Phew, that was a lot in 3 months for the 2015 Finish Along!!!

What a huge list of things to do for the 2015 Finish Along entry.  Was I crazy or what?  The list includes at least 4 queen size quilts and I do all my own quilting, sooooooo????!!!  But you don't succeed unless you try, and really I did try and did make many of my goals and a number of extra.  The extra I'll mention at the end of this entry, because it doesn't count for entries to this lovely contest.

Personal things have happened to me in November that has made it hard to complete many of the quilts, but when I came back home, it seemed the only thing that made me relax was quilting so in the end I went crazy and completed many of the quilts from the list, and more as well.  Here's what it looks like...

The pixulated sunflower quilt.  It needed to be quilted and binded. The quilting on the dark brown was 1/2 inch circles, very small, making the illusion of the sunflower seeds.  It's been on this list three times and although I got all of the dark brown completed, it's still not done, but it's coming along fabulous!!!  So I'm happy.

My Craftsy quilting class by Leah Day was also on my list.  It's been three times on this list.  Now I'm proud to say that now it has  another 3 squares completed, but still not done!!!

One of my other quilts that is queen size and I want to quilt (not send it out).  This one is over 3 years old, easy to quilt (straight line) so I'm hopng to get it done as well for November.

Picture of the finished pattern.  Mine is more green than anything else.

Here is another quilt that was partially finished and now it is - my Aurifill quilt - put together.  I added two more blocks, sewed all the strips together and put in a center piece to make the quilt a queen.  I added some borders and now I have to strip quilt it.  I don't want to show you until it's done but below is a sneak peek of the quilt, showing two blocks...  Stay tuned... It's on next month's list.

So what did I finish???

I wanted an autumn quilt for my bed for October.  This quilt had been sitting for over 3 years waiting for me.  And truthfully, I was worried about quilting a queen quilt on my singer, so when I got the Janome, I was a little braver.  So below is a picture of the backing and the front, and a piece that needs to be added to the front.  I'm proud to say that this one is completed!!!

From the above to the below!!!

This pillow is an extra piece from another project, and I wanted to play around quilting to practice.  The results is from the below 

to this pillow quilted free style!

I started to learn wool applique in 2008 with this quilt.   I think 7 years is old enough and it should be completed.  I don't even remember who was trying to teach us.  But that wasn't the only thing I forgot.  I couldn't find all the pattern, the instruction sheet was missing, so I couldn't do all the blocks, and I didn't know how to finish it.  But in the end I found two more blocks, completed them, and I had enough blocks to completed a wall quilt and that's what I did.  I added 2 1/2 inch squares of flower material around each square, one to two squares per section, in some areas and complete squares in others to make it a rectangle.  

Well I can honestly say it's done!!!!  That's me hiding!!  Notice all the two inch sqaures?  It was bigger than I thought but still great to hang on the wall so I'm happy with the results, and another UFO completed.

And to make my life a little more busy I signed up for a block of the month in August  This is  Block #2 but I need this done for Christmas for a friend (who's only job in the quilt shop  row by row field trip was to say NO to me every time I wanted to buy something, but instead talked me into this quilt.   I'm enjoying this quilt from the Quilt Company (see completed quilt pattern here) that I bought at Fabric Etc in Bellingham.  It's called the Quilted kettle and its a quilt of tea pots, tea cups and even tea bags.   So adorable.  it is made up with piecing and raw applique with button stitching. There is even some stitching on the top of some of the kettles to keep you busy.  I get each section on the 15th of the month, and there are six of them.  So far I've completed 4 of them (all the kettles), and I have the mugs to do, but I can honestly say there is no way I'll complete all this by December 25th (yep, you guessed it, I promised it to a friend for Christmas - don't have enough pressure, had to add to it  :). I have a all the center squares done but not the next level which are tea cups, so this one goes on into the new year!!!

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Everyone needs a christmas quilt on their quilt :)  This is an old BOM from the Fat Quarter Shop. Material all there, all cut up.  9 blocks to make.  It's from It's Sew Emma, a brilliant person.  My wall hanging for Christmas  :)

And this is it all completed and hanging on my wall just in time for Christmas. I finished it on November 28th, a Sunday, just in time to start Christmas season in December.  Love the look and the quilting on it!

I did two more rows on my row by row quilt, (the Pacific West quilts) so that's coming along but I didn't get the 10 I had bargained for. :(

There were others on my list that never got finished, but I was quite pleased with what I did.  And being impulsive, I did a few that were not on the list.  See below.

EXTRAS

OK, when you're mopping around and are a little depressed, one can stroke one's material (yes I do pull out my material and look at it to make myself feel happy), or on impulse, sew something that's not on one's list  (not everyone has a list like I make myself).  So in November I got impulsive, wanted to make a quilt to get over my funk, and did two of them.  

I'm trying to clean up my material but a good friend of mine keeps on giving me fat quarters to cheer me up.  The results:  a halloween quilt that turned out simple but cute.

I added black pumpkin shadows for interest and to draw the eye upwards.  The material (fat quarters) were random but cute, and I had a lot of orange from before, so I used up my stash, and got some simple work done.  The applique is all machine button stitched.

I also did a few others that were not on my list but I think that you might be interested (or maybe not)....

For Christmas I made over 20 bowl holders (if you have soup and it's hot, this bowl protects your hands.  If it's cold, it keeps the food cold).

the look of them.

Very fall colours

Then there was a quilt that I created from a class on Crafty.  The results, a spool quilt that I made my own.  It was my own design on the top to make the quilt larger.  I made the words on Word, then I enlarged them until there was one letter per page.  I traced the letters on another paper so they were backward, and that worked with the duo side interfacing to put them on the quilt.  Then I button stitched them.

I also made a Christmas gift that my mom got and since it's after Christmas I can show you.  This table topper is one of my best quilts yet, with the quilting being very intrinsic, and quite detailed.  In the end I sewed patters on the wings and body of the butterfly in blue silk thread.

With my Christmas quilt from last year, and the pillow I made this quarter.
Very proud of myself.

Finished early my entry for the "Year of Lovely Finishes"!!!

Well, I knnow I had to have things finished before I leave for Christmas vacations but this is even more early than I thought!!!

I started a Craftsy class months ago with Camille Roskelley called Playful Piecing Techniques that uses precuts,  My goal was to complete the Spool quilt from her lessons.  Because it was with a jelly roll, cutting the length, you can see right away how easy it would be.  And it's done!!!!  You can see where the precuts really help make this quilt go so much faster.  I cheated this time, or rather I tried to be more frugal (my mom's word for trying to save a buck) and I used a quilt polyester top from IKEA.  I thought that since it was all put together it would be easier to use.  But the polyester made it slippery, and it would slide all over.  So you can see that it is rather puffy in the picture.  But this quilt batting is very hot.

I did do something slightly different in this quilt pattern then from the Craftsy lesson, I added a piece to the top to make it larger.  I wanted to make it a larger laptop.  I added some words  :)

I also finished with my gifts to family, but I can't say anything or put it up here because then my family (who reads this blog in another province) would know what I made them.

But I can show the fabric bowls that I made for friends.  I made 20 of them.  Using a layer cake I was able to make them very fast.  I quilted two cakes with 10 inch batting of cotton I cut.  You quilt a cross (an x) over each cake to keep the batting attached to it.  Then you fold it and where the fold is, you mark an inch up and 2 and a quarter inch inside the fold (do this on both sides), sew from one mark to the other (this makes the edges of your bowl holder).  Then fold the cake the other way (make sure you match corners), and do the same thing on that fold (this gives you all four sides coming up).  Next match both cakes together (right sides of fabric), sew around but leave 3 inches on one side to flip the bowl inside out.  Then sew the edges and this will close the opening.  You now have a bowl cover.

So I met all my goals, all three of them!!!

December's "A Lovely Year of Finishes" - last one for this Month.

It's December already and it's always a busy time of year, and with me going away from the 19th to the 30, I don't want to make too big of promises.  So I'm keeping this nice and lite.

I have started a Craftsy class months ago with Camille Roskelley called Playful Piecing Techniques that uses precuts, so it make it very easy.  The one that I'm looking at completing is my Spool quilt from her lesson.  This would be the second quilt out of 4 quilts that you can make while doing this course.  She's very good as a teacher, and I've learned a lot.  My water quilt is from this course as well.  Here's what I'm trying to make, a combination of the one on the table and the wall that is larger.  I'm doing the spools seperated by white.  I have the roll cut up, and the white background all cut up, ready to go.  The colors are old fashion, with dark tones. 

There is a promise that I made to myself as well, that I would do at least 2 rows this month.  That's also on my list.

And finally, there is only one other thing that I want to do, make some fabric bowls for Christmas gifts and some fleese pyjama pants for the families.

So that's it, a small list, but one that I think I can complete before the 19th.

Just under the wire...

Well, it's hard to miss when I posted my November's entry for what I wanted to complete in the November's "Lovely Year of Finishes (it was my last entry), but I did it, I did complete one of my goals.  I am not making excuses but it's been a very bad month for me this month, and very trying.  I won't go into it with details but I'm sure many of you out there have gone through bad times and needed quilting to get through it.  In all honesty, I only had two weekends to complete my goals and I'm very happy that I was able to do one of them.    I started from this (all the material saved up).

To this......

Who doesn't love a Christmas quilt.
The quilting was spiral with fillers in between and I love the final results.

 

The pattern was free from Jolly Jabber.  It's called Little Joys and all the patterns are free here.  It was a block of the month (short one), but absolutely beautiful, simple, and easy to do.  For those of you interested in doing a similar one and has more options click on this link for a Christmas "Deck the Halls".  

As I said previously, many things happened to me this month, most of them very trying, and painful.  I didn't do much sewing at all, and truthfully, in the last two days it's been my salvation, to get my mind back.  I'm sure we all have times in our life like this, but I'm still working through some trouble times, and it's coming out in my sewing.

Although this other quilt was not the one that I said I would complete this month I did receive as therapy a pack of fat quarters that were Halloween in style.  Now I know, Halloween is over with, but I still wanted (no needed) to sew, so I started the blocks, added some black and here are the results.  The quilt is made of 12 inch squares, with lighter orange around each one, and then dark orange borders.  But it looked too plain so I thought I would add some applique.  And the results are the pumpkins and the leaves around the quilt for interest sake.

So this is the results....

That's it.  I did make one goal and I'm submitting this to a Lovely Year of Finishes....

November's "A Lovely Year of Finishes".

I missed the last month's entry into the "Lovely Year of Finishes"  and yet that was my most productive month yet.  So I'm back on track hopefully. This month I'm looking at starting one quilt and finish quilting another one.  Here is my list:

1.  I need to finish my Aurifill queen size quilt that would look spectacular on my bed.  Last month I just finished a queen, an Autumn quilt, but this quilt iwth it's flowers will make the winter nights so colourful.  Here is the before picture.  It's been on this list a number of times.  You can only make out two blocks here because I did a large amount of changes to the quilt, putting in a center block and making all other blocks go around it.  I even added to more blocks to square it up, and the edging around the quilt to make it a queen will be criss crossed quilted, so I'm trying to quilt as I go in a big way here, doing the edging in one time, then the quilt top in another and piecing it together.  I've never done that before but I'll try anything once.

2.  The second one is a quilt that is cut but not put together at all.  It's a Christmas quilt.

The quilt is from Sew Emma, a free pattern that was a block by block pattern.  I've printed them all out, put them in a book, found all my christmas material and off I go.

I really loved my Quilt Doodle winter quilt I made last year and that's where I'm getting my incentive to make another Christmas quilt.  But this one is a wall hanging and I think it would look great to hang for christmas.  I may even do some applique on this one to make it a little different.

That's it, my list for a Year of Lovely Finishes.  I'm hoping to complete both and maybe one or two more other surprises  ;)

I finshed my goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes!!

I finished my goal!!!  And early too!!!  I quilted an entire queen size quilt.  Fits my bed perfectly!!!

And the colors are drop dead gorgeous!!!  Chocolate brown with that red and very light blue.  Then there is green, with orange leaves and that tan yellow.  Butterflies every where.  I straight stitched lengthwise where the rectagles are....

And looped where the butterflies are.  To keep it down.  I also stitched in the ditch all around it.

 The rest I did a winding stitch all around, that wasn't too tight but it wasn't too loose as well.  It was to hold the side panels of the queen.  Take a close look.

So happy with the results and how it looks in my bed.  I have a curtain rod in the bedroom where I hang a wall quilt.  In this case I changed my wall hanging to a brown oriental piece that is cut into panels.  The effect, very modern and quite put together.  I'm pleased with this finish!!  And so early too!

This is my writeup for the "Lovely Year of Finished"

Another month of a Lovely Year of Finishes....

Although I am on track with the 4th quarter of the 2015 Finish Along, I am choosing quilts to finish for that quarter that are not on my 2015 "A Lovely Year of Finishes"!!!  Instead I am continuing to plan new quilts, buying material for them, and starting quilts then stopping to start a new one.  I was considering starting another block of the month with Tom's Sewing in Surrey, BC for a Canadian quilt and I stopped and said "Why?  I don't have enough?"  Like every quilter out there there is never enough fabric but we got to stop at some point don't we?  Am I the only one out there like this???? One is such a lonely number  :{ 

So that's it!  I listed all my quilts that I have the material and the pattern to do and I've come up with 38 quilts!!!  When I told my husband he asked me what I was going to do with all of them (9 are going to be queen size for our bed)?  When I said I don't know he said I'm starting to be a quilting horder.  Is there such a thing?  

So that's it, I have promised myself that I would definitely this month finish one of my quilts!!!!  And it's going to be a queen.  And it's doable even with school duties and being sick, and all the things the two of us do.  So here it is.....

This quilt is about 15 years old.  I started it with a fabric club, loved the material samples (1/2 meter each) so much I ordered away for more and made the pattern from "Joined at the Heart" by Anne Moscicki and Linda Wyckoff-Hickey.  The quilt is called "Fireside Snuggler Quilt" and in the book it's red and tan.  My quilt has red in it as you can see, but with browns mostly.  You get to see what I'm working with but not the finished product.  I need to do one more roow around and then quilt the entire thing.  It's a queen quilt and I want it for November when the weather gets cold here in Surrey, British Columbia.

This is doable as well as necessary, as my other two queen quilts will be a little too hot for now.  Plus the colours of this quilt is to die for.  So stay tune, I'm determine to get this one done!

September's "A Year of Lovely Finishes"

Have so many choices but I'm challenging myself as usual.  For this month's completion goal it's a big one.  A block of the month that is appliqué.  But I like sitting with my husband while we watch TV and do something with my hands.  So that's the plan.

I love Jacquelynne Steves at http://JacquelynneSteves.com.  She's so talented.  I purchased her fabric kit to join the "Cozy Afternoon" free BOM, and didn't start.  This month is the final month.  Want to get going on it and catch up (part of getting my stash down).  So this one is it.  The finished pattern is to look like the picture below.

I'll applique by hand.  Once more, good luck to me  ;)