Monday, July 8, 2013

3rd Quarter Finish-A-Long List

First off, while revewing everyone's 2nd Quarter posts, I noticed an omission on all of mine:

 
Just want to make sure that from here on in I get Leanne's button on the post!  Now on to the meat and potatoes.........
 
So what'll it be for the 3rd Quarter?  Well last quarter I talked about working on two that definitely have to go on the list so...
 
1.  Crazy Quilt Jewelry Pouch (and this time I can share the picture).
 
 
Originally I had hoped to finish this to participate in an online crazy quilt competition but time and inspiration got away from me.  (And good thing I didn't, I wasn't ready to compete with these ladies yet!  See the beautiful entries on this post at Thearica's Pigtales & Quilts blog---scroll down and click on the "Competition Album" to see detailed photos of all the beautiful entries.)  But now I REALLY want to get this one done. 
 
It's one of my oldest UFOs (going all the way back to 2007).  This was supposed to be a gift for a close friend---thank goodness we've know each other long enough to overlook how long this has taken.  The thing is, the construction of it is pretty much complete---all it needs further embellishment.  And that's the problem:  up to now I haven't been able to give myself the mental room (aka courage) to relax and play to see what I can come up with.  But a couple of weeks ago a LQS had an anniversary sale and I picked up the beads you see in the picture really cheap.  When I picked up a new foot for my machine in early June, I saw the yarn you see in the picture and thought it would be great for couching on this too.  The fabric at the top is a Kaffe Fassette Shot Cotton chosen for the binding.  All this has jazzed me up a bit and it would really be a load off my shoulders to finally put this one to bed.
 
2. Heart & Home Wool BOM. 
 
 
I had participated in Sinta's Pink Pincushion BOM Rehab when I started this.  She's closed that facility (Rehab, not her blog!) so now it's time to move this over and out through the Finish-A-Long.   I've also got another new wool project that I really hope to work on while I'm doing this one which leads me to my next entry.........
 
3.  I'm also inluding my Sage Sampler on the list for this quarter. 
 
 
Both the Heart & Home Sampler and the new wool piece are for display in my bedroom.  If I finish Heart & Home, it won't be hung until the Fall.  The new wool project is meant for now (and for the  spring in the future).  This old Sampler UFO was also slated for bedroom display so if I do get to finish the new wool piece this month , I'd also love to put this one to bed (pun intended) too! 
 
4.  Can't make a Finish-A-Long list without including a couple of  "To Be Quilted" items.  My other big priority this year is to finish working on my series of Civil War quilts. 
 
 
The Chronciles BOM top is the last of the CW flimisies I have on hand so I'm putting the quilting of it on the list for this quarter as well.  I think getting to this one will depend on how well I do early in the quarter so I'm crossing my fingers on this one.
 
5.  Another "To Be Quilted" to add to the list is my "Paisley Park" crumb quilt.  I'm adding this one and the next quilt just to give me some flexiblilty on what I actually get to work on.  This one is already partially quilted but needs to be finished.
 
 
 
6.    Again just to give me some flexibility, I'm also adding my "Colorblocks" quilt which is also partially quilted and from the "To Be Quilted" list.
 
 
 
So I that's it for this quarter.  There's a lot to do so let's get to work!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

On the Design Wall


The Red, White & Blue phase is not quite done yet!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Reporting In on Quarter 2 of the 2013 Finish-A-Long

It's July 1st and I need to report on my finishes for the 2nd Quarter of the Finish-A-Long which is being hosted by Leanne of the She Can Quilt blog this year.  I did about as well as last quarter -- out of the five projects listed on my original Quarter 2 planning list (see it here), I managed to get 2 out of 5 done.  I'm all for that because anything that whittles the UFO list down is a good thing!

The first thing I got done for the quarter was my "Brrr!" quilt.  The quilt design and fabric were by Minick & Simpson from way back in 2009 and I look forward to sporting it when winter rolls around again!


This finish was a two-fer in that it was also my entry for the Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival.  The Festival is hosted twice a year by Martingale author Amy Ellis at Amy's Creative Side to coincide with the big industry Quilt Markets.  I was glad to finally have a finish in time for the festival this time around.  You can read the details about the making and finishing of the quilt in my festival post here

The festival has been a wonderful part of the quilt blogging experience since 2009 and has grown phenomenally since it first started.  If you did not participate earlier this year, think about which of the projects on your Finish-A-Long list for the 3rd quarter might make a great candidate for your entry for the Fall Festival which should be in late October/early November while the Houston Quilt Market is in full swing.

My second finish is detailed in this post (so if you will be returning to Leanne's linky you can also pick the post up from there) but I'll include a quick pic of it here as well:


This one is Pat Sloan's "Valor" quilt that was designed to showcase her "Tribute" line of fabric for P&B Textiles that debuted back in 2011 (and another indication of just how long some of my UFOs have been sitting around).  I'm really happy to have gotten this done because I had always planned for it to be made to display during the Memorial Day and July 4th holidays.  So I'm happy to say it will have its first public showing later this week when I hang it off our terrace!

With the reporting all done, now it's time to make up my 3rd Quarter list!  But first I'll swing back over to Leanne's to check out what everyone else has accomplished this quarter.  And if you haven't joined in before how about coming along for the ride now?  Even one finish frees up space for some new projects or any attention given to a project moves it a little closer to completion.  It's win/win!