2015 Finish-A-Long: Q3 Finishes

We're 3/4 of the way through 2015?? Now that's hard to believe! Considering I have sewn very little this month, it was reassuring to see I actually finished 4/4 of my FAL Q3 goals - whew!

1. Inside Addition - When I started this quilt in January, I had plans for a big ole scrappy quilt, you  know, the kind that uses up oodles of scraps. But despite the fact that I love the Inside Addition block, I got bored with my scraps. So the plan changed and I settled for a 48" finish I named All-Inclusive. Quilted with a vertical straight-line and bound in binding scraps, now that it's done, washed and crinkly, it makes me happy.

All-Inclusive

2. Rolling Diamonds - Most of these blocks were made for me by the Mid-Century Modern Bee back in April 2014, and had obviously languished in the closet for a while. When I got down to finally piecing the top, I needed a few more blocks, so my friend Sharon/redapplestitches kindly made me one, and I made a couple more. I used Stitched in Color's machine-stitched binding tutorial, which incorporates a zig-zag stitch, and that was really fun (and fast!)  I named this one Vivid, and it really is.

Vivid

3. Raspberry Kisses - "Peachy" was made with the help of FAITH Circle and the palette was so enjoyable to work with. The turning point with this quilt was when I decided to set the blocks on point, which totally changed its look for the better.

Peachy

4. Quarter-Cut - My final finish for the quarter is On the Clock. I used my own tutorial, and the weird factor was that I timed myself. The first time I made it, it seemed so fast, and yup, I went from fabric stack to last hand-binding stitch in just 7 hours. It's definitely baby-sized (40") but its fat-quarter-friendliness and rounded corners make it a quick, sweet make.

On the Clock

So that's that. Time to mull over what's next.

Linking up with 2015 Finish-A-Long Q3 Finishes.

2014 Finish-A-Long: Q3 Finishes

Three out of four finishes for me this quarter. I shoulda, coulda, woulda that last one, but I didn't quite make it. OH well. If you missed them, links to project posts are below finish photos.

With the blocks all pieced, it didn't take much to get my next Postcard quilt sewn together and finished.

So here's the completed quilt. I was curious about the pattern as a larger quilt. This one's 1.5 times wider and twice as long as my original. And I'm liking is just as much. 

Duo (click for block tutorial)

On my Q3 list were also 2 table runners inspired by a pattern by Susanne Woods in We Love Color.

Since I was making these runners in custom sizes, there was a fair amount of math figuring out sizes and placements, but they went together really nicely. 

Stone-Stepping

And finally, I really took my time on my latest Spiraled quilt. I was building it on my design wall as the quarter started.

But just in the nick of time, I finished it up.

Spiraled Underground

The last project on my list was another Postcard quilt with blocks made by FAITH Circle. Here's a photo of the completed top, and just yesterday I got it basted, so it shouldn't be long now.

So it could have been much worse. Now to look ahead to the last quarter of the year.

A Special Occasion Clutch

You may remember the last-minute clutch I made a couple of months ago . . .

Since quite a few of you liked it, I thought it might be a good choice when Leanne/shecanquilt asked if I could share a tutorial during the Q3 Finish-A-Long tutorial week. So . . . head on over to shecanquilt today for a new Special Occasion Clutch - step by step!

Be sure and see the other tutorials while you're there {y-seams and a giant x and + block} and all the great FAL finishes that are linked up!

Linking up with I Quilt.

2013 Finish-A-Long: Q3 Finishes

The third quarter of the Finish-A-Long was a good mix of projects - one charity quilt, one for our home, and one that was a bit of a challenge. {Click on quilt names for their original posts.}

Top priority was FAITH Circle's June quilt, where we used SewCraftyJess' "Starburst Cross" block tutorial. I was thrilled at the "hot" blocks my bee-mates sent in!

They were stitched simply into rows to create Starcrossings.

My next project was dealing with the Modern Maple blocks made by That Stash Bee. My original goal with these was to have a Modern Maples quilt to use in our home by the time fall hit, and I started the Falling for Modern Maples flickr group to have some company. If you like this block as much as I do, check out the group for some great inspiration - and feel free to join. It's a no-pressure group of like-minded-maple-lovers.

On my couch right now is Anticipating Autumn. With the variety of block backgrounds, it was a logical jump to set them with a mix of solid and print squares. Not sure this block is out of my system quite yet.

The last finish for Q3 used the Slice and Insert blocks I made during Katie & Jacquie's class several months ago. At first I was considering a layout something like this . . .

But when it came right down to it, I opted to create a 'medallion' of sorts with wide, unequal borders. Meet Fissures.

What I didn't get to were the blocks my Always Bee Learning Bee bee-mates made with the Polaroid blocks collected during the *Picture-Perfect* Polaroid Swap. This one will go right on my Q4 list for sure.

Many thanks to Leanne/shecanquilt for all her work on the FAL! Be sure and check out all the amazing finishes for this quarter!

Linking up with Leanne/shecanquilt and the Finish-A-Long Q3 linkup.

Fissures

Fissures was first started in an Improv Slice and Insert class I took with Katie Pedersen and Jacquie Gering several months ago, and is loosely inspired by "Shattered" in their book, Quilting Modern.

It began with these 9 blocks, 7 of which I had made in class. Fabric-wise, I used a background of Kaufman's Carolina Chambray in Natural, slicing and inserting with the additions of Anna Maria Horner's Field Study multi-colored butterflies and Kona Olive. Eventually the small blocks (7" finished) were grouped together and 'bordered' with more of the Olive.

For quilting the center blocks, I used Aurifil 50wt #2000 (Beige) and did small, squarish spirals in each little section. This was alot of fun, and I'm super pleased with the interest it adds to what I considered the focal point of the quilt.

In quilting the border, I switched to Aurifil 50wt #2910 (Foliage Green), and began by following all of the solid green inserts out to the edge. From there I echo-stitched, using those lines and any seam lines as guides, with lines about 1/2" apart.

Quilting as I did gave quite a variety of angles and actually made the solid green quite busy. I had a few issues with puckers with all the turning I was doing, and I was temped to wash this one up to hide some of that. But for the sake of full disclosure and sharing process, I opted to just put it out there as is.

For the back, I pieced the last of my Field Study {bummer} with large blocks of In the Beginning's Dit Dot. Yes.

This quilt is one of those that was pretty much satisfying from beginning to end. And I'm gonna come right out and say that one of the things I love about it, is that when I was back in the class and showed Jacquie the fabrics I was planning on using for my slice and insert blocks, she commented something like, "nice fabrics but I've never done this technique with prints."

But by the end of class, she was encouraging me along with a smile and a hearty, "It works!"

This project was on my Q3 Finish-A-Long list and also on my selfish sewing week list. Linking up with Fabric Tuesday and Finish It Up Friday.

Starcrossings

When hubby and I head out on a photo shoot, we expect the unexpected. Which is another way of saying we never really know where we're going to end up. Today it was an outdoor suburban mall, where we basically took a walk through 'town,' stopping to take pictures whenever it struck our fancy.

"Starcrossings" is the June project of the FAITH Circle of do.Good Stitches, and my second finish serving as a quilter for the group {see #1 here}.

It's no secret I took direct inspiration from the quilt by sewing over pins and the Cheer Circle. That quilt just seemed perfect for our recipient.  Each member of our circle made 2 starburst cross blocks using the tutorial by SewCraftyJess. I think they are really striking blocks, and I love the mix of fabrics my bee-mates used.

For backing and binding both, I used Lucie Summers' Summersville Spring in hot pink.

As I was mulling over how to quilt this one, I just kept coming back to the wavy stitch built into my machine. Either that or a straight-line grid. In the end, I did a combo, stitching two parallel lines at the intersections of each block, both vertically and horizontally, and then two wider spaced lines going through the center of each block, again in both directions. For piecing and quilting throughout, Aurifil white 50wt just seemed the way to go.

All in all, I'm super pleased with this finish, which just happens to be on my 3rd quarter Finish-A-Long list. These happy blocks were a pleasure to work with, and my hope as this quilt heads off to Restore Innocence this week, is that it will find its way to a young woman that finds joy in it just like I did.

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday.

2013 Finish-A-Long: Q3 List

Considering I've just received the last of my blocks in three bees, it's pretty obvious where to start my third quarter FAL list! Top priority is FAITH Circle's June quilt, where we used SewCraftyJess' "Starburst Cross" block tutorial. 

Next up, the Modern Maple blocks made by That Stash Bee.

In May, I sent Always Bee Learning Bee beemates 9 polaroid blocks collected during the *Picture-Perfect* Polaroid Swap, along with several black and white prints, and asked them to frame the blocks. I just put all the blocks up on the design wall to take a photo for this post, so what you see isn't the final layout. I'm thinking that will be a tad tricky!

Not bee blocks, but I decided to go ahead and add the Slice and Insert blocks I made during Katie & Jacquie's class. I'm thinking maybe a wall hanging with these. I hope I can get back into the improv groove, as I'd like to make a few more blocks before putting them all together.

All of these projects are ones I'm really looking forward to, so hoping this can be a successful quarter!

Linking up with Leanne/shecanquilt and the Finish-A-Long Q3 linkup.

To the Finish Part Trois

Talk about pressure! It's time to make a list for the third quarter of Quilter in the Gap's Finish-A-Long. I'm sure you're like me - the 'to do' list continues to grow in the midst of trying to finish up what's already on the docket! There's much I'd like to accomplish in the next three months, but definitely these projects . . .

4x5 modern Quilt Bee quilt - It was on last quarter's list and I didn't quite make it. I'm nearing the finish line on this one.

Marmalade "Storytime Squares" baby quilt - Hope to have this done in July actually. It's always fun to use a new line of fabric, and this one should be a fairly quick finish.

Christmas lap quilt - I'd like to make a quilt to coordinate with the unconventional tree skirt I made last year.

 

I have a start on the fabric pull, and am thinking about "On a Whim." Maybe yes, maybe no, but would like to do this as part of Christmas in July, though that's putting alot on July's plate!

QWERTY variation - A friend picked out fabric and has asked me to make her a QWERTY quilt of her own. This is way over-due, and I'm hoping to finish this up sooner rather than later.

There's a part of me that's ready to just start on something fresh and new and out of the blue, and I just may. But meanwhile, also hope to get these projects done in good time . . .

Linking up with the Finish-A-Long's Pre-Third Quarter Linky Party.