2017 Finish-A-Long: 3rd Quarter Results

Quarter #3 has left the building!  I finished all three of the projects on my list ~ woohoo!  I kept it short this quarter because I knew we were going to be out of town for half of that ~ and then a hurricane happened.  

1 - Seasonal Silhouettes - May.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

2 - Outstretched - from the book Cabin Fever: 20 Modern Log Cabin Quilts by Natalia Bonner and Kathleen Whiting.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

3 - Bubblegum Kisses - The pattern is a Sew Sampler exclusive for June and the fabrics are from Lori Holt's Bee Basics collection.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

So 3 out of 3!  I guess I need to start a new list ~ looking forward to Quarter 4!

2017 Finish-A-Long: 3rd (and last) Third Quarter Finish - Seasonal Silhouettes May Block

I was bound and determined to finish all three projects on my 3rd Quarter List ~ and I succeeded!  I know 3 isn't really a huge number of finishes, but between being out of town for a few weeks, a hurricane and no power for another couple of weeks definitely took time away from stitching.

So I finished another Seasonal Silhouettes wall hanging ~ this one was the May block and definitely one of my favorites!

  Looking forward to the 4th Quarter!

2017 Finish-A-Long: 2nd Third Quarter Finish - Bubblegum Kisses

Just a quick post to say that I finished #2 on my list!  It's called Bubblegum Kisses - the pattern is a Sew Sampler exclusive for June and the fabrics are from Lori Holt's Bee Basics collection.

It was a quick finish, which I love!  I changed the layout a little bit and added some yellow sashing ~ just to make it a little bigger.  It ended up about 33" x 38".  For the backing I used a blue bouquet fabric from Lori Holt's Flower Patch collection that I've had in my stash FOREVER, so it's pretty hard to find now!  

 Quilting was a simple stitch in the ditch along the sashing.  Although I'm still thinking of adding some big stitches around the "kisses."

The binding was Bee Basics Turquoise Basics TV (one of my favorite fabrics in this line!)

So, this makes finish #2 for this quarter ~ I finished binding it just before these two little girls were born on Saturday.  Two more granddaughters for us ~ Sawyer and Everly.  

Gotta go now and get some more newborn snuggles :)

2017 Finish-A-Long: 1st 3rd Quarter finish - Outstretched

Finally ~  I've finished all the grandkids' quilts!  It's only taken a year and a half.  :)

Let me introduce you to Outstretched from the book Cabin Fever: 20 Modern Log Cabin Quilts by Natalia Bonner and Kathleen Whiting.  This one is for my oldest grandson who is turning 25 this year.  He chose this pattern asked that it be made with green and black.  

This is the first photo I took when I finished the top ~ I never noticed the secondary diamond shapes until I saw it with the light shining through!

I don't see any diamonds in the finished quilt.  But I love this pattern!

It looks so different in these colors than the quilt in the book.  (BTW, I used totally different fabrics than those I posted in my 3rd Quarter List.)

I used the blocks a little differently on the back.  I love the background and binding fabric ~ Modern Background Essentials by Brigitte Heitland for Zen Chic.  I definitely bought extra yardage of this!

The other fabrics are Toscana Amazon by Northcott and Jinny Beyer Palette Eyelash in black.

It looks like a guy's quilt, doesn't it?  I tweaked the pattern a little but, just to make it square, so it ended up approximately 70" x 70" - great for a big lap quilt!

This makes finish #1 for the 3rd quarter.  And now that I'm done with the grandkids' quilts (all 11 of them!), I really should decide what to make for my own bed.  Wish me luck!

For the Babies

I had mentioned earlier in the year that my daughter is expecting twins, so you can imagine I've been pretty busy making a few things!  

First on my to-do list were quilts for the babies.  Let me tell you, it was really nice being able to make smaller quilts for a change!  

My daughter lives on a farm up in Michigan and I found the cutest fabric collection that I thought would be perfect.  I bought two layer cakes of Farm Fun by Stacy Iest Hsu for Moda.  The fabrics are bright and fun with farmhouses, cows, milk bottles, eggs, tractors and chicken wire!  I wanted to use the same fabric but a different design for each of the quilts, so I chose an hourglass pattern for one and a pinwheel pattern for the other.

Farm Fun Hourglass Quilt

 Farm Fun Pinwheel Quilt

I did simple line quilting on the diagonal.  The fabrics are so cute I thought simple was better.

For the binding I used chicken wire fabrics ~ one in red and one in green.  And I kept the back simple with just a scrappy strip on each.

Once I finished the quilts, I made some burp cloths

 Then I grabbed the Divided Basket pattern by Noodlehead (I've had this on my bucket list for a while!) and made a basket to put them in.  :)

I loved every minute I spent on these ~ now we're just waiting to see those babies!!

2017 Finish-A-Long: 3rd Quarter List

Quarter #3 is here!  Last quarter I finished 2 out of 4 ~ not too bad.  Out of the two that were left, I'm only leaving one on this list.  Here goes!

1 - Seasonal Silhouettes - May.  Still working with the Seasonal Silhouettes pattern book by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts.  I have this one fused ~ hoping to finish it this quarter ~ it's one of my favorites!

New this quarter:

2 - Outstretched - from the book Cabin Fever: 20 Modern Log Cabin Quilts by Natalia Bonner and Kathleen Whiting.  I have the pattern and the fabrics (although those might change!)  It's the last quilt on my list that I'm making for my grandkids.  This one is for my oldest grandson ~ and I really appreciate his patience!

3 - Bubblegum Kisses - The pattern is a Sew Sampler exclusive for June and the fabrics are from Lori Holt's Bee Basics collection.  

So I'm stopping at 3 this quarter because I know most of my time is going to be spent with family in Michigan.  Wish me luck!

2017 Finish-A-Long: 2nd Quarter Results

Do these quarters seem to be going faster and faster?  I did manage to squeal out two finishes this quarter ~ mostly due to travel and other projects that got in the way that weren't on my list (also known as baby quilts for the twins our daughter is expecting!)

1 - Facets from the book Machine Quilting With Style by Christa Watson.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

Next up ~ I'm still working with the Seasonal Silhouettes pattern book by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts and I've decided that each block is going to be its own mini-quilt so that I have something to hang each month.  Here's my basket of fabrics.  (BTW, this is the Oslo Craft Bag ~ a free pattern by Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness)

2 - Seasonal Silhouettes - May.  I have all the pieces fused, but it's been on the back burner since we got home from out west.

3 - Seasonal Silhouettes - June.  I have most of the pieces fused, but it's also on the back burner for a while.

4 - Sloan Travel Bag - This is a belated birthday present for my daughter (I haven't given it to her yet, so here's just a preview).  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

So two out of four this quarter ~ I like to think of it as my glass half full.  :)