One finish (actually 2, but the second will be a later entry)

I set a goal for the 2017 Finish-Along 4th Quarter to finish 5 things, 2 are done.  Today, I'll share a little more about my quilt called "Alphabet Fun"; you can see my list of 4th quarter projects for the 2017FALQ4 here.

This is the second version of this quilt.  I simply loved the colors and the animals that were depicted in the panels.  This was a little simpler and someone bought it at Rising Star Quilters Show, earlier this month.

I decided to stipple quilt.  It wasn't really for anyone special and I knew that it would get done quickly, that way.  It was good practice and on the whole I was pleased with it.  Maybe it was a little more quilting than I normally do, but it made me happy.  

Here's the label.  I no longer live in Somerville, but the house wasn't yet sold, so it is one of the last quilts that will say Somerville on them. The other secret to getting this done quickly is to have binding on hand!  I keep some black binding available for quick quilts and I do bind a few in black every year.  

Have to post this picture.  Percy is always helpful when you are trying to get a shot.  

I am not so sure how the end of the year will go, but here are some of my goals.  

2017FAL4Q List:  3 to go!!!!
1. Free Fall Quilt Along 
2.  Alphabet Quilt
3.  Sew Together bags
4.  Petal Play Loon 
5.  Organized sewing room

All people quilt UFOs   (so 7 out of 12 are done!!)

1.  Grey batik flying geese

2.  Petal Play Loon

3.  Raw Edge Tree Runner
4.  Row by Row #3 (is this for real, one more??)
5.  Sew Together Bags

Next up - Free Fall QAL finish

Crushing on new fabric

This arrived in the mail.   I won some fabric in the Bloggers Quilt Festival blog hop!   It was sponsored by Amy @ Amy's Creative Side and while I don't need more fabric what's not to love about the bag and the fabric.

 OneCanoeTwo designed this lovely line called midnight garden.  I won a set of fat eighths and am thinking of this squiggles quilt at Christa Quilts.  I think it would be quite lovely.  What I like is that it is a simple plan to use an elegant set of fabrics.  I may check out a few other patterns I have put away, but this one strikes me as a pretty good fit for this set of fabrics.

I keep looking at all this gorgeousness and am thinking that I am one lucky girl!

2017 FAL (Finish Along) Q4 - Joining in the Fun

For those of you following me here is where we are:  the house is under agreeement and closing on October 27th.  We have ALL our furniture and my quilting room is in reasonable (not finshed) shape.  I can work now pretty freely.

So, I am turning my mind to what I will finish in the 4th Quarter.  I am not counting the already finished but needing a label quilt!

1.  Free Falling Leaves - quilting, binding, labels, hanging sleeves

2.  The alphabet quilt:  Hand binding, sleeve and label

3.  2 Sew together bags - some construction done, but they just need to be finished

4.  The Loon - some construction done:  Assembled, quilted, bound and labeled.

5.  And finally, finish organizing my space. 

Linking up with:  2017FAl 4th Quarter 

2017 Quilt Bloggers Festival

Amy is sponsoring once again the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  You can read all about it here.   Please visit some of the quilts that strike your fancy and leave comments for the quilters!

This little quilt I finished a few weeks ago.  I honestly just love it.  It was a Row by Row from 2016 from Alewives Fabrics in Nobleboro, ME.   The trees are all Dr. Seuss like and it is so much fun.  I often use this size on an island near my dining room, but this one I got a little carried away with the borders.  It finished at 15" x 40".

This little squiggle of quilting in the inner binding makes me happy.  For quilting threads, I used three different threads:

1.  YLI Machine quilting in Green to Tan 
2. Superior Mono Poly to go around the trees
3. Mettler 50 weight, #678  

This is the second time I have used this binding technique and I really love the pop of color you get.  Also, it's all done on machine, so it couldn't be easier.  

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the festival!

Back to Quilting!

I've been on a quilting hiatus.   We are selling our Somerville house and have already moved into a 3 bedroom apartment.   Here's what my sewing room looked like 15 days ago (I have since set up my machine where the computer is).  Before it is really done,  two cabinets will come from the house, which probably won't happen until late October.

Note the scissors on the chair - not ready for sitting in!


You can see there are quite a few projects in plastic storage containers, fabric is on shelf - not organized.

But, we were planning on spending much of August in Maine, before the move was to happen.  We found a place we liked and as there are few 3 bedroom apartments, we jumped on it a bit early.  The good thing was it got the process going.  The bad thing was, it was earlier than I envisioned!  So, we moved contents and left some furniture to make it all work for the showing, but that furniture includes two storage units for fabric and files.  

However, here comes the good news:  I put together a quilt top - oneof my UFOs for 2017.  

So fast, and as I type this, I am planning to sandwich today as another border is already on, but I really wanted to get a blog entry on this quilt.  

Linking up with Main Crush Monday and Wednesday Wait Loss

Pets on Quilts 2017!

Didn't think I'd have a post so soon, but its pets on quilts day.    It's sponsored by Lily Pad Quilting and has lots of prizes, but, of course, you must follow the rules!

Here is a picture of my labradoodle, today, after his grooming.  Percy is 9 and has Austalian lines.  We have had him since he was a puppy and love him to death.  You can see a picture of him as a puppy in my About Me page.

The quilt he is on was my first quilt - all hand pieced and quilted.  I love it an use it often.  You can see we are sleeping on a mattress on the floor - downsizing problems.  I also made the knitted afghan many years ago (like early '80s).

Just in case you think he is perfect, here is what he likes to do on the bed....

Linking up to the Pets on Quilts

A finish during the season of downsizing!

My 2016 row by row from Alewives Fabrics in Damariscotta, ME  is finally done!  I had the top done at the end of June and really thought I would have quilted it sooner, but it took awhile.

I love to go to Alewives Fabrics.  Rhea and her crew have great fabrics, samples and patterns.  They are quite busy in the summer season but her enthusiasm carries throughout the year!  Rhea worked at Cambridge Quilts (where I also worked) when she was attending school in Boston.  Her design and color sense are always spot on!

I really enjoyed quilting this.  

• For the outside border, straight lines
• For the inner border, a wavy, rounded zig zag line
• For the sky and grass/hills, a wavy line.

This shows you a close up of the binding.  I used a method I have used before and really like it from Sew Fresh Quilts.   My only problem was I was really close on fabric and kept praying it would work - measuring it out was not an assurance that turning those corners would make it.  In the end, I had about 6" of binding left - a little too close for my liking!

It's  a simple table runner and I'll use it in my Maine cottage.  I was thinking of hanging it over one of the doors in the upstairs, but I might need 4 to do that, so I will think about that and what I have left of other row by rows OR repeat one.

In the next week or so, I'll regroup on my UFOs.  First, I must register two quilts for our guild in the fall (and finish one of them).  I am really slowed up with the move, and my primary sewing study is a disaster.  My goal is to have room to sew by Labor Day weekend.  

Linking up to:  Wednesday Wait Loss