Tuesday 30 April 2019

A Quilt for Eoin

     I have a quilt finish to share with you.  It's a quilt for Eoin (Owen) who is Rory's younger cousin.  If you forget who Rory is I made him the star quilt you can see here.  Eoin's quilt was a much quicker finish but it packs a colourful punch.



     It's the row additon pattern from Modern Plus Sign Quilts by Paige Alexander and Cheryl Brickey.  I pieced it in a few hours and quilted it in a few more.  I quilted wavy lines with my walking foot with a 50 weight lime green Aurifil thread. I followed the shape of the plus signs a half inch inside the edge of each one.



     This quilt was made entirely from fabrics in my stash, except for the backing fabric.  I had purchased a green fabric for the binding but it didn't work so I went with a blue on aqua polka dot I had on hand.  You have to love a polka dotted binding.




     Row addition is my first finish for the second Quarter FAL this year.  You can see my original list here.  Finishing this quilt was also 1/2 of my April One Monthly Goal.  I'm happy to let you know that I finished the other 1/2 of my goal as well which was to complete and send my sisterhood swap blocks before April 27th.  Here's a photo of all my blocks before I mailed them.


     I know at least one of these has made it to it's destination.
Linking with the OMG linkup at Elm Street Quilts and the Favourite Finishes linkup at Meadowmist Designs.





Wednesday 10 April 2019

2019 FAL the Big List

     Today is the day the link ups open for the 2nd Quarter of the 2019 Finish Along.  Putting my list together was fairly easy as a lot of it is carried over from the first quarter.  I did finish two projects on that list and for now one of them has dropped off.  Here's where we stand at the moment.

1.  Grande Scrappy Tiles:  This is the project that I am currently working on, when it's my turn to work on the  sit down long arm we own.  I think I have about a quarter to a third of it quilted, so it should be done fairly soon.  It depends on how much life interrupts my quilting time. I have to admit that when the choice is between using the machine or babysitting the grand kids, the kids always win.




2.  Clam Shell.  I have yet to make any progress on this one this year....but it's still hanging in on the list and I think it's the quilt that corresponds to the number pulled for this months UFO completion at my guild so I might be finishing the flimsy.


3.  Batik Quilt:  I was  hoping this one got picked as the April UFO for the guild for, as there is not a lot that needs to be done to get the quilt top finished.



4.Row Addition:  I've actually got the quilt top finished for this one. It was the March UFO and a very easy one at that. I've already washed the backing fabric so I'm thinking it will be done soon.



5.  Might as well keep this bag on the list in case I feel inspired to finish it.



6.  And I still owe my co worker a gift made of these fabrics. No worries here that Row Addition quilt above is for one of her grandkids.


All of the above projects were on the first quarter list.  Here are a few others that might push those aside.

7.  I'm participating in the Sister Hood swap and I'll need to finish up the mini quilt for that when my blocks arrive.  I'm about 1/2 finished the blocks I'm sending out.


8.  My modern guild is making donation pillows so I'll be making a pillow.  Here's a possible starting point.



9. I'll add in the Modern Plus Signs Q.A.L. quilt because even though the quilt along is over, I did start the quilt and I'm still working on it.



  I was going to round this list off at an even 10 but when I went to look for the final project to take a photo I couldn't find it!  This probably says a lot about the state of my life and my sewing room.  So that project is off the list.  If I find it, it will be on the third quarter list.  So,there we go...working away on all these projects but still open to creative challenges when they pop up.  What's on your list?  Linking up with the Quarter 2 F.A.L. linkup at HandWrought Quilts.


Saturday 6 April 2019

Goals for April

      I did manage to finish my goal for March well in advance of the deadline but I didn't manage to link it up.  Oh well it's really all about moving projects forward isn't it?  It's time to come up with a goal for April and I have two projects that are well on their way and have deadlines for this month so in a spirit of optimism I'm going to list them both.

Goal one is to get all the sub blocks done for the #sisterhoodswap.   Here's a shot of potential dress fabrics for the sisters, along with the cover of the pattern.



     You may have seen the swap on instagram.  Berene of @happysewlucky came up with this great pattern as a  fundraiser to celebrate International Women's Day. She managed to raise $4,000 Canadian for the charity @beautifulworldcanada   and the funds will be used for the education of two girls in Africa.  One would like to be a teacher and the other would like to have her own sewing business.  You could just buy the pattern or participate in a swap with 7 others.  I decided to do the swap and I have to have it done by April 27th.  I'll meet the goal. As soon as I post this I'm heading to the sewing room.

     My second goal is to finish turning this pile of fabric into a baby quilt.  It's an easy pattern and I'm hoping to get it done by Tuesday.



     Actually I've traded out a couple of the fabrics. The top two are gone.  The top one because I decided against the purple and the second because when I opened it up to iron it I noticed that it had faded in the crease lines.  I was a bit surprised by that as I don't think it was stored in a lot of sunlight, but then I realized I had bought it on sale and that it is an organic cotton.  I'm thinking that the particular dye used for this colour may not be very stable.  Wendy suggested that I use it as a bag lining because it is a beautiful fabric and I can look at it in the bag.

     So those are my two goals and I'm confident I will get them both done this month.  I'm joining the OMG linkup with Patti of Elm Street Quilts.  Hopefully I manage to link up my finishes this month.

Thursday 4 April 2019

Squeezing in another First Quarter Finish Post

     One day, maybe one day I will have my life return to a pace where I can keep up with quilting and blogging in a more systematic way.  Until that happens I'll keep dipping in when I can.  Today I'm sharing a small finish that was completed on the last day of the 1st Quarter, but I've had no energy to write this little post, until now.

  I sewed along with @johannaweidner, in March for the Bloembasketalong.  Here's my finished basket.


     I generally prefer sewing flat things like quilts, but making this little basket was a lot of fun.  It's not perfect, especially the binding but that's ok it's the first one and I made it at sew alongs so not on my best machine.  I think the main fabric is an older design by Anna Marie Horner....and the solids are Konas.

     Here's another shot which shows the one handle for the basket.


     I think I will make a few more of these baskets in the next while.  They will make great gifts.  It would be nice to make a couple for my grand boys and they would also make great  gifts for co workers and quilting friends. This is my second finish for the 1st quarter of the 2019 FAL.  The original post is here.  I'll be linking this post with the FAL link up at She Can Quilt.  I'll also link up with the TGIFF link up which is hosted by Laura of Slice of Pi quilts this week, and with the Bragg About Your Beauties linkup with Michelle of from Bolt to Beauty.