2017 Finish-A-Long: Fourth (and last!) Quarter Results

Well I didn't finish as much as I had planned for this quarter, and it's probably because of a BOM from January (which I started cutting out in October) and forgot to put it on my FAL list!  It's now a flimsy, so it's going to be a 2018 finish.

Here are my results for the end of this year:

1 - Seasonal Silhouettes - December.  Still working with the Seasonal Silhouettes pattern book by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts.  I love this month's pattern ~ haven't started it yet, but I have all the fabrics and I'm hoping to get it up by Christmas.  NO PROGRESS.

2 - Seasonal Silhouettes - January.  I have this one fused ~ hoping to finish it this quarter ~ it's one of my favorites!  NO PROGRESS.

3 - Christmas stockings for the twins.  Out of all the things on this list, these were really the most important.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

4 - C'est La Vie.  I used this pattern by Lella Boutique (from Fat Quarter Shop's November Sew Sampler Box) for a Christmas Mini.  I've been wanting to make this into a lap-size quilt ~ just like the pattern shows, I'm going to use charm packs of Olive's Flower Garden (just because I LOVE these fabrics!).  NO PROGRESS.

5 - Freshly Picked Table Runner.  I love Bonnie and Camille fabrics, so when I opened up my September 2017 Sew Sampler Box I decided that I HAVE to make this gorgeous table runner!  I finished the top and the back ~ just need to baste and quilt it.

So I only finished one out of 5 this month, but that's OK because I still got a lot done on other things!  Looking forward to 2018!

Chocolatier BOM ~ it's a flimsie!

I know I got a late start on this one, but I was able to catch up and now all the blocks are finished and I have a real quilt top!   

I really love this pattern by AnneMarie Chany over at GenX Quilters and it came together faster than I thought it would.  

Now to decide on the backing and how to quilt it ~ but I think that will have to wait until after Christmas and a trip to Michigan for family time and some snuggles with these two!

WIP ~ Chocolatier BOM ~ Almost caught up!

Just a few pics of the progress I've made on the Chocolatier BOM.  I've finished months 6 through 10 since my last WIP post, just one more month's worth of blocks and I'll be caught up!  Here are some pics:

Month 6

Month 7

Month 8

Month 9

So here are the blocks for months 1-9:

and I've just finished the argyle blocks for month 10.

I really love the rich colors of these Toscana fabrics by Deborah Edwards for Northcott and I'm hoping that they'll shine against the background fabric I chose.  I started putting them up on my design wall ~ I think I'm going to need a bigger wall!

Linking up with BOMs Away!

2017 Finish-A-Long: First 4th Quarter Finish ~ Christmas Stockings

Done and Done!  I went in a totally different direction with the fabric for the twins' stockings ~ I came across this fabric called Snowmen and Pets by Susan Winget and thought it was perfect!  I just did a little diagonal grid quilting on the outside.  The linings were fabrics that I had in my stash (lucky me!)  

I cross-stitched the girls' names on 18-count Aida fabric and trimmed those with the red and green fabrics I used to line the stockings.  A little crochet trim and a snowflake on each finished them off and gave them that "little girl" touch.

The stockings are on their way to Michigan ~ can't wait to snuggle with these two when we go up at Christmas.  💕  It's SOOOOO hard being so far away from them.  I can't believe they're 2 months old already!

This makes my first finish for this quarter.

WIPs ~ Chocolatier BOM and a new tablerunner

Short post today with a few pics!  I focused on two projects this week ~ one block of the month and one new tablerunner.

Chocolatier BOM:

I finished the blocks for Month 4 and 5.

Month 4

Month 5

and here's the progress on this so far:

Next up ~ I started on the Freshly Picked tablerunner which was an exclusive pattern included with my September 2017 Sew Sampler Box.  I love Bonnie & Camille fabrics!  

I have all three blocks finished, just need to finish putting it all together.  It's on my 4th Quarter Finish-A-Long list, so that should give me a push!

Linking up with BOMs Away!

Chocolatier BOM ~ A Late Start

Back in January, I jumped into the Chocolatier Block of the Month hosted by AnneMarie Chany over at GenX Quilters that started in January.  I loved the pattern she created! 

Talk about being late to the party ~ does eating chocolate all along count for anything?  My stumbling block was the fabric selection.  Not being a big fan of browns or pinks, I couldn't really figure out what colors to use ~ not to mention solids?  prints?  batiks?    So here I am, 10 months later, and I've finally made a decision!  

I found this collection of Toscana fabrics by Deborah Edwards for Northcott at my local quilt shop and fell in love.  Right across the aisle was the perfect black & white print for the background ~ Odds and Ends Crackle by Patrick Lose for RJR Fabrics.  

So this week I cut fabrics for the first 3 months

and started piecing.

Month 1

Month 2

Month 3

So I'm off to a fairly good start ~ even if it is 10 months late.  

Linking up with BOMs Away!

Acorn Dance ~ a Quilt for Fall

You can probably tell how much I love this pattern by how quickly I finished it.  :)   My thinking was that it's a perfect quilt for fall and I wanted to snuggle with it NOW!

I received the pattern in the latest Little Box of Figs from Fig Tree and Co.  Great pattern to put together!  

The fabrics for the quilt top were also included and came from Joanna Figueroa's Coney Island collection.  I started quilting this using my go-to straight line quilting in the sashing and from there did a cross-hatch inside the acorns.  Then I got brave and marked a loopy design in the border and in the acorn tops.  The border was first and I ran into a lot of missed stitches, so I did some online searching for the problem.  I ended up changing needles, adjusting my tension, and rethreading my machine.  Worked like a charm!  

Proud of myself ~ this is the first quilt I've tried this much FMQ!

I had the fabric for the binding in my stash and it couldn't have been more perfect for a fall quilt ~ too bad I have no idea what it is!   The backing is from the Essence line by Northcott Fabrics, kind of a mottled leafy design.

So here's the finish ~ too bad I didn't have in on my Finish-A-Long list!

UPDATE (2/24/2018):  So happy to report that this quilt received an Honorable Mention ribbon at the Naples Quilters Guild Quilt Show this weekend!

2017 Finish-A-Long: 4th Quarter List

Quarter #4 is here!  Last quarter I finished 3 out of 3 ~ really happy with that!  I don't think I've ever finished all the projects on any list, but the list was pretty short because I knew we were going to be out of town for a long time.  Here's my list for the 4th quarter:

1 - Seasonal Silhouettes - December.  Still working with the Seasonal Silhouettes pattern book by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts.  I love this month's pattern ~ haven't started it yet, but I have all the fabrics and I'm hoping to get it up by Christmas.

2 - Seasonal Silhouettes - January.  I have this one fused ~ hoping to finish it this quarter ~ it's one of my favorites!

3 - Christmas stockings for the twins.  Since we have new grandkids in our family, they desperately need stockings!  I happened to have a pattern by Sex Lux Fabrics for a Scrappy Spiral Stocking.  I don't think I'll do the spiral, but I love the size of this stocking, so I'll use it as a template.  I haven't decided whether to use this layer cake, or look for some brand new fabrics.

4 - C'est La Vie.  I used this pattern by Lella Boutique (from Fat Quarter Shop's November Sew Sampler Box) for a Christmas Mini.  I've been wanting to make this into a lap-size quilt ~ just like the pattern shows, I'm going to use charm packs of Olive's Flower Garden (just because I LOVE these fabrics!).  

5 - Freshly Picked Table Runner.  I love Bonnie and Camille fabrics, so when I opened up my September 2017 Sew Sampler Box I decided that I HAVE to make this gorgeous table runner!  Can't wait to dig into that Good Life charm pack!!

OK ~ I think I'm going to stop right here.  Five seems like a good number (actually 6 because I'm making 2 stockings) and with Christmas coming up ~ well, you know how that usually goes!  Good luck everyone!

2017 Finish-A-Long: 3rd Quarter Results

Quarter #3 has left the building!  I finished all three of the projects on my list ~ woohoo!  I kept it short this quarter because I knew we were going to be out of town for half of that ~ and then a hurricane happened.  

1 - Seasonal Silhouettes - May.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

2 - Outstretched - from the book Cabin Fever: 20 Modern Log Cabin Quilts by Natalia Bonner and Kathleen Whiting.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

3 - Bubblegum Kisses - The pattern is a Sew Sampler exclusive for June and the fabrics are from Lori Holt's Bee Basics collection.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

So 3 out of 3!  I guess I need to start a new list ~ looking forward to Quarter 4!

2017 Finish-A-Long: 3rd (and last) Third Quarter Finish - Seasonal Silhouettes May Block

I was bound and determined to finish all three projects on my 3rd Quarter List ~ and I succeeded!  I know 3 isn't really a huge number of finishes, but between being out of town for a few weeks, a hurricane and no power for another couple of weeks definitely took time away from stitching.

So I finished another Seasonal Silhouettes wall hanging ~ this one was the May block and definitely one of my favorites!

  Looking forward to the 4th Quarter!

2017 Finish-A-Long: 2nd Third Quarter Finish - Bubblegum Kisses

Just a quick post to say that I finished #2 on my list!  It's called Bubblegum Kisses - the pattern is a Sew Sampler exclusive for June and the fabrics are from Lori Holt's Bee Basics collection.

It was a quick finish, which I love!  I changed the layout a little bit and added some yellow sashing ~ just to make it a little bigger.  It ended up about 33" x 38".  For the backing I used a blue bouquet fabric from Lori Holt's Flower Patch collection that I've had in my stash FOREVER, so it's pretty hard to find now!  

 Quilting was a simple stitch in the ditch along the sashing.  Although I'm still thinking of adding some big stitches around the "kisses."

The binding was Bee Basics Turquoise Basics TV (one of my favorite fabrics in this line!)

So, this makes finish #2 for this quarter ~ I finished binding it just before these two little girls were born on Saturday.  Two more granddaughters for us ~ Sawyer and Everly.  

Gotta go now and get some more newborn snuggles :)