last quarter - 2014 finish along

I've decided to join in the last quarter of the 2014 finish-along.  I was so over my list that I decided not to play in the third quarter - even I'm sick of seeing these unfinished projects !!  On a bright note I did finish two of the quilts that were on my second quarter list - yay.

I've posted about one of those finishes here and I haven't even done a post about the other little one - must do that soon !

so for the last quarter I revisited my second quarter list and decided I'm only allowed to transfer two of them.

the first one is the spinning stars quilt - I haven't even looked at this project since early this year - but I have decided to remove those pieces of pizza (thanks Linda!) and replace them with a hopefully better choice of fabric !

the other one is the Care at Do.Good Stitches pink spiderweb - I managed to get this one quilted in May and it just needs the binding - I don't know what it is that takes me so long to put the binding on quilts - need to address that problem !

I have two other Care at Do.Good Stitches quilts that need to be finished so I've listed them for this quarter.

the first one is the Nested Churn Dash quilt - the amazing Jane of QuiltJane published this Nested Churn Dash pattern early this year and I couldn't wait to try it out - so I chose it as my May block and I'm so happy that the care circle girls were into making these blocks too ! needs to be sewn together then quilted and bound.

the other one is the scrappy stars quilt - it was my month again in September and I asked for scrappy star blocks - again, blocks need to be sewn together and then quilted and bound.

I'm currently making the postcard from sweden quilt - its an amazing pattern by Kelly from Jeli Quilts - I've only been working on it on Saturdays and I'm almost finished sewing the top together so I'm adding it to the list.

and my last one for this list is my mini war and geese quilt - its another pattern by Kelly and the top is done - just needs to be quilted and bound but as my record for finishing off isn't great I thought I'd list it!

I have a list of other stuff that's due at various times over the next couple of months - littlequilts swap due late November, instabee modern blocks monthly swap, and a couple of pillows for a wedding at the end of October.  I'm also taking part in the Modern Quilt Guild challenge which is due at the end of November as well as my monthly Care at Do.Good Stiches blocks so I think I'm going to have more than enough to keep me busy !

linking up to Katy at The Littlest Thistle

2014 finish along - my second quarter list

I had six hopefuls on my first quarter list for this year's finish-along and I got two quilts finished - quite an improvement on last year's efforts - and I did make progress on most of the others too so I'm rolling those over to the second quarter list.

I straight line quilted Through the Trees and also sewed on the binding - it just needs to be hand sewn down.

I also sewed the rows together on the double wedding ring quilt so now its ready for quilting.  I'm planning on hand quilting it so it might just go over two quarters but with winter fast approaching it will be nice to sit and sew with a warm quilt on my lap.

I cut out half of the single girl quilt pieces and sewed up quite a few of the arcs so hopefully some more progress this quarter too !

I sewed together the backing for the pink spiderweb quilt so I just need to baste and quilt it - its a charity quilt made by members of the do.good stitches care circle and as its my month again in May I'd like to have this one finished by then !

I'm adding the spinning stars quilt to this quarter list - I sewed all the pieces of the blocks together over the last couple of months so it would be good to get a quilt finished within six months of starting it !

I'm also adding a couple of tops that were made and then put in the cupboard waiting for the quilting - well quilting time is here !!

box of chocolates is a quilt that I made in April 2011 - when I put a photo of it on flickr I had a comment that it looked like a box of chocolates so that's its name !!

another top is my wonky max and whiskers quilt - this one was made in August 2011 and I'd love to be using it this winter - I love the max and whiskers fabric - I did put this one on my 3rd quarter list last year and I said I was going to hand quilt it - well that plan is out the window !

my last one for this quarter is my summer house hexy quilt - the pieces were cut out in September 2011 and the top was finally sewn together in September 2013 - it was on my 3rd quarter list last year so hopefully I'll get the quilting done this quarter - talk about a drawn out finish !

that's eight quilts for my second quarter list - better get started !!

marney's quilt

eeep - a second finish on my first quarter list in the 2014 finish-along and just in the nick of time !!

yes, I finally finished Marney's quilt - this little quilt was started back in March 2011 and the top was finished in August of that year and then it was put in the cupboard where it stayed until earlier this year.

The issue was the quilting - having no idea how to quilt the top was a bit of a problem - in fact I made quite a few tops in 2011 that are still waiting to be quilted but now that I have the Bernina I'm just going for it :)

last weekend I sat down and swirly circle quilted it - it didn't take too long and I was pretty happy with the result then I sewed down the binding in a few sessions during the week and finished the last few stitches this morning !!

I'm sure lots of people would be able to see issues with the quilting but as they say better done than perfect and I know Marney will be happy just to receive the quilt ! 

it was her birthday on Thursday and I hope to be able to give her this little quilt soon:)

Quilt Stats
size:36"x42"
pattern: pint-sized wild thing by Thimbleblossoms
top fabric: Max and Whiskers and orange grunge background - both by Basic Grey
backing fabric: Max and Whiskers
binding fabric: black grunge
batting: Warm and White cotton 
quilting: swirly circles by me
thread: Masterpiece #119 by Superior Threads

catvent - a first quarter finish !!

I put six quilts on my first quarter list in this year's finish-along - I know it was a long shot but as a few of them were close to finished I decided to aim high !!

I'm pleased to say that I finished the Catvent quilt and even entered it into our local show in the middle of March so its been finished for a little while !!

The Catvent quilt is a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman - Elizabeth decided to make it into a quilt along in December last year by making one block a day from the 1st to 25th December.

I didn't get the background fabric to start on time but I did get the top finished just after christmas.  It has some of my favourite fabrics include a piece of corduroy that is quite a few years old !

After lots of umming and ahhing about what to back it with I finally decided to use the same grey solid as it was going to be hanging on the wall so the backing wasn't going to show !

I quilted it with a crosshatch about an inch apart which I think looks good and allows those cute cat faces to shine.

Its also got a hanging sleeve and is now hanging happily on the wall in my lounge room !

Quilt Stats
size:30"x34"
pattern: catvent quilt along by Elizabeth Hartman
top fabric: grey prima homespun and fabrics from my stash
backing fabric: grey prima homespun
binding fabric: grey prima homespun
batting: Warm and White cotton 
quilting: by me - 1/2 inch cross hatch
thread: So Fine 50wt #504 by Superior Threads

so there you have my first finish in this year's finish-along !

first quarter list!

so I've had a few comments about all the things I want to do that I listed in my last post - that certainly wasn't a list of things for this year - unless I can stop working :)

I'm just going to plod along and see what I can get done - the thing that's different this year is that I should be able to quilt a top when I finish it instead of putting it away in the cupboard - thanks to mum and dad and the new bernina :)

so onto my first quarter list for the 2014 finish-along and I'm hoping to quilt a couple of already finished tops before I make anymore this year !

Marney's quilt - I made this for a girl I used to work with - she has now left work but thankfully is still living close by - I'm going to do loops and hearts all over !  Its her birthday in early April so getting a finish this quarter will be fab :)

through the trees - this is another quilt that I made in 2011 but its been sitting waiting for quilting - originally I was going to hand quilt it but I've now decided to straight line quilt it - not sure if its a quicker method though !

Pink spiderweb quilt - it was my month in October for the care at do.good stitches group and all the members made a couple of spiderweb blocks - in pink of course!  I put the top together in the christmas break and I really want to get it finished this quarter.

I also made the Catvent quilt in December - it was a quilt along by Elizabeth Hartman making one block a day from the 1st to 25th December - I didn't have any background fabric to start on time so its another one I finished over christmas.  It just needs some simple diagonal quilting.

so onto the tops I'd love to get done !

I started the double wedding ring quilt in late October as I'd won the templates in a blog hop for the NYC Metro Mod Quilter's Challenge - the challenge finished on 1st December but I was happy with my progress - I now have all the rows done and they just need to be sewn together.  I'm not sure this will be a finish this quarter as I've decided to hand quilt it but if its all together with the quilting started then I'll be happy !

The other quilt I'd love to get done this quarter is the single girl quilt - as I mentioned in my last post I'd decided that it would be one of my passion 48 quilts - working on it for one hour a week - well of course as soon as I started cutting I couldn't really stop and I've now cut out half of the pieces.

I think I might do better if I just concentrate on one project at a time rather than switching over as I currently do !

so I'll see how I go - no pressure - just one stitch at a time as this is something I love doing not something I have to do !

linking up to the 1st quarter of the 2014 finish-along with Katy over at the littlest thistle 

the last quarter list

time to set goals for the last quarter of the 2013 finish-a-long and I'm pulling out the big guns !

well the old quilt tops anyway :)

I've got a few blocks of the month from last year that I was going to add to my list this quarter but I'm not sure that I've actually got all the backings etc organised - as I don't want to have a fabric order holding me up I thought I'd re-visit the pile of quilt tops I have in my cupboard.

first up is a quilt that I finished in September 2011 - one of the first "big" tops I did - when I pulled it out of the cupboard a few days ago I couldn't believe that I haven't finished it - I love it and now I've decided that I need to see it every day !

I think I was going to hand quilt it but I've now decided it will look good with straight line quilting so I should actually be able to get this done relatively quickly - you would think anyway !

next is my max and whiskers wonky quilt - again I finished this at the end of 2011 and I've decided to stitch in the ditch on the large blocks and then I'm going to hand quilt around the inset blocks - another top that I can't wait to have on display !

Also going on my list is the pink side of the mod mosaic using the blocks from my design camp 2 - I managed to finish the chartreuse side last quarter so fingers crossed I can get this side done.

I'm also adding the double wedding ring to this quarter's list - the NYC Mod Quilters challenge deadline is 1 December but if I get it finished by the end of the year I'll be more than happy !

And just to push the envelope I'm adding the bloggers' quilt-uber-fest quilt to the list - this was a quilt fest organised by Scott Hansen from Blue Nickel Studios over 16 days in October 2011 and I decided to join in even though my sewing machine was off getting a new motor - I did manage to finish the blocks in December 2011 so to have the quilt finally finished this year would also be wonderful !  I need to put sashing around all the blocks and sew the top together.

the fabrics I used were a diverse group from designers such as Marcia Derse, Basic Grey, Cloud 9, Anna Maria Horner, and Jay McCarroll.  The backing I have for this quilt is art gallery fabrics oval elements called prune brown - two years later and I still think its a terrible colour name!

so there you have it - a very hopeful list !  I also have the usual bee blocks, the extremely overdue Star of Africa blocks, a blog hop at the end of October, and a mini quilt swap due at the end of November so I might be in need of a holiday by the end of the year :)

Q3 finish along update

I posted earlier this week about Lucy's Quilt - my one finish in the third quarter finish-a-long however I'm still pretty happy that I've got some near finishes this quarter.

My 3rd quarter list wasn't that big but its the quilting that has let me down again !!

I was hoping to quilt my Mod Pop quilt but after trying to fight my way turning it around in the machine a couple of times using the walking foot I decided that the quilt design I had in my head would only work with free motion quilting!  I had decided to do echo quilting in the "U" shapes and do a spiral in the centre circles - but after having issues with the curves in the U shape I knew I wouldn't be able to do a nice spiral.

I've decided to put it on my list for next year's Year of Free Motion Quliting :)

I also didn't quilt my whirlygig top but it is basted and ready...

I did manage to get one side of my two sided mosaic top done - I'm putting this on my 4th quarter list and hoping for a finish !

from this...

to this...

and after thinking about this quilt for the last few days I'm now thinking I might just make two quilts rather than a double sided quilt !

I also sewed the hexagon quilt together - while I was sewing it together I decided to use a solid at the end of each row and so I got the rows sewn together while I was waiting for the fabric to arrive - I finished sewing the top just before the end of the third quarter - I was going to try to have it finished but it wasn't to be!

from this...

to this...

so with one total finish and two nearly finishes I'm more ahead in my UFO list this quarter than I was in July :)

Lucy’s hourglass quilt

First up let me say yes Mum - its finally finished !  well, actually I did finish this quilt in mid July but it was too cold and grey to take photos !

I promised my mum in early May that I wouldn’t mention this quilt again until it was finished – I think I’d told her I was about to work on it about 4 times before I actually started the quilting on it !

I finally just straightline quilted either side of the seams and I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out.  I also did the binding by machine - I was looking at one of Maureen Cracknell's quilts and she seemed to get the binding done very quickly so I asked her what she does and she told me she binds them by machine using a method very similar to the tutorial by Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew.

I figured as Lucy was only young and there was so much white on the quilt it would probably get washed quite a few times so maybe machine binding was the way to go - I'd told her mother that it could just be put in the washing machine so I certainly didn't want the binding to come undone !

This is my first finished project for this year's Finish-Along and just in time for Lucy's birthday - she turned one last week so this is her birthday present :)

Stats:
name: Lucy's hourglass quilt
size: 40" x 50"
fabrics: A Walk In the Woods - Aneela Hoey
pattern: based on Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew's pink classic
quilting: straight line diagonal seam outline - Gutermann 50wt cotton
batting: warm and white cotton

linking up to the 3rd quarter finishes for the 2013 Finish-a-long over at She Can Quilt