2016 Finish-Along ~ 1st Third Quarter Finish ~ Sew Together Bag

I almost forgot I had put this project on my list for this quarter.  My daughter Jen and I really wanted to make the  Sew Together Bag (pattern by Sew Demented at Craftsy), so when my hubby and I were in Michigan this summer that's what we did!  I didn't really bring any extra fabric with me, so I just used some of Jen's Cotton & Steel stash.  

I found the pattern a little tricky, but got some good tips from Heather at the Quilt Barn Sew-A-Long. 

Action shot:

I really LOVE LOVE LOVE this bag and I've gotten a lot of use out of it since we've been back home.  Jen's turned out really cute, too!

Linking up with Fabric Frenzy Friday!

WIP Wednesday ~ Making progress!

I just realized I haven't posted since July 8 ~ how does that happen?  Part of the reason is being up in Michigan for a month with the family ~ the other part is being buried in paper.  :)

Oh Happy Day ~ I finally finished paper-piecing my granddaughter's Sea Swept quilt top!  It's been quite a journey ~ the only other paper-piecing I've done is a mini - but I'm really happy with the result!

Ready to sew the last seam.

I love the simple blue and white color scheme that my granddaughter picked out.  Lots of movement in this pattern!

Now the tedious part ~ picking all that paper off the back.  Hope there's a good movie on tonight!

Linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social!

2016 Finish-Along ~ 3rd Quarter List

I have high hopes for this 3rd quarter - my goal is 3 finishes.  Fingers crossed!

1 - Seasonal Silhouettes.  This pattern book by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts is my first attempt at such detailed applique work.  I have the first three blocks fused and I've decided to make each block a separate wall-hanging so that I have one to show off each month.  :)  It's definitely a long-term project!

   

2 - Day Break Quilt.  Top is finished, backing is finished and the quilt is basted ~ hoping to finish this quarter!

3 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on ~ still have only 4 blocks finished.

               

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!)

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.  

New this quarter:

6 - Sea Swept (pattern by Cotton Patch Quilts).   This is the second out of 8 quilts I'm making for my grandkids.  So far I've cut all the pieces, organized them in baggies, and started the paper-piecing.

7 - Sew Together Bag (pattern by Sew Demented at Craftsy)  This is a bag I've been wanting to make for a while ~ so far I have the fabrics cut and I'm ready to jump in.

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

2016 Finish-Along ~ Second Quarter Results

Not much to report this quarter due to 5 weeks of traveling - no craftiness involved. I have high hopes for next quarter!

So here's my list for the 2nd quarter (which is a total repeat of last quarter's list ~ plus two extras):

1 - Elephant Parade.  FINISHED!

2 - Seasonal Silhouettes.  This pattern book by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts is my first attempt at such detailed applique work.  I have the first three blocks fused and I've decided to make each block a separate wall-hanging so that I have one to show off each month.  :)  It's definitely a long-term project!  NO PROGRESS

   

3 - Day Break Quilt.  Top is finished, backing is finished and the quilt is basted ~ hoping to finish this quarter!

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

               

5 - 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

6 - 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.  Might as well add it to this list!  NO PROGRESS

7 - Heart's Content "Little Love" mini quilt project by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. It's made with a mini charm pack which is included in the kit along with 7 small spools of Aurifil thread.  I've decided on the layout I wanted and finished fusing the hearts (another fusible applique project ~ yay!).  This one may end up as a hand-quilting project, since we're going to be traveling.  :)  FINISHED!

So 2 finishes out of 7 - not as bad as I thought and better than last quarter!  

One more Quarter 2 Finish

Just squeaking by with one more finish for this quarter of the 2016 Finish-Along ~ my Little Love mini-quilt is done!

So that makes 2 finishes out of 7 from my second quarter list.  Considering we were traveling for more than a month, I'm happy with that.  :)  Happy 4th of July!

WIP Wednesday ~ Trying to catch up

I've been making a little progress on a few things here and there.  Once I finished my Elephant Parade quilt, I was dying to start on the quilt for Granddaughter #2.  Of course I realized that it wasn't listed on my Finish-Along list, but I didn't let that stop me!

GD#2 picked a pattern called Sea Swept by Cotton Patch Quilts which is totally paper-pieced (of course she did).  Now I haven't had that much experience with paper-piecing, so I told myself that this will be a great skill-builder.  The easiest part of this quilt is the fact that she wants just two colors - blue and white (which means less stress not having to decide which fabrics should go where!).  I picked up some Kona Lagoon for the blue and Kona White.

So far I've cut all the pieces (my lifesaver has been the Creative Grids Stripology Ruler!), organized them in baggies, and started the paper-piecing.  So far, so good.  :)

Feeling the need to get back to my Finish-Along list, I managed to piece together the backing for my Day Break quilt.  

I keep debating whether or not to square off the top and bottom of this quilt ~ but it's hurting my brain to figure out how to do it.  So I won't.  I love it anyway!

Made a little progress on my Little Love mini - half finished with the blanket stitching on the hearts.

That's it for now.  There's no way I'm catching up this quarter, but I'm having fun anyway.  :)  Linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social!

2016 Finish-Along ~ First 2nd Quarter Finish (finally)

I finished something! (patting myself on the back)  It's been a busy year, but apparently not quilting-wise ~ but at least I feel a little more motivated now to get more things done.  

I promised my grandkids I was going to make them a quilt this year.  So I finally finished the first one.  Presenting ~ Elephant Parade!

Like I said, I love this pattern by Lorna McMahon of Sew Fresh Quilts, so I was pretty excited when my granddaughter picked that for her quilt this year.  I added an extra row and a few more baby elephants, so it's a little bigger than the original pattern.  It ended up at 55" x 65" ~ a good size for snuggling under during Michigan winters.

I used a lot of stash fabrics with a Kona White background.  I don't remember what the main backing fabric was (kind of a mottled grey) but I added a strip of the same Elephants in Grey fabric that Lorna used in her first Elephants on Parade quilt.

I quilted it on my Juki with a diagonal cross-hatch and bound it in a grey and white stripe.

Linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social.