Q1 Finish-a-Long Results

Here is my final finish for the First Quarter of Leanne's Finish-A-Long.

I put the last stitches in the binding yesterday and luckily had a beautiful crisp spring morning to photograph it.

This is the front:

A detail photo of the front piecing.

And the back of the quilt, which I think I like more than the "front" I used a block that I rejected as too gray for the front, which worked well inside those solids/near solids on the back.

And of course I really love the dense spiral quilting done by Kathy of Stitch by Stitch. What a great addition to the geometric piecing!


I finished 3 off my original list (HERE) for Leanne's Finish-a-Long. Not bad. Stop by and check out all of the beautiful projects that have been completed.

I will move a few of the projects on to the next quarter and hopefully get a few more WIPs off my plate then.

A little diversion...

This is a little diversion from the quilty nature of my normal posts!

Here are two of my sons skiing at Nastar Nationals last week:

And my husband too:

After 5 days in Colorado, we had 36 hours at home and then off we went to Florida for this adventure:

My son caught this huge 77" sailfish, and the other three guys caught the blackfin tuna and the two wahoos in the above photo. Everyone caught a fish - What a great fishing day!

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming... after a long nap that is...

Catching up and Falling Behind

Boy, this winter has been a rough one on my quilting! I did sign up for the 2013 first quarter Finish-a-Long, which definitely gave me motivation to get some older projects done. Binding is going on this one. Looking forward to being able to take some good outdoor photos of both the front and back! I think I like the back better than the front!

Have you tried Wonder Clips?? Love these things for binding.

But, with everything that's been going on with the kids, the ski season and my health... phew. It has been difficult.

We have been so blessed to be able to enjoy skiing as a family sport for the past few years. It gives us great outdoor exercise during those bleak months when I really feel like holing up in my PJs! But man, those days are also prime quilting time! I was late on this Bee block for Vickie, but she should be receiving it soon.

I've been really struggling with nerve pain this winter. It's something I've had for several years, but seems to be getting slowly but progressively worse. I have a whole range of weird symptoms - including pain and numbness down my right arm into my pinky finger, to half of a numb tongue, chestr pain and headaches. I found out recently that I have a herniated disc in my neck, and signs of degenerating vertebrae which a new doctor seems to believe is the cause of all of my problems. One nerve canal is 50% of what it should be. I had a procedure last week to inject steroids directly into that nerve canal to hopefully lessen the inflammation and relieve some of the pressure. So far, I have not seen any improvement... it has been 5 days....

Hoping I am able to get back on track soon and catch up on all of the things I have been putting off!

Bow tie swap completion

Another one bites the dust! Another project completed! Doesn't that feel good???

I am so pleased with the way this turned out! It's very happy and bright, and I embraced the randomness of those fabrics and colors.  The Bow ties were from the Scrappy Bow Tie Block Swap  (Round 5) on flickr.

Kathy of Stitch by Stitch once again worked her longarm magic on this piece! She chose a blue thread, which I love, but I never would have thought of on my own. The three quilting patterns are such a great accent to the center and borders of this quilt.  I used one of the Denise Schmidt fabrics from JoAnn for the binding, that I found for dirt cheap on the clearance table, and I love that little bright strip and the bias stripes!

Look at the way the quilting shows up so well on that yellow backing! Gorgeous! My 11 year old son, who has always been a yellow lover is lobbying for this one to become his.... 

Happy happy!

This was on my list for 2013 FAL Q1. Here is my list.

A Friday Finish!

I am linking up with Sarah's Can I get a Whoop Whoop! and Finish it up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts

I finally bit the bullet this week and quilted the front of my Poinsettia Pillow from Quilt Camp! This is made using Faith's Poinsettia Mini pattern. This was my second time doing paper pieced blocks. It was time consuming  but Faith's instructions are excellent. It was also really nice to have her right there to ask questions, or to bounce fabric choices off of! :)

Here it is after quilting. Yea!

My fabric choices for the back. I made a basic envelope style back. Simple.

And there it is in its new home. Now to keep the boys grubby hands off of it!

 This was also on my UFO list for Leanne's 2013 Finish-a-long. Check one off my list!

Two Off to the Quilter

I decided to kick it into high gear now that it's almost half way through January! How did that happen??

I added the borders to my Bow Tie Quilt last week. I wanted a true twin size, so I had to do it. I know it makes this more traditional in a sense, but I just wanted it off my plate so I could move on with other things. And then I pulled a funky yellow, sort of tie dye look, wide backing out of my bin that I got on clearance a while back. Its not the greatest, but once again, Git'n it done sometimes requires a little compromise here and there.

Here is the top on my ironing board after its final steambath...

and that yellow backing fabric all squared up and ironed

And I'm finally sending the red and black patchwork out too. Oops, forgot to get a photo of the back before it left the house.  So, off to the magic of the long-arm quilter they go!

I worked on gathering fabrics for the Lucky Stars BOM with Elizabeth from Don't Call me Betsy which I joined up with late. I feel like I am already behind, so I'd like to get caught up with the practice block and work on January too. I will be using a bunch of the fabrics from V&Co.'s Simply Color and some added fabrics from my stash. I will be sticking with the cooler colors (blue, purple, aqua and lime) from the line, and just using pops of orange and pink. Haven't decided yet if I'll use any gray.  

But, that will all have to wait until I make my January block for Liberty and Justice. Sarah has asked that we write a note to the service person who will be receiving it. I think that's a really lovely idea, but it does give me a small bit of butterflies not knowing exactly what to write!  For sure I'll write it on paper first so as not to mess up on the fabric!

Starting out with goals

I am not one to make resolutions, as such. But there are some things I'd like to try to move toward this year with my quilting! Last year was sort of a "get back in the swing" refresher course. I jumped in to some quick online swaps and a bee, all of which helped me build a new stash! This year I would like to  take a little bit more time with designing my quilts, and possibly to be a little bit more detailed in what I choose to do. This past year I felt like I was simply banging out the quilts. I was happy with what I produced, but I feel like they were too simple. I know I am capable of more. I have some things to get off my plate (and design wall) before I can move on to new ideas. Who doesn't like new ideas, right?? This will require some discipline!

I did finish 4 quilts in 2012. One was a really old WIP, 2 were given as gifts, and one was a holiday quilt. So, tops on my list for 2013 is to finish a quilt that can be used by my family year round. This is already underway, but has been stalled on my design wall for far too long! I thought I might want to make it bigger, but felt daunted by the number of 4" blocks I would need to complete. Also, the thought  of rearranging what I had to keep the balanced scrappiness was not so appealing... But, I need to finish it. Suck it up and get to sewing!

NUMBER 1 - Brown and Blue scrap/lap quilt

Second, I have one quilt at the flimsy stage that I need to get quilted and bound. It's been waiting for about 6 months already - yikes. I have a pieced back for it, and I think I like the back better than the front. It is simple and modern and uses one test  block that I eliminated for use on the front.

NUMBER 2 - Red and black quilt

This next one is the result of one of those Flickr swaps I jumped in on... my Bow Tie Swap Quilt. I ended up adding plenty of extra blocks so I could get this up to a twin size. It needs its borders added, quilted and bound. This one may be held as a possible donation quilt, but I'd like it off my plate!

NUMBER 3 - Bow Ties twin quilt

My final 1st quarter project that I'd like to complete is a little quilt I designed. It has curves and was cut with templates. I don't know why I have been putting this off so long - It is only 16 blocks!

NUMBER 4 - Leaf mini quilt

I also have a pillow to finish up.
NUMMBER 5 - Odds and Ends Poinsettia Pillow

To help keep me motivated to move these projects to the finished pile, I am excited to be joining in with Leanne's Q1 Finish-a-Long. Looks like some great prizes are out there for completed projects! 

Happy New Year and Happy Quilting!