2016 Finish-Along ~ First 2nd Quarter Finish (finally)

I finished something! (patting myself on the back)  It's been a busy year, but apparently not quilting-wise ~ but at least I feel a little more motivated now to get more things done.  

I promised my grandkids I was going to make them a quilt this year.  So I finally finished the first one.  Presenting ~ Elephant Parade!

Like I said, I love this pattern by Lorna McMahon of Sew Fresh Quilts, so I was pretty excited when my granddaughter picked that for her quilt this year.  I added an extra row and a few more baby elephants, so it's a little bigger than the original pattern.  It ended up at 55" x 65" ~ a good size for snuggling under during Michigan winters.

I used a lot of stash fabrics with a Kona White background.  I don't remember what the main backing fabric was (kind of a mottled grey) but I added a strip of the same Elephants in Grey fabric that Lorna used in her first Elephants on Parade quilt.

I quilted it on my Juki with a diagonal cross-hatch and bound it in a grey and white stripe.

Linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social.

2016 Finish-Along ~ 2nd Quarter List

I really need to focus this quarter ~ which is going to be a little difficult since we'll be taking a road trip and will be gone for 5-6 weeks.  :)

So here's my list for the 2nd quarter (which is a total repeat of last quarter's list ~ plus two extras):

1 - Elephant Parade.  I love this pattern by Lorna McMahon of Sew Fresh Quilts, so I was pretty excited when my granddaughter picked that for her quilt this year.  I have the rows finished and ready for sashing.  I added an extra row and a few more baby elephants, so it's a little bigger than the original pattern.  Really hope to finish this one by the end of June!

2 - Seasonal Silhouettes.  This pattern book by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts is my first attempt at such detailed applique work.  I have the first three blocks fused and I've decided to make each block a separate wall-hanging so that I have one to show off each month.  :)  It's definitely a long-term project!

   

3 - Day Break Quilt.  Top is finished and I really need to finish piecing the backing ~ hoping to make some progress this quarter!

4 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on ~ still have only 4 blocks finished.

               

5 - Diamond District.  I'm still on six blocks ~ hopefully a few more blocks by the end of the year!  (This makes a good leaders-enders project ~ I really should take advantage of that!)

New this quarter:

6 - Garden Fence Comfy Quilt #2.  February was my month for the Newbie Quilters Bee (Hive #11), so I'm doing another Garden Fence quilt and have lots of blocks from my bee mates to put together.  Might as well add it to this list!

7 - Heart's Content "Little Love" mini quilt project by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. It's made with a mini charm pack which is included in the kit along with 7 small spools of Aurifil thread.  I've decided on the layout I wanted and finished fusing the hearts (another fusible applique project ~ yay!).  This one may end up as a hand-quilting project, since we're going to be traveling.  :)

Linking up with Debbie at A Quilter's Table for this quarter of the 2016 Finish-Along!

2016 Finish-Along ~ 1st Quarter Results

Where in the heck has all the time gone??  Seems like I've been busy, but apparently with projects other than the ones on my list. Anyway, here are my results for the 1st Quarter of the 2016 Finish-Along.  (See my original post here.)

1 - Elephant Parade.  Made some progress on this one ~ at least I finished all the blocks and they're all sewn together in rows.  Time to start adding the sashing and border.  

2 - Seasonal Silhouettes.  I finished fusing the first three blocks and I love the way they're turning out so far.  Like I said, it's a great long-term project.  Maybe I should focus on working on the blocks for the months coming up so that I can actually hang each one during the month it was intended for!

 January

 February

March

3 - Day Break Quilt.  Top is finished ~ will definitely finish it this quarter!  (I lied - NO PROGRESS!)

4 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on ~ I have 4 blocks done and hope to make at least some progress this quarter.  NO PROGRESS

               

5 - Diamond District.  I'm still on six blocks ~ hopefully a few more blocks by the end of the year!  (This makes a good leaders-enders project ~ I really should take advantage of that!)  NO PROGRESS

This is the first quarter since I started the Finish-Alongs that I had ZERO finishes.  I had such high hopes for this quarter ~ I guess I'll set my sights on the 2nd quarter.  After all, the only pressure I'm under is my own, right?  :)

WIP Wednesday ~ Little Bits

Working on multiple projects this week ~ so here are just a few little glimpses.

Made some good progress on the first block (January) of the Seasonal Silhouettes.  I actually love the process of fusible applique ~ from tracing the patterns pieces to cutting them out and fusing them onto the background.  I'm using Steam-A-Seam Lite 2 and it's a dream to work with!

I forgot to put this one on my 2016 Finish-Along list (darn!).  It's the Heart's Content "Little Love" mini quilt project by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts and it's made with a mini charm pack which is included in the kit along with 7 small spools of Aurifil thread.  I decided on the layout I wanted and finished fusing the hearts (another fusible applique project ~ yay!).  But I think I'll put this one on hold for a while so I can add it to my 2nd quarter list.  :)

Finished all my mama elephants for my granddaughter's Elephant Parade quilt!  I decided on prints instead of solids.  (I haven't warmed up to solids quite yet.)  I am making the quilt a little bigger than the pattern by adding another row at the bottom and another baby elephant to each row.

So that's what I'm working on this week ~ fun stuff!

Linking up with Lee and Lorna!

2016 Finish-Along ~ 1st Quarter List

Yay!  It's a brand new year!!  Last year wasn't bad ~ 10 finishes ~ but

I'm happy about that since I'm a pokey quilter and some of them were pretty labor-intensive for me.  Time to get excited about all the projects I'm going to finish in 2016!  :)

So here's my list for the 1st quarter:

1 - Elephant Parade.  I love this pattern by Lorna McMahon of Sew Fresh Quilts, so I was pretty excited when my granddaughter picked that for her quilt this year.  I have most of the fabrics cut into strips, so I guess it's time to get started!

2 - Seasonal Silhouettes.  This pattern book by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts is going to be my first attempt at such detailed applique work.  I have a feeling that it might  not probably won't be finished by the end of the year, but it's a great long-term project!

Those are the two new entries for this quarter.  I've decided to put my leftovers at the bottom of my list this year (I get tired of them glaring at me when I open this page!)

3 - Day Break Quilt.  Top is finished ~ will definitely finish it this quarter!

4 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on ~ I have 4 blocks done and hope to make at least some progress this quarter.

               

5 - Diamond District.  I'm still on six blocks ~ hopefully a few more blocks by the end of the year!  (This makes a good leaders-enders project ~ I really should take advantage of that!)

In the meantime, I'm going here for some much-needed nourishment!

Linking up with Rhonda for the 2016 Finish-Along!