish it.

Here they are in the order they came off my phone.

 9. 4-Patch X ready for me to cut the sashing.

7. Quinn's Baptism Book. (Her Baptism was in September). This may become a quilt instead.

 17. Community Sisters Quilt. Ready for Alternate Blocks to be cut (or Sashing...as they are pretty much the same thing in this quilt).

8. Pink Quilt- Just needs Binding. I don't know why I drag my feet so much on bindings. I love doing them.

 10. Winter from Cultural Fusion Quilts. Even if I don't get it done this quarter it must be done by the end of April...so getting it done early would be nice.

5. Double 4-Patch. This was a block of the day project in a group I am in. I fell behind in August I believe. Now it can all be completed.

 2. Jacob's Ladder I-Spy. This quilt was another quilt along where I chose to do big blocks. So the top went together quickly...and then I stalled. Each block is different.

11. HST 1 - This is a baby quilt using big blocks.

 12. HST 2 - This is the same as HST 1 (#11) but using different fabrics.

4. Easy Street -  This is basted and awaiting quilting.



















6. Allietare Mystery Quilt - I am in the middle of clue 3.

16. Shrunken Ribbons of Love- This will be a half sized pieces (1/4 size of full quilt) of a friend's mystery quilt she ran on her blog last fall.

 13-15. Ribbons of Love 1-3. These are full size versions of #16. That made it to step 4 during the duration of the Mystery Quilt that were put aside when a wedding quilt took over my time.

1. 9-Patch Baby Quilt- This is awaiting a backing and quilting. This is my own design, but was strongly influenced by a design in Mari Michell's 101 Nine Patch Quilts Book.

3. Lazy Sunday. This one is ready for me to cut Sashing. I also forgot to add to checklist that this has borders. So I will have to fix that.

Orange Crush (in Green)

This is my version of Bonnie Hunter's free pattern Orange Crush. It was a fun quilt to use up scraps and was a fun study in using what I had. It finished at 94 by 82 and has been given away for Christmas.

Bonus Post: Pat Sloan's Mystery BOM

I've decided to join in in the fun of Pat Sloan's Mystery Block of the Month for 2016 called My Secret Garden. I am still trying to use as much from my stash as I can, and I can successfully say that these fabrics all came from stash. This is the January Block: DC Botanic Garden. You can see what other quilters are doing here.

Puss in the Corner Quilt

This cute little quilt measures 44 by 63. It was started for the Sew My Stash 2015 Valentine's challenge to use something with hearts. I have been trying all year to pull things that have a more boyish feel to them. Unfortunately, I think the hearts and bows of the red just set this to the girl side. But either way, it was given as a Christmas present this year.

It was a lot of fun to quilt this one because I didn't want to do another all over with a stipple. So I followed the pattern of the blocks and tried to go with kind of a Celtic Knot look in gold for the quilting. It gives it a really cool design on the back making it look like interlocking wreaths.

You Zig I'll Zag

This quilt was made with the You'll Zig, I'll Zag tutorial that is available on the Moda Bake Shop. I didn't do borders because I forgot about them and had my back all pieced when I remembered. It is a good lap size quilt at 57 inches square. This used an April Showers layer cake that I got as part of a fund raiser. It will now be given as a Christmas present.

I tried to get the boys to help me by holding it up. I think Nate has reached the good point of actually listening and holding still. Kyle, however, thought it was hilarious to play peek-a-boo with the quilt instead. O well, I'll keep working with them on it. By the time, they are old enough to move out of the house, I think they will be be pros at holding up quilts (and probably completely tired of doing so).

Ginger Snap

This quilt is called Ginger Snap. It is my design. I made it for a friend from college who welcomed his first son with his wife at the beginning of October. It measures 48 inches square. I just did a simple big stipple in orange for the quilting.

Bonus Post: Allietare Part 2

I managed to get part 2 done for Bonnie Hunter's Allietare Mystery. I am quite pleased with how my colors are playing so far. My colors are completely different (because I was pulling from stash). I am also using constants for all of the fabrics.

To see what others are doing with this mystery go check out all the cool links here. I should be around Link number 137.

EZ Triangles Quilt

This quilt was created for the QuiltCon EZ Triangles Challenge. It was a lot of fun to make it and to let the triangles talk to me and make their own design. In my creating of this quilt, I really just let it build itself. It was a lot of fun to be able to quilt it myself too. I have to laugh at my little "fronds" that I attempted in the pink and green on the medallion. I think they ended up looking a little like the Trix Bunny's ears.

Approximately 1000 triangles were sewn for this quilt (though some did get cut off).

Bonus Post: Allietare Part 1

Woohoo. I managed to get all of my bits done for the first clue of Bonnie Hunter's 2015 Mystery Quilt named Allietare. This year my colors are quite different from what she called for. I'm still working quite intently on using my stash to sew things. However, I think it will still turn out well.

Go check out more people who are following along and linking up with her.

I'm number 125 to link up.

Lone Dresden Hexie

This quilt was designed and made for the QuiltCon Michael Miller Fabric Challenge. It measures 19 by 22. I have dreams of making a much larger quilt using this same Dresden Hexie design (I may or may not already have 2 others started).

Army Jacob's Ladder

This mini quilt was actually supposed to be a block in a large quilt with random Jacob's Ladder blocks, but when I plan quilts that don't have a purpose I try to make the sizes that Primary Children's Hospital needs. Then after I had my blocks together, I realized I couldn't donate it if it had army trucks on it. So it became a doll quilt that one of the boys might like playing with in our Church Nursery Class (ages 18 months to 3 years) that I help with on Sundays. It is approximately 18 inches square.

Lozenge Quilt

This is my Lozenge quilt that was started as a Leader/Ender Challenge. It is completely made out of scraps. It didn't remain a Leader/Ender project. It became my main project until I had a top, then it got put away to await my quilting attempts. I started wanting to do an I-spy with the quilting with small quilting spaces that would be repeated later to be matched. I quickly lost interest in the quilting (and had other things that needed my basting pins :P), so I continued to just do a large stipple and put in words that I thought either described me, or I wanted to describe me. I am quite pleased with how this turned out. I plan to use it for anything and everything. It measures (or did before quilting) at 90 inches by 108 inches. I wanted to make it a large queen size, for my bed. I think I'm now up to 6 different quilts for my bed...I might need to start planning to make them for other people.

Grand Illusion

 I managed to get my Grand Illusion quilt finished. It measures 88 inches by 88 inches. This one I decided to stray from my usual stipple by adding in Daisies. It's such a busy quilt that it was great for hiding mistakes. Now I feel really confident with quilting them on another quilt.

I even managed to get it on my bed (which of course required actually making my bed. It makes the room feel different from my Celtic Solstice quilt. It's interesting that \ the pattern or colors of the quilt on the bed can change the feel of of a room.

Lighthouse

Once again, I forgot to get a finished picture of a quilt. This is a quilt I made in just a couple of days, as a Swap Angel for the Beach Bound Mini Quilt Swap. When the call went out for angels, I signed up. I had never been and Angel before. An Angel makes a mini quilt for someone who sent one off, but hadn't received one (do to a flaky partner). This one went off to Australia. I hid a few things in the quilting, like clouds, a bird, a dolphin, and an octopus. It was a lot of fun to do.

Crumb Star Doll Quilt

This is my Crumb Star Doll Quilt. I had originally planned on making several like this to be a big quilt, but really didn't like that I didn't use the same fabric in the corners as in the rest of the background. So I have decided that I will make a bed sized quilt like this, but I'm going to use mottled blues and greens for my backgrounds, and yellow for the star points. I'm hoping that will help set the stars out a little more.

I quilted and bound this one in time to use it for the Nebo Modern Quilt Guild's Scrappy Challenge. Now it has been gifted to the Nursery at church (18 mon-3 year-old Children's Class).

Delayed post

Silly me. I thought I had already gotten this written and scheduled. I made this quilt and once again forgot to get a finished picture before sending it off. So this picture is courtesy of Holly, who was the recipient. I used my happiest and brightest Denyse Schmidt fabrics to make this mini for the #sewmystashminiquiltswap. It was a lot of fun. I took inspiration from one of the many quilts found in Millefiori Quilts by Willyne Hammerstein.

Frozen Doll Quilt

This is a doll quilt that I chose to make while I was making a batch of Jacob's Ladder blocks for a quilt-along I was part of. I had this fat quarter of the pink Frozen fabric from a random fat quarter bundle, and couldn't convince myself to do something with it for one of my boys. So this will be given to a little girl in oldest's Primary class (Primary is the children's Sunday School classes in our church). I think she will be very happy with it. It measures about 18 inches square. It is also the first and LAST that I will ever do backed in cuddle fabric. My room was very fuzzed by the time I was done with this little thing.

Purple Quilt

This is a quilt that I finished for my Sister-in-law. It was started by her late Mother-in-law. She requested that I quilt and bind it for her. I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

Weekly finish -String Swoon

This post is a day late because I didn't think I had finished anything last week. But that's just because I had finished it last Monday and took it to the quilt show. This is my redesign of Camille Roskelley's Swoon block, so that I could string piece the star points. This was for the Fabric Challenge category. The fabric we were given was the grey with hexagons, that I used for the center and for the skinny star points. I really like how this turned out. Happy Creating.

Mini doll Quilt

My friend Marion challenged me to finish something every week. So I thought I would start to share my finishes on Monday. This week. I admit I cheated a little. These are some of the Open Wide Zippered Pouches from Noodlehead for gifts and a mini doll quilt (my official quilt finish for the week). The mini doll quilt measures no more than 11 inches square. It was an attempt to use some of my crumbs (tiny scraps in unusual sizes or shapes) in a raw edge quilt as you go method. I really didn't like how it was turning out, so I rolled the back to the front and just finished it off. It is the perfect size for a blanket for a beanie baby. I think I will be donating it to the Nursery at church (18 month-olds - 3 year-olds) because I've been helping in there on Sundays.

BFTP week 26

Here is the final block. For this one, I changed the directions to make it easier for me. You were supposed to foundation piece the arcs and then needle-turn applique them to the background. I chose instead to use Heat N Bond as my foundation. Instead of using my iron to press each seam I used my trusty seam roller, so that I could avoid getting the Heat N Bond in incorrect places. After the whole arc was pieced I then pressed it with my iron and cut along the lines of the arc. I made an extra line 1/4 inch from the sides of the arc so I could still place it all of the way against the edge of the block (except in 1 where you see I just shifted it over a little from the side because I cut on the wrong line). Then I could just apply the piece like I did with all of my other applique pieces and blanket stitched around the edges. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out, but I thought my arcs would have a little more contrast in them. But either way, the block is DONE.

BFTP Quilt Along Week 26

This is my week. I got back from a family reunion for my husband's side, and forgot to get this post up before bed. I also only have the first 2 blocks done, I didn't realize I hadn't done my third block so it will be posted later today.

The first 2 blocks for this week are pages 87 (Laurel Cross Spray), and 88 (Oak Leaf and Acorn). I used Heat N Bond for these. And I'm really glad I did because I was able to get nice points that I wouldn't have otherwise. All of my blocks are coming from my scrap bin(s). It's been fun to see what random combinations I could get. With these blocks the pieces are so small, that it's easy to use the smallest scraps that had been waiting for a good project.

The only thing I would do differently about these blocks (if I were to do them again) would be to give use a contrasting fabric for the stems of the Laurel Cross Spray.

I will be back in a little bit with the final block for today (and the Quilt Along). 

Bftp Qal

This is what I have to share for my day on the Blocks from the Past Quilt Along. I really loved doing my blocks. I just wish I hadn't gotten myself so busy doing everything else instead of continuing on with these blocks.

I was in charge of pages 37, 39, and 76. Page 37 was A Path Through the Woods. Page 39 was Rambler. And Page 76 was Posy Urn.

For pages 37 and 39 I used the Easy Angle Ruler because I don't like cutting things on the 1/8" lines. I end up with really wonky pieces if I do. With the Easy Angle Ruler you cut from strips of the size you want the half square triangle (hst) to finish at and the ruler adjusts over that extra bit that would be in the dog ear anyway. So for my 1 and 1/4" hsts I actually cut 1 and 1/4" strips and used a piece of tape on the ruler to mark where that would be (it only has the 1/2 inch markings so I put the piece of tape half way between 2 of them). I cut the extra triangles the same way. Since this book did all the calculations using the 1/8 inch I substracted 3/8 inch to figure out what size I was cutting with my ruler.

I love how these blocks turned out. The blue one is my A Path through the Woods. And the Green and Brown is my Rambler. My Rambler ended up a half an inch too small and I'm not very sure why that was. I had hopes of trying again to see if I could adjust the measurements just a little to get it right. Unfortunately, I ran out of time. To adjust this I will be adding just an extra bit of sashing to the 2 sides of it to make it bigger.

I chose fabrics from the scrap bin that was directly under my cutting table for each of my blocks. I had a lot of fun picking out things that would look bright and exciting.

My Posy Urn block was a bit more of a challenge for me. I was actually hung up on starting this whole project because of the amount of applique included in it. I started with freezer paper and drawing the patterns to try and do the needle turn applique. While I loved doing the needle-turn and the relaxing capabilities it offered. I was not a very big fan of the fussiness it was giving me. Since I have small kids and not as much time for things like that as I had hoped I actually did some needle-turn on this block and then switched to using Heat n Bond. This allowed me a little more time to get my blocks done and less shift that had to be adjusted. Then after adhering the pieces I simply stitched around the edges of each of the blocks I hadn't stitched down yet. While it may be a Franken-block, it is my Franken-block and I actually love it, and the story that goes with it. Since I had cut out all my pieces before switching I did actually have to change some of my flower fabrics. So above I have included the final layout, and below is the original before I started stitching anything.

Happy Stitiching friends. And if any of this doesn't make sense, let me know and I can try to clarify for you. I had my tonsils out on April 13th and my brain is still a little fuzzy.

Blocks from the Past

For this weeks Blocks from the Past Update go check out Natalie's blog.

I'm sorry I'm late with this, but I kind of had a crazy weekend/ week prepping for my mother-in-law's arrival and my tonsillectomy (that was this morning). I'm home and doing pretty well. I try to be up and about a little bit and then I retreat back to my bedroom where I can either close my eyes or work on my Hexie quilt.

Next week will be my update, so I will try and get it written up later this week, so I won't be late for it.

Blocks from the Past Week 13

This week we are headed over to Tiffany's place for pages 29, 30, & 72 over at Sewinsomethin.blogspot.com

Happy Quilting.

More blocks from the Past

I managed to get some more blocks ready for stitching. I enjoyed having some time this Sunday evening to just match fabrics from my scrap bin (one of many). I think it is just about time to switch to different bin for these, since I have soo many more scraps that want homes. This week check out Barbie's blog, you'll be glad you did.

This week has been rather crazy which is why last week's post didn't get written. My littlest buddy got sick last weekend, and it resulted in me being sick all the rest of this week. I have been having issues with all of my illnesses residing in my throat, so we have decided to rid my body of tonsils on the 13th of April. I will try my darndest to make sure that my blog post for the 20th with still run as scheduled, but I may be off the grid a bit for a little while in preparation for my Mother-In-Law coming to visit and help with the boys, and the obvious surgery and recovery.

Here's to better health and Fun Applique blocks. Happy quilting friends. 

Wow, I'm behind

Wow, I guess I didn't realize I had fallen quite so far behind. This week's Blocks from the Past post can be found here. Go check it out.

8.5 finally

1 8.5 inch block down 8 to go. I don't know why, but I really dragged my feet about making the extra 8.5 inch blocks for my Red and White (and Black) Quilt. It might have been because the blocks I picked were paper pieced. I actually really like paper piecing, but the idea of oversizing pieces and trimming (and throwing out those trimmings) really bugs me for some reason. Not to mention there are those odd shaped pieces that if you don't oversize enough they can be fussy, and difficult. Anyway... So I started with this one and they went relatively quickly after that. This pattern and all of the ones I used for the extra blocks came from the Quilter's Cache. There is a wonderful gallery of blocks available and they can be viewed by name, block size, or when they were added to the collection.

Improv blocks

When I laid out my red and white (and black) quilt I found I didn't have enough 4.5 inch blocks. I also happened to be out of red. So these 2 blocks were pieced randomly from the scraps I had leftover. They are a fun addition to my quilt and I know that no one else will have blocks exactly like these, which helps to unique-ify my quilt. It also helps me feel good about the fact that I am using what I have.

Red and white finish

Red and white quilt top. It is so big I couldn't get a full picture of it. I'm leaving the edge jagged. I loved the stark contrast in the blocks that we exchanged, but was having trouble with ideas for how to maintain that look without buying too much more fabric. (5 yards of white later...) The black was in my stash, and I still have strong feelings when I see red, white, and black color combinations because those were my high school colors. I love how colors play together, and work to both accent themselves and to draw attention to the other colors around them. A few of the 4.5 inch blocks had to be put on point within their on point block because they didn't look as good on point. I really love this quilt top. Now to get it quilted quickly because it needs to be done soon.

3.5 red and white

Here are 3.5 inch red and white friendship stars to join the big red ones in the border for my red and white quilt.

Matching pillow

This quilt needed a pillow to go with it. I wanted to make something simple and modern. This is what I came up with. I decided that a simple use of the "Bacon Stitch" was perfect to add a little extra spice. I stitched an even distance from each other (used the edge of my machine as a good guide) in black, and then found a yellow, orange, green, and pink thread I thought matched, and used my random number generator to figure out which columns got which colors. It is one of my favorite tools for randomizing.

I even made the pillow myself with some Poly-fil that I bought several years ago and a Polyester feeling fabric that I believe was the lining for curtains that I got in a random box of fabric.

Sew my stash Precuts Challenge

This was a fat quarter bundle that I picked up in Cincinnati, Ohio when I went to the International Quilt Festival there with my mom in April of 2012. It was the end of a grand trip that Nate, My Mom, and I took, that included visiting my Aunt and Cousin in Tennessee, and a Cousin and her family in Texas, and of course ended in Cincinnati. This line was Garden Strings by Kim Schaefer. I loved the vibrant colors. I finally found a pattern for it when Amy Smart decided to host The Virtual Quilting Bee on her blog during 2013. I then set aside the bundle for when I would have time to start the project, but as most quilters seem to know, there is always one more thing to do. That one more thing actually became the Christmas quilts that I made that year for my family. So into the pile of waiting projects it went.

This year I decided I was going to drastically cut down on my fabric buying. So when #SewMyStash2015 started taking over Instagram, I started following and lurking. I was still using my stash and only my stash because I wanted to see how long I could go without buying fabric just to buy fabric. I can say that I have only bought fleece after an incident at Joann's, white to finish 1 quilt, and, a clearanced fat quarter bundle that has been backordered, since October 10th.

Anyway, I continued to lurk, but had not really gotten the hang of hashtags, so didn't want to go overboard. Well, when she issued the first challenge I jumped right in. Then when this precuts challenge came up, I started looking through my precuts, since I keep them all together, and rediscovered this bundle. I hunted down the patterns for the squares and went to town. It was hard to motivate myself to start cutting into the fat quarters, but once I did, the blocks went together super quick and easy. Now I can proudly say that I have another finished top, completely out of my own stash (with backing and a scrappy binding all ready, too) ready for quilting. Now I am beginning to gladly use the #SewMyStash2015 hashtag. Thank you Leasa. To find more on this challenge and to see what others have completed go check it out here or on Instagram with #SewMyStash2015PrecutsParty

Konda's Hexagon Runner

This is a pattern by Konda Luckau, found in her book Simply Hexagons. She had me test the pattern and I loved it. She addresses the tricky subject of y-seams spectacularly. I was very impressed. Her method allows you to chain piece all of it. The only trouble I had with it, was when I accidently shifted a row and had to rip the seam. I then accidently turned a corner and ripped the wrong seam. Otherwise, it was fun and quick and used a precut hexagon pack.

Quilt along

My progress this week included starting on the applique for this block. For this week's blocks, go check out Marion's Blog and Ginny will walk you through them.

 I know it isn't my week for helps, but I just want to share just one little tool I've decided I love. It is a glue stick. When doing applique I find that a glue stick gives me the least amount of fabric bunching, with the least amount of prep work, which allows me to utilize more of my available time in getting a finished product. 

Cool Dudes

I love this picture of my boys from May 2014. Nate wanted to share his glasses with his little brother. I can't believe how little Kyle is here. Nate wanted Kyle to be a Cool Dude.