2016 Finish-Along ~ Third Quarter Results

Much better this quarter ~ especially considering the finish of that totally paper-pieced Sea Swept Quilt!

This was my list for the 3rd quarter:

1 - Seasonal Silhouettes.  This pattern book by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts is my first attempt at such detailed applique work.  I've decided to make each block a separate wall-hanging, so each block will be a mini-quilt.   This quarter I created the mini for October, so I'm counting that as a finish!

   

2 - Day Break Quilt.  Pattern by Jaybird Quilts.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

 3 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on ~ still have only 4 blocks finished.  NO PROGRESS.

               

4 - 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.

5 - 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.   FINISHED!  Blogged here.

6 - Sea Swept (pattern by Cotton Patch Quilts).   FINISHED!  Blogged here.

7 - Sew Together Bag (pattern by Sew Demented at Craftsy)  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

So that makes 5 out of 7 finishes this quarter and my best quarter ever!!  (Patting myself on the back)

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

One more finish! ~ Garden Fence

I've been on a mission this quarter of the 2016 Finish-Along ~ trying to make up for a dismal first half (2 finishes).  

Today I was able to squeak out my last finish for the 3rd Quarter.  It's another Garden Fence quilt that I made with the help of my bee-mates from the Newbie Quilt Bee.  They made some beautiful blocks and I gleefully put them together into this quilt!

In my first Garden Fence quilt, I used yellow and grey ~ I changed it up this time and used my favorite turquoise with the grey.  Not sure which one I love best!  This is another quilt that will be going to our local Children's Advocacy Center as a comfy quilt.

I switched up the quilting on this one, using a wavy stitch grid on the diagonal  which is fast and easy and I love the way it looks.  I did bind this one with the the same grey stripe, but i didn't do a bias binding this time.  This little quilt ended up at 33" x 44".

I have to tell you about a new product I found ~ Quilter's Perfect Stick Klips.  I've been wanting to find a wall to hang my quilts for photos.  (All our inside walls either have chair rail or aren't large enough.)  These Stick Klips are perfect!  They work like Command Strips and I wasn't sure if they would work out on our lanai wall because of the roughness of the concrete, but they do!  

So this is finish #5 for this quarter in the Finish-Along ~ Happy Dance!  Linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social.

2016 Finish-Along ~ 3rd Third Quarter Finish ~ Sea Swept

Sea Swept is finished!  I have to say I'm really proud of this one ~ my first totally paper-pieced quilt.  I presented it at our Guild meeting for Show & Tell and it was met with a lot of ooo's and ahh's.  The credit for that really goes to the gorgeous pattern by Cotton Patch Quilts!

Here it is ~ before its first bath:

and after:

 I always love the crinkly texture of a freshly-washed quilt!

The fabrics I used for the front of this quilt are Robert Kaufmann's Kona White and Kona Lagoon.  The wavy background is from the Baby Zoom Submarine collection by Northcott.  Binding and pieced backing fabric is by Timeless Treasures ~ I bought it way back in July and forgot to save the selvage, so I'm not sure what collection it's from.  :(

This quilt is sandwiched with Warm and White batting and it ended up at 56" x 64".

So this is finish #3 for this quarter!  Three out of seven so far ~ better than last quarter!

WIP Wednesday - Light at the end of the tunnel

So I'm well on my way to finishing Sea Swept!  I had a little help from something I just picked up called The Weightless Quilter.  It holds the quilt up for you so you're not constantly picking it up off the table and moving it around!  It was a little pricey for my budget, but it has already saved me a lot of time.  Here's an action shot ~ I was just using one of the arms included (there are 4 provided) in this photo.  I think for free-motion it'll be invaluable!

It took me a while to decide how to quilt this ~ but I was looking at the quilt on the table and saw these white wavy bands going across diagonally in both directions and said "Voila!"  I started with straight lines across through the white squares of the snail trails to stabilize and then quilted 1/4" inside both sides of the wavy bands with my walking foot.

I like the design it makes on the back ~ it just "goes" with the wavy design of the backing fabric from the Baby Zoom Submarine collection at Northcott.

Now my favorite part ~ hand stitching the back of the binding.  :)

Linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social!

2016 Finish-Along ~ 2nd Third Quarter Finish ~ Day Break

Happy to say I have another finish for this quarter!  It's a quilt I started a little over a year ago, so I'm really happy to have it done.  :)

The pattern is Day Break by Jay Bird Quilts.  I used the Simply Colorful collection by V & Co with Architextures in black by Carolyn Friedlander as the background.  

I love the contrast between the background and the sunny colors of the Simply Colorful line!   I had a hard time deciding on a binding, but I thought the Yellow Geometric Frames set it off nicely.  Backing is Orange Leaves with a star block split in two.

Binding in progress

The quilting on this one is simple with lines on the sashing surrounding the stars and inside the stars.  If I ever get decent at FMQ, I may go back and add some accent stitching to the stars.  :)  (But don't hold your breath!)  The quilting is hard to see because of the dark fabric, but it shows up a little in this sunny pic.

So this makes finish # 2 for the Third Quarter!