Friday ~ First 4th Quarter Finish

Even though I debated on whether or not to add more quilting, I decided to leave the blocks alone and let them be themselves.  :)  Finished and washed and ready for snuggling ~ my City Sampler quilt!  

This is also my first finish for Quarter 4 of the 2014 Finish-Along.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.

WIP Wednesday ~ City Sampler progress and something new

I made some good progress on my City Sampler quilt this past week ~ I finished the back and got it basted.  But then I ended up very frustrated with the quilting.  :(  I decided just to quilt straight lines horizontally and vertically 1/4" outside the blocks ~ no big deal right?  What I ended up with were crooked lines, uneven stitches and puckers.  In all fairness, this is the biggest quilt I've made to date, and I had a hard time wrestling with it on my little machine.  I guess it's a good thing I'm keeping it for myself.  :)

I did finish the quilting today, got the quilt trimmed and cut the binding (using this tutorial for continuous bias binding).

I know I have 4 other projects on my Quarter 4 Finish-Along list, but I came across this QAYG Quilt-Along at Quilting In The Rain.  And since I've never done quilt-as-you-go, I had to try it, right?  I'm using a jelly roll of Valencia by Lila Tueller for Riley Blake.  Finished one block so far ~ need to finish four more by Sunday.  Love the QAYG process!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social and WIP Wednesday

WIP Wednesday ~ Long overdue

It's only been 1 year and 4 months since I started the Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along that was hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness.  I finally finished the quilt top this week ~ using 63 blocks of the 70 I finished.  The other 7 blocks are going on the back somewhere.  (I know there were 100 blocks in the book, but 70 blocks were enough for the quilt I wanted to make!)  

It's hard to see in the photo below, but I added a 2-1/2" border.  (Sorry for the bad photos ~ but I like the way the light is shining through on this one.)

It feels good to be making some progress on this project ~ with any luck this will be my first finish for the 2014 Finish-Along!

Linking up with WIP Wednesday, Needle & Thread Thursday, and Let's Bee Social.

2014 Finish-Along ~ 4th Quarter

Here's my list for the 4th Quarter of the 2014 Finish-A-Long hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle.

A couple of things were moved from last quarter:

1 - Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along that was hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness ~ WAY back last year.  I'm up to block 70 and decided that it was big enough for what I wanted.  :)  I've just about finished the quilt top ~ just needs a wider border around the outside.  63 blocks on the front ~ I'll put the 7 leftover blocks on the back somewhere.  :)

2 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on ~ I still only have 2 blocks done and hope to make at least some progress this quarter.

               

New this quarter:

3 - Dapper quilt from from Simply Retro by Camille Roskelly.  I love this pattern and the fabric collection I chose for it!  I have 4 blocks done so far.

4 - Diamond District.  Again ~ four blocks done (hmm - I see a pattern here)

5 - Triangle Frenzy table runner.  This one's for me for Christmas!  

I can't believe it's the last quarter of the year!  This has been a great motivator for me, so Thanks, Katy!!  Linking up at the Littlest Thistle.  :)

2014 Finish-Along ~ 3rd Quarter Results

I must say my results are much better for this 3rd Quarter of the 2014 Finish-A-Long hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle.  (See my original post here.)

A few things were moved from last quarter:

1 - I'd really like to finish up the Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness.  I think I'm up to block 70, so I still have 30 blocks to go.  I did make some progress on this one!  I decided to stop at 70 blocks and I started adding the sashing ~ so far I have 7 rows sewn together.  This is going back on my list for next quarter ~ I think I can finish it by the end of the year!!  

2 - Good Night Irene quilt.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

3 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on ~ I have 2 blocks done and hope to make a lot of progress this quarter.  NO PROGRESS.

4 -  Hop Skip & Jump Block of the Month over at Sew Lux Fabric.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

New on the list this quarter:

5 - My Heart Quilt.   FINISHED!  Blogged here.

6 - Four SquareTable Runner.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

So 4 finishes out of 6!  I'm happy with that.  :)  Linking up with Katy at The Littlest Thistle.

2014 Finish-Along ~ Quarter 3 List

OK ~ Here's my list for the 3rd Quarter of the 2014 Finish-A-Long hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle.

A few things were moved from last quarter:

1 - I'd really like to finish up the Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness.  I think I'm up to block 70, so I still have 30 blocks to go.

2 - Good Night Irene quilt ~ I have 13 blocks done.  I'm no longer doing this as part of a quilt-along, but I'd love to finish it this quarter.

3 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on ~ I have 2 blocks done and hope to make a lot of progress this quarter.

4 -  Hop Skip & Jump Block of the Month over at Sew Lux Fabric.  I'm actually in the process of quilting this one ~ although it just dawned on me that I laid out the top row of blocks wrong when I put it together.  Too late to change it now, but it bugs me!

New on the list:

5 - My Heart Quilt.  I have the top done, so it shouldn't be a problem to finish it this quarter!

6 - Four SquareTable Runner.  I found this easy table runner kit on Craftsy, so it should be a breeze to finish before the end of September!

I think that's it for now!  Linking up with Katy at The Littlest Thistle.

2014 Finish-Along ~ 2nd Quarter Results

Here are my results for the 2nd Quarter of the 2014 Finish-Along.  (See my original post here.)

1 - Verona Hourglass quilt.    FINISHED!  Blogged here.

2 - I'd really like to finish up the Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness.  I think I'm up to block 70, so I still have 30 blocks to go.  NO PROGRESS.

3 - Good Night Irene quilt.  Little progress ~ 11 blocks done.

4 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on, but I can't wait to see this done!  VERY little progress ~ only 2 blocks finished.

  

5 -  Hop Skip & Jump Block of the Month over at Sew Lux Fabric.  Quilt top is done and I have the backing ready.

Not so happy this time ~ only 1 finish out of 5.  The other 4 are going back on the list for Quarter 3.

2014 Finish-A-Long

OK ~ Here's my list for the 1st Quarter of the 2014 Finish-A-Long hosted by Katy at  The Littlest Thistle.

A couple of things were moved from last year:

1 - This table runner I was trying to finish before the Jan. 8th deadline ~ which of course didn't happen. :(

2 - Verona Hourglass quilt.  I finished piecing the top in February.  The backing is ready and I've made the binding ~ so why has it taken me so long to finish?  Originally, it was the fear of doing the actual quilting ~ I've wanted to do free-motion quilting on this one and it terrified me.  I have since taken a FMQ class and I've been practicing, so maybe I can do it this quarter!  :)

Now for the new things on the list:

3 - My In From the Cold quilt.  I LOVED putting this together!  I'm gathering ideas on how to quilt this one ~ so I'm excited to get it done.

4 -  Cat Quilt.  This one was fun to do as well.  I've begun the quilting and prepared the binding, so I'm sure I'll finish this quarter!

5 - I decided to jump into the "2014 It's a New Year Sewalong" at Sew Can She.  So far I've only got my fabrics ready, but I'm heading up north for a week or so, so I haven't really done much else!  Looking forward to learning how to make log cabin blocks.

6 - I'd also really like to finish up the Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness.  I think I'm up to block 70, so I still have 30 blocks to go.  

I think that's it for now!  Linking up with Katy at The Littlest Thistle.

Friday Finish and a great sale on Quilter's Candy Basics

I've decided that when I'm working on 7 projects at once finishes don't usually happen too often.  I did manage to finish piecing the top of Tree Skirt #3 ~ which I can't really show here until it's gifted.  But here are a couple of sneak peaks.  To tell you the truth, I had trouble with the points in this hourglass design, but I'm hoping that it won't be too noticeable once it's finished.  :(  Besides, it's my first quilting Christmas, so they'll probably cut me some slack.

I did manage to finish six City Sampler blocks, but I still need to put together this week's three blocks.

 OK - this has nothing to do with any kind of finish, but I had to take of picture of this dotty goodness that I got in the mail today!

Connecting Threads is having a sale on a lot of its Quilter's Candy Basics and I picked out 14 different shades (1/2 yard each) of the Classic Dots (on sale for $3.56 yd).  I wanted them ALL, but I have this thing called a budget that I need to stick to.  :)  The sale is on until 11/28/2013 (while supplies last), so there's hope!
  

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.