2016 Finish-A-Long :: Q3 Finishes

I knew it would be iffy when I made out my Q3 FAL list, since I was still receiving blocks for two of my projects. And if I'd stayed totally on task, I might have made it, but you know, other projects always sneak their way in, so I'm not totally unhappy that I managed to finish just three of the four projects on my Q3 list.

1. There was just one block left to make for my Modern Sampler, and once that was done, I just went for it to the finish line,

Even the dreaded applique was kind of enjoyable, and I really loved the uneven borders. I named the quilt Colorless, and was quite surprised how smitten I was with it once I was done. A year in the making, this one took me places I hadn't foreseen, but am glad to have gone.

2. Next were my Bee Sewcial Swap blocks, and I was still waiting on several at the time I was making my list.

Exchanging Whispers was the result worth waiting for, a scrappy mix of more neutral low-volume fabrics. Kind of weird that I had two such quiet quilts this quarter, but I do love them.

3. The final finish from my Q3 list was inspired by an online photo of farm plots. 

I dug deep into my green stash and for some odd reason I really enjoyed sewing up all the curves into Crop Circles.

What didn't get done is my bacon-inspired Bee Sewcial quilt. But I've got a plan and a good start puzzling the blocks together. This one really takes focus though, so it'll take a little while. I'm anxious to get back to it though!

So I'm really pleased with my quarter, and more than ready to move on to the  next!

All three finishes have been linked-up with the 2016 Finish-A-Long :: Q3 Finishes Link-Up!

2016 Finish-A-Long :: Q3 Finishes Link-Up

Here we are at the end of another quarter - Q3 of the 2016 FAL! How did that happen!? Here are your hosts:

• Debbie - A Quilter's Table - USA

• Jess - Elven Garden Quilts - Australia

• Stacey - SLO Studio - Canada

• Jennie - Clover & Violet - USA

• Helen - Archie the Wonder Dog - UK

• Nicky - Mrs. Sew and Sow -UK

• Cindy - Fluffy Sheep Quilting - Ireland

• Rhonda - Rhonda's Ramblings - USA

• Leanne - She Can Quilt - Canada

It's time to link up the finished projects from your 2016 Q3 FAL list! First, a huge thank you to our fantastic sponsors:

Fluffy Sheep Quilting - €25 (25 Euro) gift certificate	Clover & Violet LLC - choice of 3 patterns	On the Windy Side, pattern pack
The Quilt Ranch, $25 gift certificate	Knotted Thread, $30 gift certificate	Sew me a Song, $20 gift certificate
Laurel Bee Designs, 2 pin bowls for 1 winner	Simply Solids, £40 (40 Pound) gift certificate	Imagine Gnats, $40 gift certificate
Fat Quarter Shop, $50 gift certificate	Mariners Compass Quilt Shop, $50 gift certificate	Sew Sisters Quilt Shop, $25 gift certificate
Sunny Day Supply - $30 gift certificate	Christa's Kona Jelly Solids Roll	Sew Sweetness, copy of Windy City Bags
Make Modern Magazine - 6 month subscription	Porch Swing Quilts, 2 winners, 3 patterns each	Oakshott Fabrics - £75 (75 Pounds) gift certificate
The Tartankiwi - choice of 3 patterns	Green Fairy Quilts - $25 gift certificate	Happy Quilting - choice of 3 patterns
Mad About Patchwork - $40 gift certificate	3 Making Merry Patterns

InLinkz.com

For the 2016 FAL, we also feature a tutorial week. Here is the schedule so you can visit them all. (edited 10/4/16) 

• October 1 - Needlebook - by Helen/Archie the Wonder Dog
• October 2 - Notebook Slipcover with Pocket Pen - by Jennie/Clover and Violet
• October 3 - Simple Tote Bag with French Seams - by Leanne/She Can Quilt
• October 4 - Hourglass Block - by Stacey/SLO Studio
• October 6 - FAL Tutorial Roundup - by Rhonda/Rhonda's Ramblings

The 2016 Q3 link for your finishes is now open below on my blog and on each of the hosting blogs - you only need to link on one blog for your finish to appear on each blog. Link-up "rules"

• Add one link for each finish. If you want to link a round up post of all your finishes, use that link to enter one of your finishes and then link the rest of your finishes separately. Please, only one link per finish, as your link is an entry into the randomly drawn prize draws.
• Please use the 2016 FAL button or the hashtag #2016FAL in your post(s).
• Please ensure that the photo or blog post you link up contains a link or reference back to your original list so that we can verify your entry (make sure it is from the appropriate quarter).
• Please be an active part of the FAL community. Check out the links of others and comment. We all need encouragement so let's applaud each other. The 2016 FAL Facebook page is here and follow us on Instagram @finishlong and tag your photos #2016fal and #falq3yourname.(Substitute your name - this makes it easier for us to match your finishes with your lists.)
• Our hosts will also link their finishes to share in the community, but they are not eligible for any of the prizes.

The Q3 finishes link-up will stay open from now thru October 7, 2016, 11pm EDT. Link up your finishes early and if you have a last minute one, add that one later so you don't miss out. The prizes will be awarded as soon as we can verify all the entries and do the drawings. We will post the winners on each hosts' blog once they've been drawn. Start making your Q4 FAL lists as the Q4 list link opens on October 8! Now let's link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

W.i.P. on the Wall

I'm sooo close to batting a thousand with my Q3 Finish-A-Long list, but I think my last w.i.p. is going to take too long. It's my latest Bee Sewcial quilt that's on the design wall right now. All the blocks are here, and I've come up with a basic arrangement I like. Now comes the challenge of not only making filler blocks but also fitting it all together.

I decided to take a look at The Bacon Consideration pin board I'd offered the group as inspiration, and was struck that maybe a pancetta block or two would be a nice addition. So I set out to make one, heavily influenced by a quilt I remembered by from the blue chair. And I loved it.

So I made a couple more and stepped back for a bit.

When I got back to it, I managed a 'bacon bits' filler block (upper left), and relocated one of the pancetta blocks. My original thought was to surround the curves with a background and square it off to meet up with the strip bacon blocks. Luckily daughter dear was over and asked, "can't you just fit the pancetta into the other block?" Duh. Of course I could. [fingers crossed]

Well I managed it, so now, roughly speaking, the upper right quadrant is pieced together. So I'm getting there, but it's challenging me, which means slow-going. But so far so good!

Mad Dash

So I did a little more pattern-testing last week, this time for Michelle/Factotum of Arts [ml_wilkie]. The pattern is for Mad Dash, a subtle geometric quilt (see #maddashquilt). With four size variations available, I opted for the 20" pillow. Though I loved how Michelle used a mix of low-volume prints for her original Mad Dash quilt, I chose just one - a favorite I've had stashed for a while - Make Drafts Paper by AGF Studio. For the 'dashes' I used an Interweave Chambray in Pepper.

The piecing went really quick, and for quilting, I did an uneven grid in two directions.



I backed the pillow with more of the chambray, and I kinda love that deep contrast.

And one little side note .... my backing fabric wasn't quite wide enough, so I pieced it! Rather than let it seem a mistake of sorts, I top-stitched on both sides of the seam, making it appear as a design detail. It made me happy at least. 

So it shouldn't be long before Michelle releases her latest pattern. I went pretty simple with my choices this time, but the pattern has lots of flexability. Peek here at what jskarritt is doing with hers!

Blogger's Quilt Festival :: StringSong [Small Quilts]

Small quilts are my happy place. The opportunity to use a quickly chosen stack of fabrics, experiment with a technique, or just go to the cutting table with rotary in hand and start cutting to see where it leads me.... that's the very best kind of sewing to me, and when it's a small quilt, thus a quick finish, all the better. And it was in such an environment as this that StringSong was created.

My second entry in the Blogger's Quilt Festival was inspired by one little piece of an improv string slab I made for our guild's BOM.

I made big string slabs, and then cut them up to get the elements I needed, deciding what that was bit by bit. And yes, sewing slab scraps together to make more usable pieces totally fit the process.

Matchstick quilting was definitely called for, and it just seemed right that I gather as many coordinating threads as I had on hand. Plus it added to the fun. I switched between threads whenever the mood struck, and in this case, it seemed impossible to overdo it.

So this little quilt really does represent what I love most about quilting .... using fabric and thread to create just for the sake of creating. Using colors and designs only because they please you. Figuring it out as you go. Oh yeah.

Many thanks to Amy/Amy's Creative Side for hosting the festival. I've been enjoying reading through many of the entries! If you are visiting A Quilter's Table for the first time, welcome! You can also find me on Instagram @aquilterstable, and if you'd like to subscribe to my bi-monthly newsletter, The Scrap Basket, just leave your email in the pop-up box, or in the comments. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Quilt stats:

Finished size: 25" x 25"

Pattern: my own

Fabric: randomly pulled cotton solid stack
Thread: Aurifil 50wt - #2021 (Natural White), #2140 (Mustard), #2230 (Medium Peony) 
#2600 (Dove), #2610 (Light Blue Grey), #2975 (Brass), and #4020 (Fuchsia). 

Quilted by: myself, using a walking foot
Category: Small Quilts

My previous entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival:
Yay or Nay, 9/21/16

Room Temp, 5/20/15

Keychain, 5/19/15

Red Hots, 10/27/14

Unlocked, 5/16/14

Crazy Rainbow, 10/25/13
Absolutely Mod Pop, 5/19/13

HST Love, 5/17/13

The Stars of Summer, 10/26/12

Hopscotch, 5/19/12

Mango Revisited, 10/28/11

Supernova, 5/13/11

Slab Eight :: Churn Dash

Oh goodness. Matt/odditease, the fearless leader of our guild's improvisational block-of-the-month pulled a fast one this month by suggesting we select an improv adaptation of a traditional block of our own choosing. hmmm.

Hopefully you can tell I chose the churn dash. I tried a few different variations of the block, and am just moderately happy with the finish, which is 30" square. I may revisit it later (read: redo), but we'll see. Just one more month, one more block, and it'll be time to pull this quilt together!

Blogger's Quilt Festival :: Yay or Nay [Modern Quilts]

The name for my first entry in this year's Blogger's Quilt Festival came about after I posted on Instagram, asking what folks though of a design decision. Thus .... "Yay or Nay."



It was a bit of a rocky road with this one. I questioned myself at every turn, all the while knowing exactly where I wanted to go with it. It's crazy, really, how much the fear of not creating something good enough (good enough for what?) trips us up sometimes and complicates the process. Thankfully, Karen Lewis' words in a guild podcast came at just the right moment. "Don't be afraid of getting it wrong." Of course. How could I have forgotten?



So I forged ahead, took risks, and ended up with an improvisational design that spoke to me, quite possibly more in what it represented than what it actually became.



Creating right from the design wall is often a mixed bag of freedom and frustration, and it certainly was in this case, but I find it the most fun. When it came time for quilting, I used Aurifil 50wt #2600 (light gray) and quilted a very dense organic grid, dense meaning 1/4" to 1/2" between lines. Eight bobbins for a 48" square dense. Yeah, great texture.



Thanks to Amy/Amy's Creative Side for hosting the festival once again. It's always inspiring to peruse all the entries! And to those visiting A Quilter's Table for the first time, welcome! You can also find me on Instagram @aquilterstable, and if you'd like to subscribe to my newsletter, The Scrap Basket, just leave your email in the pop-up box, or in the comments. Thanks everyone for stopping by!

Quilt stats:

Finished size: 48" x 48"

Pattern: my own

Fabric: The Denim Studio by Art GalleryFabrics paired with Kaufman Kona Cotton Solid in Silver
Thread: Aurifil 50wt - #2600 (light gray)

Quilted by: myself, using a walking foot 
Category: Modern Quilts

My previous entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival:

Room Temp, 5/20/15

Keychain, 5/19/15

Red Hots, 10/27/14

Unlocked, 5/16/14

Crazy Rainbow, 10/25/13
Absolutely Mod Pop, 5/19/13

HST Love, 5/17/13

The Stars of Summer, 10/26/12

Hopscotch, 5/19/12

Mango Revisited, 10/28/11

Supernova, 5/13/11