November Goal for a Year of Lovely Finishes

     This is the first time I'm linking up a goal for A Year of Lovely Finishes.  Hopefully this will work some magic and help me to finish this quilt.

    It's a hexagon quilt made of traditional Japanese Fabrics.  All I have to do to complete it, is quilt it.  This wouldn't be so difficult if I only worked on one thing at a time.  I can't hold myself to that though I'm always drawn to many directions at once.  I'm linking up to A Year of Lovely Finishes November Goal Setting Party at Fibre of All Sorts.

Sewing Kit Update

    I haven't done much blogging or for that matter much quilting of late...I guess I'll just blame it on life and spare you the details . I did notice today however that the Monday Morning Star count was back up  so I thought I'd give you a quick update on the slowly progressing sewing kit.

 I put the scissors in the picture so you would have an idea of scale.  As you can see I have 1 1/2 rows to finish and then I can start to assemble the sewing kit. I'm thinking I'll have the project completed in a couple of weeks.  That will be exciting!  Then I will have a case to bring my epp with me when I leave the house.  I recently bought some diamond shaped papers.  I've been inspired by the star quilts that I've been seeing on the link ups, so that's what I'll be doing next.   I'm linking up with The Monday Morning Star Count which is hosted by Jessica at Life Under Quilts.

Slow Sunday Stitching

     It's another beautiful fall day here in Ontario and today I am feeling thankful for all the native Maple trees we have.  Here is a photo out front of my house.  The tree across the road is really brilliant.

          This week in my meditation group our meditation leader spoke about how important it is in this busy time of cell phones and internet to just take time to be still, to meditate , to work in the garden and I would add to that to hand stitch.  I think for many of us our hand stitching time or even our time at our sewing machines is a time for quiet reflection.

     It's interesting how even our time for our hobby can have stress added to it as we work to keep up with sew alongs and block alongs or whatever.  I'm speaking for myself here and maybe for some of you as well.  So today I'll spend some time slow stitching my hexie's with no concern for how slowly they are coming along. 

     I've got the last two rows completed and I have started sewing the rows together.

     I might also spend some time with free motion quilting.  If you would like to see an update it's here.   As usual I'm linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's blog, and later in the week to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts.

Free Motion Quilt Along Progress

     I've been participating in the Free Motion Quilt Along that Jess is hosting on her blog Elven Garden Quilts    I loved the first pattern Echo Shell.  Here is a close up of my efforts on this first pattern.

     I'm pretty happy with it.   It's the densest  fmq I've done on a lap sized quilt.  I'm doing my practicing on Jess's Giant Chevron pattern which is  good practice piece because you have to go around points and change directions.

      Jess is up to lesson three but I've fallen behind.  The second pattern is a rectangular maze and I find it difficult to draw so I know it will be harder for me to quilt.  I've also been pretty busy of late.  The third pattern is a spiral and I am very excited to get to it. so I am going to have to get a move on with pattern two.  

     I'm really enjoying this.  Who knew fmq could be so much fun!

4th Quarter List

       I've managed to finish two projects each for the 2nd and 3rd Quarters of the Finish Along at the Littlest Thistle.  To be fair I was slowed down last quarter by deciding to hand quilt my double wedding ring quilt.  You would think I would make my list shorter this time....but Im not going to .   You never know which two or maybe three of these projects I will feel like finishing.  So here is the big list.






1.   I still haven't quilted the half hexagon quilt
I have managed to find backing fabric so the odds are good I'll finish this one.
















2.  I'm making a hexagon sewing kit out of the scraps from the above quilt.   I think the odds are good on finishing this one as well.















3.  I might get the giant chevron finished as I am trying to keep up with the fm quilt along at Elven Gardens blog.  I'm a bit behind but this one has potential.












4.  This is my fabric pull and at the top the only diamonds I've cut for the Emerge Quilt from Rachel  at Stitched in Colors' Angled Class.








5.  Here's another pattern from Stitched in Color.  The penny patch quilt along.  To finish this one, I'll have to  finish these blocks, find the blocks I've already completed and put the two together.










6.  This is my oldest project on my list.  Swoon.  All the blocks are made.   I'm not sure why I'm stalled on this one.








     So here's my crazy list.   I know I won't finish them all but maybe I'll make progress on some of them......and we'll see which two or three I manage to finish.   I'm linking up with Katy Cameron at the Littlest Thistle.

Block Along Update

     It's grey and damp on this  Thanksgiving  long weekend Monday  but we are hoping to get a hike in this afternoon with our friends.   Hmm we'll have to see if it's still raining later in the day.  The last two days the weather has been phenomenal so I can live with a rainy day.  I have been pretty busy  so I just managed to squeak in my second Tula Pink block this morning (I'm going to link up on the right day today) and I have no new alphabet blocks to share.   Maybe I can get 4 alphabet blocks done next week, although it's looking pretty busy as well.

   I'm copying others who are posting by taking pictures of the block with the corresponding block in the book.  

      I'm not sure how I feel about this block.  The outside colour is really quite bright. But it looks better photographed in the book than it does on the design wall so maybe it will be o.k. in a quilt surrounded by other blocks.  The block is also very asymmetrical  and I think my brain is having a hard time adjusting to that.  This is why we do new things.

   I've gotten tired of all the pink and purple blocks I've been working on lately so I switched over to orange and gold for the next block.

     This block is the perfect block for fall.  It will be interesting to see how it fits in with all the others in my multicoloured quilt.   Linking up to the Choose Your Own Block Along at Live a Colorful Life.

  

Thanksgiving Stitching.

    Today we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with our extended family in Kitchener . Before we go I will be spending some time reflecting on the beautiful fall day we are experiencing and all the other things I have to be thankful for while putting a stitch or two into another row of hexies.   Here is my progress on my hexagon sewing kit.   There are only a few more rows to put together.

     Have a wonderful Sunday everyone, and a wonderful week.  Linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts and later in the week to the Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts.