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.  :)

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!  

2017 Finish-A-Long: 2nd Quarter List

On to the 2nd Quarter!  I only had one non-finish from last quarter, so that's up first.

1 - Facets from the book Machine Quilting With Style by Christa Watson.  The background and the solid diamonds are cut out ~ I have the 5 solid blocks and 10 improv blocks done, but I'm still working on the improv fabric for the rest of the diamonds (it's harder than I thought, although there might be a slim chance I'm too anal!).  Hoping to finish this quarter.

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'm working on cutting out the pieces for this one ~ it's one of my favorites!  Here's the pattern.

3 - Seasonal Silhouettes - June.  Haven't started this one yet, but here's the pattern.

4 - Sloan Travel Bag - This is a belated birthday present for my daughter that got put on hold because of deadlines and a 6-week trip out west.  I really need to finish it this quarter!  Here's the pattern and you can see the one I made for myself here.  I have most of the fabrics and interfacing, so that's at least a start!

Linking up with Jess @ Elven Garden Quilts!

2017 Finish-A-Long: 1st Quarter Results

Well, that was a quick three months!  Here are my results of my list for the 1st quarter:

1 - Interlocking Chains from the book New Ways with Jelly Rolls: 12 Reversible Modern Jelly Roll Quilts by Pat and Nicky Lintott.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

2 - Rail Fence.  This is going to be a comfy quilt for the Naples Quilters Guild using this tutorial.  I'd like to have this one finished by the end of January.   FINISHED!  Blogged here.

3 - Facets from the book Machine Quilting With Style by Christa Watson.   The background and the solid diamonds are cut out ~ but I'm still working on the improv fabric for the rest of the diamonds (it's harder than I thought!).  Hoping to finish next quarter.

4 - Christmas Mini - C'est La Vie.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

So 3 finishes out of a list of 4 projects ~ I'm happy with that!  

Linking up with Marci!

WIP Wednesday ~ Finishing and starting

I love it when I'm almost done with one thing and starting another (especially when they're both on my Finish-A-Long list).  

I'm finishing up the binding on the Interlocking Chains quilt today - I'll share more details and pics later, hopefully this week!  I would have had it done sooner, but I ended up ripping out 12 lines of quilting and taking the back apart because I hated the solid black fabric I originally chose to surround the center panel.

Love the front ~ no changes there!

Can you tell this is for a Detroit Red Wings fan?

Next ~ I'm starting on a  Facets quilt from the book Machine Quilting With Style by Christa Watson.  This is turning out to be a challenge for me, mainly because I have to make my own fabric out of bits and pieces of a bunch of other fabrics.  

This is what I started with:

and here are a few pieces of the new fabric:

I have a lot more "fabric" to make, but I just had to try making two halves of a block to see how they might look.  I like it!  (Whew!)

Linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social.

2017 Finish-A-Long ~ 1st Quarter List

So excited to get this year going!  My goal is to exceed last year's total (9).

Here's my list for the 1st quarter:

I have a couple of new projects that have deadlines, so those are up first.

1 - Interlocking Chains from the book New Ways with Jelly Rolls: 12 Reversible Modern Jelly Roll Quilts by Pat and Nicky Lintott.  Hoping to have this finished by the end of February for a small quilt show.

2 - Rail Fence.  This is going to be a comfy quilt for the Naples Quilters Guild using this tutorial.  I'd like to have this one finished by the end of January.  Strips are sorted, so that's a start!

I thought I'd add a couple of other projects although there's really no deadline for these:

3 - Facets from the book Machine Quilting With Style by Christa Watson.  

4 - Christmas Mini.  Almost finished with this one - should be ready for next Christmas!

I was going to add some oldies but goodies, but I think I'll stop right here ~ no sense in getting discouraged right off the bat!  :)

Linking up with Rhonda and the gang for this quarter of the 2017 Finish-A-Long!