2017 Finish-A-Long: Finally ~ a Facets Finish!

I've been doing much more sewing than blogging this quarter ~ and that's a good thing, right?

Happy to say that I finished the Facets quilt for my grandson Mitchell.  I love this pattern, but struggled with the making of the improv fabric for the diamonds.  Despite that, I actually love this quilt!

The fabrics were chosen by my daughter ~ most of the fabrics from the Pink Castle Fabrics in Ann Arbor, MI.  The background is Sew Hope Full Letters and Numbers by Whistler Studios for Windham Fabrics.  The red was a Linea Tonal by Henley Studio for Makower UK.  

This was the beginning of my improv fabric:

 and here are my first blocks ready to be sewn together:

The back really shows off some of the fabrics I used for the improv.

I did simple walking-foot quilting on this one, just echoing the zigzag sashing lines and then doing a big diamond in each of the improv diamonds.  

And here's the finish!

So this is my one (and probably only) finish for this 2nd Quarter of the 2017 FAL.  (In my defense, I did make two baby quilts that didn't get put on the FAL list, so I really haven't been slackin'!)  

A big Thank You to Christ Watson for this great pattern!!

Back from out west

Happy Friday!  It's been 3 weeks since we got back from our road trip out west ~ and I'm ready to go back.  :)  We rented a condo for a month in Mesquite, NV, and we spent the 3 nights before and the 3 nights after in Las Vegas.  My favorite stop on the trip was Upper Antelope Canyon in Page, AZ.  

It was absolutely breathtaking!  We had never been to a slot canyon before ~ next time we'll have to check out Lower Antelope Canyon.

I did take my sewing machine with me on our trip, but I really didn't get much done.  So I've been quite busy since I've been home.  :)

Today I finished both the top and the backing of the Facets quilt I'm making for my grandson.  I have to say I struggled with the improv fabric, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out!

I almost forgot to mention the best part of the trip.  My husband has an aunt and a cousin that live in Vegas.  His aunt is 97 and she and I play lots of video poker when we see her.  Before we left to come home, she asked me if I'd like to have her sewing machine (which belonged to her mother-in-law).  Of course I said yes ~ keeping my fingers crossed that it would be a Singer Featherweight!

Let me introduce my new baby ~ I call her "Maxie" after Auntie Maxine.  :)

She's a Featherweight 221J and she was built in 1961.  I printed off a manual that I found online and cleaned her up and oiled her in all the right places.  She runs like a dream and I've already taken her to a sew day with our local guild.   Best gift ever!  

I almost forgot ~ one of the highlights of the trip was going to "Quilt Las Vegas", the quilt show put on by the Desert Quilters of Nevada.  The best part was getting to meet Christa Watson (didn't get a pic, darn!) who was doing quilting demos at the Sew Yeah Quilt Shop booth ~ and she's just as sweet and fun as I thought she'd be!  It was great seeing some of her quilts up close ~ she's the first person that inspired me to quilt my own quilts on my domestic machine.  In fact, the Facets quilt I'm making is from her book, Machine Quilting With Style (which she autographed) and I was lucky enough to snag one of her awesome little buttons!  

Like I said earlier ~ I can't wait to go back to the mountains.  It's just so beautiful out there!