Free Fall Quilt Along

I am a member of the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers and found a new pattern to do.

First, it fits into my goals of using up fabric that I already have.  In fact, I had been gathering my batiks to do a quilt with half square triangles and ran into this.  Funny thing, I was pulling a blue/purple combo from my pile and had a fall pile leftover.

Second, I needed a new project that excited me.  I have a lot of UFOs I am working on but was looking for something new.

Serendipity!  You can find the instructions for this quilt along at mmm! Quilts.  There is a button too on the right side of my blog.

I thought I'd link up to Sew Fresh Quilts and her Let's Bee Social Group today.

Scrap quilting

This is a project from the UFO list last year.   I had  some leftover flying geese and scraps from a Block of the Month quilt I made a few years ago.   I am making a table runner with it. I saw a pattern called "Elegant Runner" by Terry Albers in Fons & Porter's Easy Quilts, Fall 2012.  I put it in the bag with the scraps and this uses her pattern.  Of course, the dimensions are all different, but the idea is Terry's.

                  

Some lessons I learned:

1. There is never enough fabric in your scraps in the colors you need
2. Thangles can help you squeeze half square triangles ⬕ out of fabric that is too short to do it the normal way.
3. Keep on working with what you have

So far I have:

1. Flying geese assembled into four pieces with some border fabric
2. 4 stars made with thangles and
3. more scraps

The plan is to make the the 8" block be surrounded by some of the leftover fabric and maybe a black inner border to finish the table runner.   

Follow me in Bloglovin'

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I am a part of the #2017NewQuiltBlogggers and am trying to get a few things up to speed with my blog.

I follow a lot of people on Bloglovin' but haven't claimed my blog on this platform yet.

This is my attempt to do so.

Travel and exciting news

I was lucky enough to be in Palm Springs for a few days....  We traveled up Mount Jacinto and we blessed with this glorious view.  It has kept me a bit away from quilting.

But, the good news is I am in the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers group.  It is hosted by Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl, Leann @she can quilt and Beth @Cooking Up Quilts.  I am truly excited as I think it will help me focus on a few technical things I am missing, expose me to a group of new blogging friends and overall be fun!  I am really looking forward to getting to know the gang and learning some new things.  A big thanks to our hosts - this is a labor of love.

Finish it up Friday

The top is done for the M3 quilt, as I lovingly refer to it.   This was from Cheryl Brickey, Meadow Mist DesignsMystery Quilt.  I began the top in July 2016 and completed the it on Friday, the 24th of February.  Monthly instructions were sent on the first Thursday of the month.  Her directions and guidance on fabric choices was really helpful.  I may have the quilt quilted by April, but, am still not quite sure so I entered the top as it is.  

 

Are you good at homework?

Homework was something I loved to do.  I know, crazy right?   But for quilters there are some interesting ways to look at homework.  One is mystery quilts.

I just finished a top in the Meadow Mist Mystery that Cheryl Brickey has done for the past few years. I wasn't convinced that I would love this, but I like Cheryl's designs and thought if I could use some fabric from my stash, that would be a bonus.  Using my stash mostly worked out except for user error.  I didn't really measure what I had and had cut some away (fabric that looks like Swiss cheese) so I needed a little more background.  Also, I measured wrong on a large number of cuts - I know - how stupid was that!

What I love about it:

1. I have a pretty top that needs two borders - which I have.
2. It is nearly done - the goal is a finished top by April.
3. While, I love it, it doesn't have a purpose, so it goes in the stash for when I might need a benefit or donation or gift quilt!
4. I used my some fabric from my stash.

I was unsure about not knowing the design, but I came to live with it. For the Meadow Mist Mystery quilt, it was an option to know.  It was kind of fun waiting to see people guessing the arrangement and the final option (but the facebook group came up with a few more).

For quilters, Block of the Month programs can also give you the same result.  I have a few quilts that I have given to friends from these and take great joy in it.

So, if you like to keep up with homework and use your stash - watch for Cheryl's next mystery or your LQS Block of the Month or pick another.  Sew Fresh Quilts has a few quilt alongs running.  I was tempted by the Christmas one but it does not address my stash problem.  In a short while (12 months or less), you will have a completed top.  Added bonus:  you can even do most of it in the privacy of your own home!  

UFOs for 2017

This list took much longer than I expected to finish.  The good news is that finishing the list helped me organize in so many ways:

1.  My fabric storage is more organized

2.  I realize that my stash needs some work
                 a.  Cull fabric that is too small to really do anything with it
                 b.  Group fabrics that will play well together and come up with a plan.

3.  My sewing desk is more organized.

I carried over a few projects so January's finish was a from 2016...as are a few others on the list.  I am still very happy with what I completed as many other projects come up besides the ones on the list.

Snow days have been very helpful for getting to this point and I am thrilled.

So, here is my list.....