2018 Finish-A-Long: 4th Quarter List

I can't believe it's the last quarter already!  I have four projects on my list:

1 - Star Light Star Bright.  Let's finish this oldie-but-goodie ~ I have 6 blocks completed and only 3 more to go.  I can do this!

Next up - the two Block of the Month patterns I've been working on since January.

2 - Patchwork Barn Block of the Month by Edyta Sitar.  I'm running a month behind on this, only because I'm not used to doing applique.  I have the 72 6" blocks finished and I'm working on the center barn block, just finishing up the leaves and circles.  After that it's the side panels (more applique)  I'd love to be able to finish it this quarter!

3 - 2018 Quilters Planner Sampler BOM.  I've finished 9 blocks ~ planning on doing 12 blocks on point in blue and red Christmas fabrics.  The problem is that I've already run out of background fabric and can't find it anywhere, so the background is going to have to be a little scrappy.  :)  

4 - Seasonal Silhouettes - December.  Still working with the Seasonal Silhouettes pattern book by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts.  I love this month's pattern ~ haven't started it yet, but I have all the fabrics and I'm hoping to get it up by Christmas.

Four projects this quarter, but I've made good progress on three of them, so I'm hoping for some finishes!  Linking up at Capitola Quilter!

2018 Finish-A-Long: 3rd Quarter Results

Here are my results for the 3rd Quarter:


1 - C'est La Vie.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

2 - Eldon Quilt.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

3 - Star Light Star Bright.  I'm adding an oldie-but-goodie to the list ~ it's really been sitting around way too long.  PROGRESS:  Two more blocks done for a total of 6 - only 3 more blocks to go!

Two out of three finishes this quarter (Happy Dance!)  I'm especially thrilled with the Eldon Quilt finish ~ that was the most complex and it makes me think I can really do this quilting thing!

2018 Finish-A-Long: Second 3rd Quarter Finish ~ C'est La Vie, Olive!

I can't believe I've actually finished two quilts on my list this quarter ~ totally shocked, I tell you!! 

I love this pattern by Lella Boutique (from Fat Quarter Shop's November Sew Sampler Box) and I actually used 4 charm packs of Olive's Flower Market by Lella Boutique (LOVE the colors in this collection) along with some Kona White for the background.

I changed up the pattern a bit by using the full-size 5" charms for the HSTs instead of cutting them into 2-1/2" squares, so each block turned out to be almost 10-1/2" finished.  5 blocks across and 6 blocks down makes this a good size lap quilt.  The quilt finished at about 52" by 63".

First 4 blocks

I kept the quilting simple, with some straight line quilting through the centers of the blocks and some Dot-to-Dot (ala Angela Walters) in the square block formed by the HSTs. All of the quilting was done with my walking foot.

For the binding, I used a black and white Beaded Curtain fabric by Loralie Designs, and I found some fun green and white dots by Benartex for the backing.  

I also threw in some of the striped and dot fabrics for a different block on the back.  I love the way I can see the quilting on the back!

So one more finish for the 3rd quarter.  Pretty happy about that!

2018 Online Meet & Greet is Live!

I'm happy to say that I'm joining up with Benita Skinner's 2018 Online Quilters Meet & Greet!   She's put together a great group of quilt bloggers for us all to meet ~ and everyone is invited!  

I've been quilting for almost 6 years now (pretty much a newbie compared to most of the quilters I know) ~ and I can't tell you what a wonderfully addicting adventure it has been!  I decided to create this blog to keep track of the quilts (and other things) I've made ~ and I'm so glad I did!  If you go to "My Quilting Projects" tab, there are links to the finished project posts.

But enough about me ~ take a moment to visit as many blogs as you can in the next month.  Every blog you go to gives you a chance to enter to win the unbelievable Great Grand Prize!

Here's the link!

This is a first for me and I'm really looking forward to meeting some new bloggers.  Hope you do the same!  Good luck everyone!

BOM progress ~ Patchwork Barn

Just a quick update on my progress for the  Patchwork Barn Block of the Month by Edyta Sitar.  It's month 8 and I've finished all the small blocks for this quilt - a total of 72 6-1/2" blocks.   Looking forward to starting the center Barn block, which starts next month!

I noticed I hadn't posted anything for June or July, so here are those blocks:

and these are the blocks for August:

Here are all the small blocks up on my "design wall":

Excited to see what comes next!  Linking up with Lynette for BOMs Away

2018 Finish-A-Long: A 3rd Quarter Finish ~ Eldon

Two years after I started this in a class, the Eldon Quilt is finished!  I did make it quite a bit smaller with just 9 blocks and no border, but it's perfect for snuggling.  :)  I took quite a few photos of this one ~ so happy it's done! 

I had fully intended on trying some free-motion and/or ruler quilting on this one, but I ran into so many issues with thread breaking, skipped stitches, etc., etc.  So I got out my trusty walking foot, and wrestled my way through.  I do love the texture of all those straight lines.  I decided to name this quilt "Wrestling with Eldon."  :)

Quilt stats:

"Wrestling with Eldon"

Size:  62" x 62"

Star & Log Cabin fabrics:  Sticks and Stones (Laundry Basket Quilts) and other stash fabrics

Background:  We the People - Ivory Crackle - Wilmington Prints

Backing / Binding:  Gratitude - Light Cocoa - Leafy Fronds by Moda

Batting:  Hobbs 80/20

This makes finish #1 for the 3rd quarter.

2018 Finish-A-Long: 3rd Quarter List

Well, I have the same three projects on my list this quarter, one of which is almost finished!  Here we go (again):  

1 - C'est La Vie.  I used this pattern by Lella Boutique (from Fat Quarter Shop's November Sew Sampler Box) for a Christmas Mini.  I've been wanting to make this into a lap-size quilt ~ I have 4 pieces for one block done so far ~ hoping to make some good progress on this one!

2 - Eldon Quilt by Edyta Sitar.  I attended a workshop for this pattern almost 2 years ago, and it's on my list to work on after the Naples Quilt Show is finished.  I've finished the top and completed about 3/4 of the quilting.

3 - Star Light Star Bright.  I'm adding an oldie-but-goodie to the list ~ it's really been sitting around way too long with only 4 blocks completed.

So the same 3 projects for this 3rd quarter of 2018, but I'm pretty sure I'll finish at least one this time!

2018 Finish-A-Long ~ 2nd Quarter Results

Here are my results for the Second Quarter:


1 - C'est La Vie.  I used this pattern by Lella Boutique (from Fat Quarter Shop's November Sew Sampler Box) for a Christmas Mini.  I've been wanting to make this into a lap-size quilt ~ just like the pattern shows.  I'm going to use charm packs of Olive's Flower Garden (just because I LOVE these fabrics!).  PROGRESS:  I have 4 blocks completed so far (forgot to take a photo and I'm on vacation), but I'm hoping for a 3rd quarter finish!  

2 - Eldon Quilt by Edyta Sitar.  I attended a workshop for this pattern almost 2 years ago.  PROGRESS:  I've finished the quilt top and I'm about 3/4 finished with the quilting.

1st background section quilted!

3 - Star Light Star Bright.  I'm adding an oldie-but-goodie to the list ~ it's really been sitting around way too long.  NO PROGRESS.

So no finishes this quarter, but at least I've made some progress!  We're out of town for a month, so I'll just use that as an excuse.  And I'm actually working on two block of the month projects as well, but I probably won't add those until the last quarter.

Eldon ~ The Flimsy

So happy to say that the Eldon quilt top is finished!  I took a class for this quilt two years ago and it just sat in its project box until I decided to put it on my Finish-A-Long list this year.  I'm SO happy I decided to get back to work on it!

I guess I was always a little intimidated by all those y-seams, but I cut out all the pieces, did all the rounds of the log cabins, strip-pieced and cut those into diamonds ~ then just took my time with the background diamonds.  And I actually loved the process ~ especially when it all started coming together!

Now ~ how do I quilt it?  That's the question!