Finish-A-Long Second Quarter Finishes

The Finish-A-Long sponsored by Rhonda from Quilter in the Gap has once again been a great motivator. First quarter, I had an awesome 3/3 finish rate. Not quite so high this quarter, but I did finish projects that I really was anxious to finish, so I'm feeling pretty good.

So I had 4 projects on my list this round. First up was Hopscotch. I had half the blocks made, and an appointment with my long-arm quilter. 

I was able to complete the blocks, get this to my quilter and back, and finish this fun quilt up just in time for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival. The pattern is by Camille Roskelley, and I confess I'm as pleased as can be by this new-to-me palette and my first triangle quilt.

Next up was a pile of left-over hst from my Swoon and Sparkle quilts, which I wanted to use to make something for the Festival of Half Square Triangles. 

I was thinking of something with lots of negative space, but once I took the hst to my design wall, I swirled off in an unexpected direction, and came up with Spiraled.

I'm probably as proud of this project as any of late, pleased that I was able to come up with my own interesting design, loving the contrasting palest of gray borders (Pearl by Northcott Colorworks), and succeeding (not without frustration!) some angled matched binding. This mini was downright fun.

Also on my FAL list was pulling my Solstice Star blocks out and finishing them into a quilt.

I really had no plan for them, but in the end went out on a limb, adding lots of solids, and created The Stars of Summer. (Click on the title to see more photo-shoot pictures; go here for a tutorial on the matched binding.)

Last on my list, and I knew it would be a stretch . . . was taking my 4x5 blocks and making a quilt out of them. At the time, I had 12 blocks, and was in the process of receiving blocks from the third round of the 4x5 modern Quilt Bee.

So I got my last 6 . . .

and made 2 more to bring my number of blocks to 20 . . .

I am making great progress on this project, but it's definitely not a quilt yet. Remember this debate? Well, I've made a decision and am currently framing all of these colorful, modern blocks.

So my finish stats are 3/4 for round 2. Not bad, but I need to keep sewing!

I'll be linking my finished projects up to the Finish-A-Long Second Quarter Linky Party!

Spiraled

Meet "Spiraled". 

Left-over half-square triangles from two previous Terrain projects, Swoon and Sparkle, have been languishing in my scrap bin. This time last week, I totally was planning on using them to create a quilt with lots of negative space and a non-traditional little zig-zag. But then I started playing with them on my design wall, and before I knew it, I had a spiral of sorts. And then another. And then . . . several!

I loved the  thought of going 'outside' the boundaries a bit, so I let a few of the spirals cut right through the skinny Pearl border. (The Pearl is by Northcott Colorworks, and also used here, where I loved the subtle contrast, thus the repeat on this little quilt.)

I quilted randomly placed trios of stitching, loving how the diagonals cross each other all over the quilt.

Measuring 30"x32", the quilt is finished with matching pearl binding except where the spirals touch the edge. As much fun as it is to use a lovely new stack of fabric, it's been pretty satisfying creating this quilt with left-overs.

Linking up with the festival of half square triangles, Fabric Tuesday, Made By ME Wednesday, TNT Thursday, finish it up friday, sew & tell, and Slash the Stash.

This project was on my original post for 2nd quarter, so I am linking up with Quilter in The Gap's 2nd Quarter Finish-A-Long linky party!

137 is plenty

I happen to have 137 hst left over from a variety of semi-recent projects . . . enough to start a new something for the festival of half square triangles next week. {fingers crossed}

Duty calls, so not much time for sewing today, but I'll give you a sneak peek of what's on the design wall.

Stay tuned . . .

To the Finish Part Deux

It's time to make a 2nd quarter list for Rhonda's Finish-A-Long over at Quilter in the Gap. It's all about projects that are lounging around waiting to be finished. I have a few. So I'm re-upping in the Finish-A-Long and will be working at completing the following projects:

Hopscotch - I have 38 of 77 blocks made, and an appointment with my long-arm quilter. 

Terrain hst - These are left over from my Swoon quilt {here! swoon . . .} and I'd like to use them to make something to enter in the Festival of Half Square Triangles. Maybe something with lots of negative space. I've got some ideas.

Solstice Stars - You may remember these from the Solstice Star Series early in the year. I'd like to make them into a quilt - either by making and adding more stars, or maybe not.

And lastly, I'm going to go out on a limb here and put a fourth project on my list - using the blocks I've collected in the 4x5 modern Quilt Bee. (See the blocks I've already gotten here and here. I should have all the blocks from the current round before long.)

*Revised 4/8/12 to show pics of the actual blocks, per the FAL rules here . . .

   

Soooo, there are four good goals to finish in the next few months . . .

A Sparkle or Six

I hopped on board with the Sparkle QAL back in early January, got my blocks cut out with the rest of the group, and then promptly lagged behind. I confess it sat like this on my sewing table for a full month.

And then last week I was reminded that the link up of finished quilts was going to be today! Yikes. Considering I had planned on a mini Sparkle with just six blocks, I got to work piecing up the blocks - which I really enjoyed - and then an afternoon sewing with daughter dear provided just the right incentive to get the blocks sashed, a back pieced, and binding picked out. Oh, and I decided to try contrasting sashing, using the Northcott Colorworks in Pearl that I had picked up at Over the Rainbow. For me, it added just the right something extra to set the blocks off.

For quilting, I decided to use my hera maker to make a sweeping curve across the quilt, and then echo that throughout. My curve's sharpness on one side made it a little hard to replicate over and over, but in the end, I'm ok with it.

Predictably, the weather was down right stormy yesterday afternoon when I wanted to get pictures. Though the wind did provide a quick peek of the back - simply pieced with some Kona Artichoke and a wonderful piece of Kate Spain's Verna I found in my stash. I was pleased to discover it, considering how nicely it pairs with Terrain.

Anyway, I was patient. And eventually the lively Sparkle was still.

Linking up on the Sparkle QAL Finish posts at In Color Order and Canoe Ridge Creations, at Thank Goodness It's Finally Finished over at Quilter in the Gap, and also on Happy Quilting's T.N.T. Thursdays with my try at contrasting sashing and curvy quilting . . .and also with Finish It Up Friday, {sew} Modern Monday, and Fabric Tuesday!

The Next Step

The good news: the Swoon top is pieced. The not so good news: basting comes next!

As I was thinking about basting this behemoth, it dawned on me there was no space in the house that was possibly big enough, and the rain outside precluded using the deck. Thankfully, hubby had the bright idea to move the table out of the dining room. Never done before for this purpose, it proved to be an admirable solution. I was reminded that 50-something knees don't like to crawl around on the floor for an hour, but at least the (spray) basting is done.

And while I was down there on the floor, I decided to take a close up for those of you who are declaring that center block your favorite . . .

Now. On to the quilting.

So Far, So Good

Well, last night was Friday Night Sew-In, and I really pushed to get my last two Swoon blocks done.

When I realized there was no way all nine blocks would fit on my design wall, it began to dawn on me how big this quilt is going to be! I glanced at the pattern - 80" X 80"! Yikes. I was really wanting to quilt this one myself, but what you don't know is I have written on my sewing room white board: "68X72 TOO BIG." Meaning.....I have really struggled with quilting that size of quilt. I'm hoping, since it's been a while, that I can manage quilting my Swoon, as I actually have a quilting plan.

Meanwhile, I laid the blocks on the floor to get an idea how they'll look together. First tentative layout:

I'll probably be playing with the layout, but till then, I'll just celebrate Swoon blocks: Complete.

A Swoon Song

Projects? What projects? After seeing Camille Roskelley's Swoonery post yesterday {see here}, I had but one choice. Put all the w.i.p.s aside and face reality. I want to make a Swoon quilt of my own. Here's block ONE.

And yes, that's Terrain. I have had my pairs set out for these blocks since last week. You know, waiting to finish up some of those w.i.p.s first. Whatever. Last night when I decided to dive in, I was so excited, I had to cover my eyes and have hubby pick which set to cut into first! (I'd like to say, "Just kidding," but I'm not.) 

This is a fun pattern to put together - simple blocks come together to make a striking whole. Do be sure and check out Camille's post for some pure quilty beauty. No matter what fabric it's sewn with, Swoon is stunning.

The Race is On . . . postscript

Ok, so I mentioned a few days ago that the race was on to finish some projects before the upcoming quilt along and hst class starts later this month. But there's also a race due to new fabric coming out! Let me explain . . .

Whew! Finished my Geese in the Park using Kate Spain's Central Park . . .

and almost done with Dream Big for daughter dear . . .

so now looking forward to Kate's Terrain! Seriously can not wait!

Finished Ritzy Cracker with Camille Roskelley's Bliss . . .

so now anxiously waiting for Ruby.

And, just last night finished Annela Hoey's Comic Strip Quilt with Sherbet Pips . . .

Soon . . . Little Apples.

SO much to look forward to!