April Wrap and Look Ahead to May.

     Well I didn't manage to  finish my April Goal for a Year of Lovely finishes.  I did find the blocks and I've most of the completed ones up on the design wall.  

     The colours are a bit off in the photo but you get the general idea.  It's my version of the Penny Patch quilt , a quilt along with Rachel of Stitched In Color.  I'm going to roll this goal into May and work on finishing the top once again.  I'd like to get it done soon as I need the design wall .  I'm testing the Grande Scrappy Tiles pattern for Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs .  I was thinking at first that I would make a donation quilt out of guild stash, but I went with my own stash instead. I'm thinking we could use the pattern for a group quilt at a later date.   Here is the fabric pull.  I started out with red's  but it's mostly blues now.

     This is the first time I'll be testing a pattern and I'm excited to be doing that.

      It's been a really busy month  with extra projects at work and I've had a virus that has zapped my energy and brainpower for a couple of weeks.   I've made some really interesting quilting errors due to brain fog.  Have you ever tried putting binding together when most of the pieces are cut at 2 1/4" and one piece is cut at 2 1/2".  

    My local guild is having a quilt show this weekend, so much of my sewing time has been spent on sewing  the labels and hanging sleeves on my two entries, but I have spent a little bit of time at my sewing machine.  I made this little log cabin block as part of a group baby quilt.  It's with Canada Post now on route to join other similar blocks.  I can't wait to see the finished quilt.

    I'm joining Lorna at the Let's Bee Social linkup at Sew Fresh Quilts and  with Shana at Fibre of All Sorts for the May goal setting Linky Party.

        

My Swoon Quilt is Finished, Ta Da!

     I'm very happy to share that I finally finished my Swoon Quilt and here it is!

     Dwight and I took it out in the backyard to take a picture.  I'm holding the quilt.  It's 80' by 80" so I had to stand on a rock to get the whole quilt in. I was originally planning to quilt it myself but it's pretty big to handle with my sewing machine and in the end I sent it out to be quilted.  Here's a close up of the quilting.

     Another reason I sent it out is because I decided to put the Swoon quilt into our Guild show at the beginning of May.  This is my first finish for the 2nd Quarter of the 2015 finish along.  The original post is here.

     Look what we found out in the yard.  I guess Spring is finally here.

     I'm linking up to TGIFF which is hosted this week by Maartje Quilt In Amsterdam and at Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts .

Another Scrappy Project

      Years ago when I was a new quilter my friend Wendy told me I should start collecting black and white fabrics to make a black and white quilt.  Then last year I saw the  framed coins quilt in the Julie Herman book Skip the Borders.  I made that quilt top.  It's on my 2nd quarter finish along list, because of course I haven't quilted it yet.   As I had lots of scraps I decided to make another black and white quilt as a for my local guild's community out reach program.   Here's the progress so far.

     I have lots of the lighter blocks finished.  These will be alternated with darker blocks, and should make a striking quilt.  I'm linking up with Nicky at Mrs Sew and Sow and with Leanne at She Can Quilt  for the Scraptastic  Tuesday link up.  This is my lucky place to link up as it's the only place I've won anything.  

     Two link ups ago I won the Mass Drop give away.  It was very exciting to have this arrive in the mail.

     Thanks to Leanne and Nicky for hosting the link up.

2015 Finish Along Second Quarter List

     I've been humming and hawing over the last couple of days trying to figure out what to put in my wish list for finishes this quarter.  Do I go big or do I go small.  Last quarter I went small. I listed 4 projects and I finished 3  of them.  It seemed good to focus on a small number of projects ..but I've finished 3 before with a larger list, and I've finished one with a larger list.   I think in the end it depends on how far along the projects are before I finish them.  So let's see.  

1.  Swoon is getting pretty near the end so I'm sure I can finish it.  It kind of feels like cheating though because I sent it out to the long armer.  I know that's acceptable but it wasn't my original intention.  As It might be the only finish I manage though I think I'll keep it in the list.

2.  Because it's Spring and I have a hope of wearing this if I finish it.  I'm putting the  Staple Dress back on the list.  I haven't even started this one, so it could go either way.

3.  The penny patch.  This was a quilt along over a year ago with Rachel of Stitched in Color.  It's been languishing on the shelf.  This is my April Goal for a Year of Lovely Finishes .  I think I've found all the pieces . 

4. I'd also like to finish the Emerge quilt from Rachel's Angled Class.  I've barely started this project...but I love the fabrics and they are calling to me.

 I should really stop there as 4 seems to be the magic number for me but I'll add one more.

5. I'm adding  my framed coins quilt.  This one is from Julie Herman's book "Skip the Borders"  The top has been finished for a year, so it just needs to be quilted.  I'm feeling the pressure to finish this one as a friends who decided to make one after seeing mine has got hers  finished, and now more friends are making their own versions.  I don't want to be the first to start and the last to finish.

     Can I add hemming my bluejeans  I bought about a year ago to this list?  No?  I thought if I added them to the list I just might get around to getting them done.

 We'll see how I do with the list in a couple of months.   I'm sure I'll find lot's of other distractions and temptations out in the quilting world.   Now I have to get on to sewing those Penny Patch blocks.  Let me just push these blue jeans out of the way.  

     I'm linking up with 2nd Quarter Finish Along at Adrienne's blog On the Windy Side and I'll link up to Lets Bee Social as well.

April Goal for a Year of Lovely Finishes

     Almost a Year and a Half ago, Rachel of Stitched in Color  held an on line quilt along.  I started the quilt along but never finished it.  My Penny Patch quilt has been sitting around partially finished since then.   I managed to locate all the pieces.

     The box on the left holds the completed blocks and the box on the right holds the incomplete blocks.  My goal for April will be to complete the top.  I'm joining the link up party for the Year of Lovely Finishes at Fibre of All Sorts.

Slow Stitching Sunday and the Monday Morning Star Count.

     Happy Easter.  Today being Easter and a very busy day at that , I'm not sure if I will get to any slow stitching.  Perhaps in the evening. I hope so because even on the busy days it's good to slow down a little and take some quiet time.  If I do I will have two projects waiting for me.

     I've started binding my Swoon Quilt.  After dithering back and forth over whether I should quilt it myself I decided to take it to Linda and get her to quilt it on the long arm.    I'm not good enough or fast enough yet to quilt them all myself.  I'm going to put this one into our quilt show in May so it needed to be finished.  This way I can focus on my other entry into the quilt show which is a challenge for the small Modern Group...and small enough that I can quilt it fairly quickly.

     My other hand stitching project is of course my E.P.P. stars.  Here's an updated photo of those.

     They are a little heavy in the pink , red and purple spectrum so I think I should add some other colours.  Then I can add the white background diamonds and start linking them together.  I really like having this ongoing hand stitching project. It's great to have a project you can drag all over the place.  I'll be joining in with the other Slow Stitchers at Kathy's Quilts and on Monday I'll link up with Jess at Life Under Quilts for the Monday Morning Star Count.  I think this is the right week.

     And just for the record.  Snow,  we have more snow. 

Purple is the Colour for April

     Purple always makes me think of crocuses, so it seems a fitting colour for April.  I don't have a lot of purple scraps but I know from previous months that the scraps go a long way.  So far I've made my medallion block and I'm part way through the scrappy maverick star block.    Here's the medallion:

         We are very lucky to have a our daughter home with us and will see our son and his wife along with other relatives at our mother in laws on Sunday for Easter dinner.  Today is a beautiful sunny spring day here and we are planning a hike out in the countryside.  I think I'll take a walk in my backyard and see if there are any signs of life out there.  For now I'm linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy.